Let's play catch-up

I figured that in order for me to fully begin 2012 I need to close out all of the 2011 business!  With the move from Perth to Brisbane occurring at the end of the year, it ended up being a bit busier than we expected but in a good way... I think!

So, time for you all to hear about our actual move to Brisbane! I may have already said it, but this was by far the most stressful move Jamie and I have made. EVER!! Having Kylie added an entire laundry list of ‘extra’ stuff to deal with that usually wouldn’t be an issue. We tried to keep stuff as ‘normal’ as possible so she didn’t get too stressed out and with the exception of painting and packing her room (which screwed her up for a couple nights) she did really well. We had no issues at either temporary house and she handled all the running around once we arrived in Brisbane wonderfully.

We spent our first month in Brisbane in a temporary house that was about 45 minutes south of the city in an area called Windaroo. The house was great, it had a pool and was on a golf course overlooking the first green, but the drive was a bit annoying. Okay a lot annoying, for all involved! Even though Jamie was in a temporary office (their new offices in the city were being built) he was still heading north thus hitting all the traffic of everyone else going into the city. His commute was anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours each way depending on when he left and any issues that day. That was with taking toll roads, which cost a total of $16.00 per day! Since we weren’t planning on staying anywhere near the area we were in, I was stuck making the same drive (sometimes longer) every time I needed to go to a house viewing. This brings me to one of my biggest pet peeves in Australia – finding a house!!!

Here are some photos of our 'Windaroo House' before I get too far into our new one.

The house

View of golf course and pool area

Kylie enjoying the pool (our Christmas card photo!) and the garden

Our friend that came by to see us every couple of days. 

Kylie *loved* him, but I don't see one in her future anytime soon!

Finding a house here, whether renting or buying, is not at all convenient. You can’t just find an agent and say “I would like to find a house in this area, this price range, etc” and have them show you everything listed. Instead you have to deal with every agent for every property. They will only show you the houses they have listed and trust me when I tell you they aren’t really even helpful with those!! I can’t tell you how many times we looked at a house that wasn’t quite right and asked the agent if they had anything that fit what we were looking for and never got a call back from them. Another problem I repeatedly ran in to was calling to set up a viewing for a house and having the agent tell me that a time had not been set up and they would call me when one was open. This would be for houses with no one in them!! You would think that they would want to get someone into an available house asap, but not so much. Instead, they would wait until multiple people called about it and then set up an open viewing so they could show it to several people at the same time. I HATE that! It’s so annoying to be looking at a house and have 3 other families there at the same time.

After 2 weeks of hard looking I started to get really discouraged. We only had the temp house until Dec 15th, and my goal was to have at least a week overlap so that it was completely move in ready to help Kylie adjust. We couldn’t extend our stay where we were because someone else was scheduled to come in on the 17th and to make matters worse it was school holidays (summer break over here) as well as Christmas time so everything else was already full (hence the reason we were staying so far away to begin with). When I did finally find a house that was PERFECT the management company said that the owners wouldn’t accept any pets, go figure!! Two weeks after finding ‘the house’ Jamie suggested we submit the application anyway since it was still available, thinking that maybe the owners might reconsider if they actually had someone ready to take it. In the end we didn’t have to submit an application on it because that morning another house was listed so we ran over to see it and submitted the application for it that day, yay!!  It ticked all of our boxes, was available for move in and it was a new build...just perfect!


I won’t go into all the drama that was associated with our first week/10 days in this house but it’s all been worked out now and we’re here. The best part is we were moved in, satellite TV/internet on and aircon installed by Christmas!!

Our new home! 

It doesn't look all that big from the front but it's really deep so it has plenty of space. 

 View as you're walking in the front door. 

Behind the wall in the back are where the office and the master bedroom are.

View of kitchen area from living area. You can also see the small laundry area and the door to the half bath.  Just past the area where the fridge goes is an opening to a massive butlers pantry. 

Kylie's playroom all set up.  I think the kid's got it made!

It was a little sad not being with family for the holidays but it was nice to be able to have Kylie wake up to a big Santa gift on Christmas morning. I made a beautiful Christmas dinner and we got to know our neighbors over a few drinks that afternoon, which was lovely. Overall it was a great Christmas! Jamie was also able to take a few weeks off over the holidays, which was great. We are definitely looking forward to being in the US for Christmas this year though!

Christmas Tree after Santa's visit! 

He dropped off a few small things inside since her 'big' gift couldn't fit under the tree, lol!

Christmas morning!

 She loved the swing so much she feel asleep while Jamie was pushing her, DAR-LING!!

Since Christmas things have been pretty uneventful. As of this week Jamie has moved into his office in the city, Kylie has started swim classes (that’s an entire post on its own!) and we’ve found a playgroup that meets once a week to get some interaction with other moms/kiddos. I haven’t started looking for work because the 2 places I want Kylie to get into for childcare have a wait list and they have no clue when she’ll get in. When I say wait list I mean like, probably won’t get in this year wait list! I wish I could say that we’ve explored the entire city and surrounding areas already but I can’t even name 1 trendy spot we’ve visited! Guess that’s life with a little one and a husband that seems to be working and travelling more than ever. We do have some exciting trips planned for this year though and hopefully a few more will pop up as we go along. 

For now, here's a few more photos of us enjoying the new house and neighborhood.

Enjoying the new backyard

Helping decorate the Christmas tree

Enjoying a nice quiet book with Daddy

Hanging out at the park in our neighborhood

Oooh, I can name 1 place we've been!! A few weeks ago we took Kylie down to Southbank for the afternoon. We were really having a great time and then it started to storm so our afternoon was cut short. We’ll definitely be visiting again though so I’ll be sure to take photos next time.

Best Friends

So I know that I still owe you guys a catch-up of our move to Brisbane, Christmas, etc but I first have to put this out there.  As some of you know my sweet Punkin was admitted to hospital last week and had surgery on Wednesday. 

For those of you who don't know Punkin's history you can click here. 

Over the weekend (last weekend) Punkin was squinting her right eye.  This is not unusual for her since she usually does it every time she gets a new spot in her eye.  Usually it goes on for a day or two and once she adjust to having it things are fine.  Then Monday came around.  I remember looking down at her during the day and thinking "Wow, that right eye looks completely white.  I don't think old girl can see".  I bent down, rubbed on her head and gave her a kiss.  Poor girl!  That night she was sitting in the recliner and I noticed that her eye was sunken back and really swollen.  I called Jamie over to look at it and he agreed we needed to take her in.  I called the vet and got an appointment for first thing the next morning.  We didn't think it was an emergency at the time, just that she had probably scratched her eye on something so the next morning was fine.

At the appointment they examined her and said that there was no scratch.  The vet thought that Punkin needed to be seen by a specialist and suggested that I leave her so they could fit her in since this person is usually booked out for months in advance.  I agreed and Kylie wasn't too happy.  We got to the door and she started hitting her leg saying "mon Punkin, mon Punkin".  I felt so bad!  She continued to call for her for the rest of the day.

I got a call later that day stating that Punkin had a number of things wrong with her eyes.  She was diagnosed with Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye), Corneal dystrophy in both eyes, an ulceration of the right eye and an unknown growth on the left eye.  The corneal dystrophy is what was causing the white spots so that was nothing new, everything else took us by surprise. 

The surgery on Wednesday was to repair the dry eye and ulceration on the right eye and since she would be asleep they were going to go ahead and remove the growth from the left eye and do further testing if they need to.  Evidently when the Dr examined the ulceration, the tissue in and around it just fell off. The plan was to go in and debride it and then put a lens over it so it can heal without her touching it. If all went well and she healed okay she would have surgery for the corneal dystrophy next (part 2) to remove all the lipid deposits from both eyes later on.  During the surgery they found that her cornea was in really bad shape though and some of the spots were infected.  Because of this she decided to go ahead and take them out so they didn't turn into ulcerations as well.  She was able to get 99% if them but some of them were really deep and she said Punkin was in lots of pain so she didn't think it was a good idea to bring her home.  They decided to keep her until Friday afternoon so she could get around the clock pain meds and antibiotics. 

I picked her up on Friday and Kylie couldn't have been happier.  She followed Punkin around everywhere, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen!  If Punkin would sit on the floor so would Kylie.  She would pet her and scratch her back, soo stinkin' cute!  Today (Sunday) unfortunately Punkin was readmitted to hospital due to some swelling and pain issues.  Her eye as pretty swollen, she was making some wining noises while sleeping and when I went to clean the eye/put her drops in it she actually snapped at me <---- not like her at all!!  I spoke with Pauline (the eye specialist) before I took her in and she told me by the sound of things she would need to stay overnight for additional medications and a removal of stitches to check the eye out in the morning.  Kylie took leaving her a bit better this time since I was able to coach her before hand that she would be staying.  All this got me to thinking though.

I had no clue that Kylie was that attached. I knew that she loved her, but I guess I didn't realize that she was old enough to really have an attachment like that. After thinking about it, it broke my heart : ( I don't think I'll be able to handle the time when it comes that Punkin (or Budder for that matter) are no longer with us. How am I going to comfort her as well?  Hopefully it's something I don't have to think about for a while.  When it does happen though, thankfully I've been able to capture some great moments with Kylie and Punkin.  How special is it that she'll be able to look back at these photos and always remember her 1st best friend!!

From the first day we brought her home Punkin felt like she had to be the protector!  And to think we were worried that she would be jealous!

First day home (4 days old)

5 weeks old

Just hanging out

Always by her side!

Sweet rubs and kisses!

Maybe this is why Punkin loves her so!

Not all kisses must take place on the face...

But I sure try!

Kylie returning the favors for her best friend!

  Punkin's first afternoon home from surgery.

Videos for the family

By request for the family, videos of Kylie at Christmas.  Too big to email and facebook was taking FOREVER!!!  Enjoy!

Christmas Morning

Playing on the new swing/playset that Santa left her.  She can't get enough of it!

Pushing her baby on the swing.

Last weeks in Perth

Our last weeks in Perth were pretty hectic. Jamie was working tons (what’s new?) and we hadn’t found a house on our trip to Brisbane. Add that to the fact that we were supposed to be out of our Perth house on the 24th of October and that made our move a bit stressful. There was other stuff going on behind the scenes that further complicated things, but since I’m writing a blog and not a book there’s really no need to go into the details. The result of everything combined ended with our stay in Perth being extended until the 12th of November and a very stressful few weeks for all involved.

Even with all the stress, we tried to make the most of it. I’m sad to say that there are a number of things we didn’t get to see/do before we left, but I guess that just gives us a reason to go back and visit one day. Well, that and the fact that Perth is Kylie’s hometown. I feel sad that she won’t grow up in the same place that she was born, much less get to visit it. By the time she starts school she will have lived in at least 2 places, most likely 3 or more though. At the moment, assuming that we don’t move back to Perth one day, my plan is to return with Kylie when she graduates from high school. Jamie’s response to this was “yeah right, likes she’s going to want to spend her summer before college in Australia with her mom. She’ll want to go to Cancun with her friends.” My response, “That’s fine, I’ll go to Cancun with her and then we’ll head to Oz from there.” I was half joking, but I do have every intention of bringing her back to visit one day. I think that she would think it was pretty cool as well. I guess we shall see what the future brings!

Instead of spitting out commentary of our last few weeks I’ll hit the highlights with a few photos below.

Kylie’s Nursery, completed.  Not sure if I ever posted any photos of her room once it was all done but here it is.  Probably the saddest moment of our last few weeks was having to return Kylie’s room back to the original color.  I hated doing it and I think it freaked her out as she didn’t sleep though the night for a few days afterwards.  I have to admit, it was a great '1^st' room If I do say so myself!

 

Kylie’s 1^st trip to the zoo.  I was a little disappointed in our trip to the Perth zoo.  I really thought that Kylie was going to be really into it, but she wasn’t quite old enough to get it.  She wasn’t very interested in the animals and had more fun running around from exhibit to exhibit.

 

Lots of time was spent playing in the backyard.  The weather was perfect when we returned from our trip to the US/Brisbane and we couldn’t get enough of the outdoor activities.   Great memories were made in this backyard, I hated to leave it  : (

 The girl can't get enough of her books!

Or her Daddy!

We continued to send Kylie to daycare up to the very end since we knew that it may take awhile to get her into another one in Brisbane.  Having to say goodbye to the people there was the 2^nd saddest part of leaving.  I loved that center and Kylie did as well.  They were extremely nice and took lots of photos of Kylie enjoying her last few weeks there.

Kylie and her 'bestie' Matilda-Rose

She was so sad that it was her last day with Tash and Sara she wouldn't even smile for the photo!

Since we left a few weeks later than we expected I had 2 weeks of Kylie in daycare with no work.  I used this time to get the house ready for our move and hanging with my girls!   After one of our ‘booze lunches’ we decided to make an afternoon of it since we didn’t have to get the girls from daycare until 5-ish.  We extended our lunch by heading down to Subiaco Hotel and had a few more drinks there.  It must have been the place to be because we ended up meeting the ‘1^st bloke’ (the Prime Minister of Australia’s partner Tim Mathieson).  He was there celebrating his birthday with some mates and after a few drinks I decided it would be a good idea to go up and talk to him.  He was very polite and after a nice conversation with him he even took a few photos with us.  How many people do you know can say they hang out with cool crowds like this??



The same weekend I hung with the 1^st bloke Kylie and I attended the Queen’s BBQ.  She was in town for the commonwealth heads of government meetings (which was why the PM and her partner were there) and on her last day in town they held a big BBQ for her and Prince Phillip on the foreshore.  I took Kylie down there not because I thought she would remember it, but because how many American’s can actually say they’ve seen the Queen in person?  Not to mention she’s like 90, so I don’t think she’ll be travelling much longer.  Her visit to Perth was probably the first and last time we’d get to see her.  I was pretty aggravated that I moved from our original spot, as she ended up greeting people right where we were standing (we were right on the barricade with only 1 person in front of us).  I moved because 1.  At the time I didn’t think she was going to walk that way and 2.  I was afraid that if Kylie had a breakdown I wouldn’t be able to get out once the people started filling in behind us.  In the end we still had a great view and hey, I attended a BBQ with the Queen of England.  How many people can say they’ve done the same?

Eating lunch while waiting for the Queen to arrive

 

It's exhausting seeing the Queen!

 The last family event we attended in Perth was the Little Feet Fest.  Kylie had a great time running around in the mazes and at the petting zoo.  She was still a little young for some of the stuff, but I think overall she had a great time.

Fun in the maze

Feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Starting to warm up

It's all good now!



Of course we couldn’t leave without having a proper Melbourne Cup luncheon. It was a great time with the girls and the kiddos and I ended up getting 2^nd place in my draw, which is always a plus.

  



Some of the girls I work with arranged a ‘going away’ outing one night to relax, have some drinks and say goodbye.  It was nice to have a night to hang out with a few friends before I left for Brisbane where I would know no one.  After the week I’d had getting the house ready to hand over (our property manager was a pain in the ass!) I needed (and deserved) a few drinks so the timing worked out well!  Here’s a photo of me and the Hollywood Private Hospital theater (OR/recovery) girls!!

Since Kylie had so much fun at the LFF I got together with my Perth bestie (and Kylie’s bestie) and we went to the grand opening of the Waterford Plaza center.  I had a great time hanging out with Shell and the girls had a good time at the petting zoo and with the balloon lady. We ended the day at Gloria Jeans having yummy chocolate drinks and baby chinos.  What a great way to end the day!

Patiently waiting for the ballon lady to finish

The best part of the day!

Wow!!  Even though I feel like I’ve been writing forever I can’t believe that our last days in Perth went by so fast!  Of course, we had to have some family photos taken before we left Kylie’s home town.  Here’s a few from our last day in Perth at our favorite spot and our last visit to our first family home!  Thank goodness it’s time to end this post as I can no longer see to type anymore!!

 

 

 

The best one we could get!  She was actually trying to get away in this photo, lol!

 



Coming Soon!!

Updates coming soon, I promise!!