A date with my darling husband

It's not often as a mother of 4 very young children that I get the opportunity to have a date with my husband. Well this week I had two. Two!. One was just in our loungeroom. But  we shared a meal. Just the two of us. We had candles. We had music. We had children in their room and we had adult conversation. Oh the joy of just us two.

The next night we had a date away from the house. We went on the river cruise. It is a tourist boat which has a sunset cruise, nibbles on board, a camp meal and a bush poet, dessert, tea and damper. I had wanted to go on this since we arrived in Longreach but we just kept having kids and it all seemed too hard until my friend Deb insisted we go on it. It is closing down of the season and we were lucky enough to get tickets on the last trip. I'm so glad we did. It left at 4.50pm which of course with young children is not a good time but Deb insisted it would be ok. We had a wonderful time. We even got the top deck for the sunset. You have no idea how wonderful it is to be away from the kids to spend time with adults and that one you love unless it happens so rarely as it does with us. It was fabulous to spend the evening with Kevin. 

The Thomson Belle our cruise vessel.

It was an extremely hot day. At 2:30pm it was 39.2C which is almost 100F. 

We had to wear these beautiful necklaces to give us access to the top deck. Only 3 tourists allowed at the top at any time. 

Only an outback sunset looks like that. It's simple beautiful.

If you get the chance to come out to Longreach this cruise is a must. If you get the chance to spend an evening alone with the one you love, do it. 

Pregnancy

One of my friends today told me she was pregnant. I was so excited for her. Happy for her news, happy for the joy it would bring her family however it made the think of all the things I hate about pregnancy. I remember with my first pregnancy my Mum told me to enjoy every moment of it because it is over so quickly and it is a miracle. Well, every time I threw up during that first pregnancy, which was all day and night for 18 weeks, I said, "Yes, this is a miracle. Thoroughly enjoyable." Women are designed to forget what it is like. No sane women would let a man near her again if she truly remembered what it was like. 

We are still deciding, no I think we have decided, to have another baby. Yes, that means throwing up again for 18 weeks, sleepless nights during the pregnancy, 2-3 hourly feeds for 4-6 weeks, complete and utter exhaustion, teething and everything else that comes with having a baby. If you're a mother you'll know what I'm talking about. If you aren't, you think you understand but really you have no idea. So with all of that, why would I think having another baby is worth it? 

A life of joy with the new baby and watching them grow up. You can't actually put it into words. There aren't enough mushy words to describe how it feels to be a mother. I used to think I didn't have enough room in my heart to love more than one but the more I've had the more my heart has grown and the more love I have in it. My children are just amazing. Sure they drive me nuts and I feel like running away sometimes. Who doesn't? I am still learning how to be a mum. These kids challenge me every day. They test my patience. They make me wonder what I'm doing. They smile and look up for a cuddle and everything seems ok. I hear them tell their friends how wonderful their Daddy is and my heart melts. I just love being a mum. I don't think I'll ever do anything as important as be their mum. No. I know I won't. I know that it is what I'm meant to do. I know I am good at it. Usually I'm good at it. They have taught me so much about the world and about myself. I can't imagine what my life would be like without them. I am truly blessed. 

So yes, I will go again. 9 months is exceptionally short in a lifetime of joy and happiness. And this time, my last time, I will savour every moment. 

Sad news

My sister's sister-in-law died yesterday at the age of 21 from dengue fever. I am so sadden by this even though I have never met her. I feel for my sister and her family. I cannot imagine what it feels like. She was so young and had her whole life ahead of her.
Junaid is returning home to be with his family where 2 other members are ill. He has missed the funeral as, according to Islamic tradition, the body is buried as soon as possible after death. She only survived for a few short hours upon admission to hospital. She was on a hand held ventilator during her final hours. We really don't appreciate how lucky we are living in a country which has such a great health system. Where anyone can get state of the art medical treatment when ever and where ever they need it. We are so fortunate. I have not had a negative experience with our health system so I can't understand why people complain about it and compared to what others go through, ours is perfect.

On a health kick

I did my first session with the personal trainer this morning. I didn't realise how unfit I was until she put me through the paces. I cannot believe after all that walking all through winter that I have lost so much fitness. In 5mins on the treadmill I ran 900m so I can still run. It's the weight bearing activities that are my challenge. Everything with my arms is very difficult and that has to do with my shoulder injury and the lack of work they do. I can only improve from here.
My aim is to loose 7kgs so I can get my holiday without the kids. Now just to find someone to have the kids. One of my friends here offered to have the kids, she is a mother of 4 herself, but I don't think I will have got within my BMI before I leave.
Kevin is also on a health kick because he wants to purchase EuroStar which he can as soon as he gets in his BMI. Kevin has already lost 1kg this week. So unfair but good on him. We have decided not to purchase any treat foods until our Christmas celebrations. We have also decided we won't eat any food unless we have to prepare it or have it prepared for us ie. by each other or if we are lucky enough to get to go out to dinner.
One of my biggest problems is getting to bed early. One of my main goals is to get to bed by 10:30pm. That won't and hasn't guaranteed  I actually get to sleep early but I have so start somewhere. Right? I have been a night owl my whole life so it is difficult to change this habit. There are two main downsides to staying up late. Firstly I don't want to get up in the morning and then it makes it difficult to deal with the kids. Secondly, I eat at 10-11pm which is not conducive to loosing weight. For the last 5 days I have not eaten after 8pm. I have been drinking a lot of water in an attempt to ward off hunger pains but it doesn't seem to be working.
My workout routine will look like this:
Mon- PT 6-7am
Tues- walking 6-7am
         aqua aerobic 6:30-7:30pm
Wed- PT 6-7am
Thurs- walking 6-7am
           aqua aerobic 6:30-7:30pm
Fri- walking 6-7am
Sat- 1/2hr swim
Sun- rest day
A pretty full schedule. Isn't it lucky I have such a fantastic husband who supports me.
Stay tuned for some photos and an update on how I'm going.