Mommy and Kylie getaway

Two weeks ago Kylie and I had our first girl’s trip!!! We flew down to Sydney and visited with a friend and her daughter (who is about 2 months younger than Kylie). We had a blast and I’m so looking forward to making this a yearly thing.

One of the reasons we went when we did was so I didn’t have to pay for Kylie’s ticket. Unlike the US, Australia does not offer children’s airline fares. It’s either full price or free for under 2’s. I thought it would be nice to take one last trip before having to take on that extra fare and why not make it a girls trip?

It was just a short trip (3 days) but we had lots of fun catching up with Michelle and Matilda-Rose. We hung out at the park, went to Darling Harbour and the Sydney Aquarium. I wasn’t sure if Kylie would be old enough to really be ‘into’ the aquarium but she *loved* it. The first thing she said when she saw the first exhibit was “FISHIES!” and didn’t stop until we left. She’d run around, look at all the stuff in the area and then grab my hand and say “okay more” while pulling me to move on. I’m so glad she enjoyed it. The girls played really good together as well and they were so cute!! With the exception of getting home it was a great first girl’s trip!

Of course, any time the McMillan’s travel there is a problem. We were a 30 minute drive from the airport and we had a 4:20pm flight home. We left Shell’s house at 2:35, plenty of time to get to the airport…so we thought! Of course as we approach the area where we are supposed to get onto the motorway it’s completely blocked off. Not understanding what’s going on, Shell calls Trevor (her partner) and tries to get some info from him. Turns out that earlier that morning there was an accident and 2 women were killed. The motorway was completely shut down. Of course, there was only one way to get back on the motorway further up and it was through town. Not to mention that everyone else was going that way as well! It ended up taking us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the airport! When I got to the check-in counter I was told that the flight had closed for check-in 6 minutes before I got there! In the end I was able to get on a flight that was leaving an hour later and they were nice enough not to charge me for it but how annoying!! Just once I would like a trip to go off 100% without any hiccups, please!?!

Here are a few photos from out trip!!

Kylie's first train ride.  Unfortunately this was the best photo we could get : (

Sydney Aquarium

She loved the 'interactive' area!

One of my favorite photos from our trip!

Darling Harbour 

People watching and hanging out at the park.

So exhausted they couldn't even make it onto the train before passing out!

Hanging out

Park Time!

Since we’ve been back Kylie has started daycare. The drop offs didn’t go so well but I was assured that once she got over it she was completely over it. They said she went on to have a wonderful day both days and that she played well and had a good time. They also wrote out a summary of her day and gave me some photos when I picked her up, which was nice. I so hope she really did have a good day, because I can’t tell you the guilt I felt leaving her while she was screaming for me! I couldn’t even bring myself to leave the building until I saw her playing. The first morning it took about 10 minutes, 5 of those screaming and crying. She then stood against the wall and slowly moved closer to the play area before she took the plunge. Day two went a bit quicker, only needing about 5 minutes total to get out there and start running around. I know it will get better but I am so dreading it this week! I actually get butterflies just thinking about it! While she was in daycare I went into the city and had lunch with Jamie and we tried out this American style BBQ place which ended up being pretty good! This was the first time Jamie and I have had any alone time since we were home in September and it was much needed!! On day two I had a spa day, which was much needed as well!

It's a good thing I had that day of relaxation because as predicted Kylie is now sick.  She hasn't slept through the night since Thursday, where she woke up at 7:30pm, 9:00pm, 12:30am, 3:00am and 5:00am.  I swear she didn't wake up this much as a newborn!!  It hasn't been that bad every night, but when you're not used to getting up even once just throws off your entire night!  She woke with a fever again this morning but seemed to be getting better as the day went on.  Hopefully tomorrow is fever free otherwise we'll be missing a day or two this week (and she's only there for 2 days).  I hate to keep her out since it's only her second week, but I know if I send her in she'll just get worse.  Not too mention the fact that you don't get sick days over here, so either way I pay full price for it.  I guess we’ll just sit back and see what the week brings : )



This and that

* This post was actually written last week, but for some reason it didn't post.  Here it is anyway! *

Since nothing big has happened since my last post I thought I'd get a few little things out there.  Here's a few random thoughts and minor happenings going on at the moment.

1.  I recently started IPL treatments.  I've wanted to have it done for a while now and decided that now was as good a time as any.  I've had 2 treatments thus far and have been pretty happy with the results.  The problem with IPL?  It f#%&ing hurts!!  I figured it would be uncomfortable, but seriously?!?  If you've had it done you know what I mean.  If you haven't let me break it down for you.  Imagine lighting a match and then blowing it out.  Take that same match and put it on your skin. Yeah, that's how it feels!  And one more thing, the size of that match is the size of a lego piece!!  Knowing that imagine it all over again!  I guess I should mention that it only hurts that second that it's happening and really only on certain parts of the body.  The good news is that once it's over you feel nothing, which is why I've continued doing it.

2.  While hanging out with our neighbors a few weeks ago I head something that really pisses me off.  We were talking about travelling and I mentioned that one of my regrets is not visiting Cambodia and Vietnam before Kylie was born (since it's really not a place to take young kids).  She then started to tell me about a trip she took last year.  I guess you could say it was a 'mission' trip of sorts but the point of going was to help the prostitutes.  A friend of hers owns a safe house for women and they take them in and help them get on their feet.  They would go out to the slums and find the girls on the streets and then take them to a hotel to feed, clean, de-lice and clothe them.  They would then offer to take them to the safe house but most (almost all) declined.  Usually they would find them back on the streets that same night.  The part that really pissed me off??  The youngest girl they picked up was 4!!!  Yes, I typed that right...she was 4!!!  My first comment was "why didn't you guys take her to the police??".  She then went on to explain to me that one of the conditions of them being able to do what they do is that they aren't allowed to take the girls away unless they agree.  With the child, the parents/guardians would have to agree.  I don't know what specifically went down with this little girl (I was too pissed off to get into the details of it) but I was then told how there have been instances where they've asked parents if they can take the girls away and help them get into schools and such and the parents wanted payment (which they are not allowed to do).  I am still deeply disturbed by this conversation.  It's hard for me to imagine that when some people look at Kylie they see something sexual and not the sweet, innocent little girl that I see but some people are just sick!

3.  Kylie starts daycare in 2 weeks.  While I am happy that I'll have some free time I'm a little sad.  I've gotten used to our routine and having her around.

4.  Next week we go on our very first "Mommy & Kylie" trip.  I am so excited I can't stand it!!  I hope it goes well because it's something that I would like to make a regular thing.  We are heading to Sydney to visit our friends (Michelle and her daughter Matilda-Rose) from Perth.  A month after we moved to Brisbane they moved back to Sydney, so it worked out perfect!  Now we'll get to see each other a few times a year since it's only a 1 hour flight.  GIRLS TRIP, WHOO HOO!

5.  Punkin had her stitches and lens removed today.  Her eye is looking great and she is able to see out of it.  We now have to decide when to get the other eye done.  It shouldn't be as bad as this one but it's still a long recovery.  The plan at this point it to wait a few months and give her some time to be a dog again.  Toward the end of the year we'll discuss it and get it scheduled.

6.  Lately I've been thinking that I wouldn't mind living in Singapore again.  Crazy, I know!  I told Jamie before that I'd like to start thinking about heading back home after Brisbane (we'd like to be back in the US when Kylie starts school) but now I'm not so sure.  I do think that Singapore would be an entirely different experience this time around and we'd enjoy it a whole lot more now that we know the who, what, when, and where's of the place.  I guess only time will tell where we end up next!!