40 More Days...The Final Count Down

I can hardly believe that it's almost time for bub to make his debut. We only have 40 more days 'til our due date, and I'm REALLY hoping he doesn't plan on being fashionably late. Mum is getting quite uncomfortable these days. They say that feeling your baby move is the "BEST feeling in the World". Don't misunderstand me. I love being pregnant and am happily anticipating this little guy's arrival. But, I would be lying if I said, "I love feeling him move".

Pregnancy is different for everyone. For me, it's been quite painful the last few weeks. Our Baby likes to do what the books call "pedaling". Pedaling is basically what it sounds like. His arms and legs are pedaling inside me as if he's riding a bike. His feet, hands, knees and elbows punch on the insides of my belly and then strongly scrape across me. This can go on for hours, and it's caused me to feel quite bruised inside. But, that doesn't stop our little guy from scraping my bruised areas daily/hourly. In addition to scraping my belly, since he's dropped and is in the head down position, his feet have found my ribs. UGH! He doesn't know what he's doing. He's just trying to make some room for himself and get comfortable in the small space my vertically challenged body has given him. I understand this. However, this mom has been brought to tears from the pain his movements have caused. It seems the only time I am truly comfortable is while in the bath. Baby seems to relax and settle down, and my belly softens as it becomes weightless. I love it! For about a month, I've been taking a warm bath nightly, and there have been days when I've contemplated taking multiple baths. You know it's been a rough evening when Ryan disappears into the bathroom, runs the bath water, pours the lavender bath in, and orders me in . It doesn't take long before I am saying, "I feel SO much better".

Like I said, I know bub doesn't know he's hurting me, and I know that he's only trying to get comfortable as his space gets more and more cramped. When I get scraped and rib punched, I do my best to remember that. It's not always easy. But, I try. In the end, what else can I do? We have 40 more days til D (Due) Day, and for this Mum it can't come quick enough.

Falling for the Perfect Photo

Double Rainbow as Tropical Storm Approaches across Lake Weyba

Beautiful shot, huh? Well, there's a story behind this picture. It's a painful and stressful story....

As we were sitting in the Lake Room enjoying Howard's surprise birthday lunch, I looked out the window at the 180* view of Lake Weyba and saw this brilliant, double rainbow. I immediately grabbed my camera and headed for the back door. As I was walking out onto the back deck, Ryan yelled, "be careful!". He knows me well, and I wish I would have heeded his warning. I safely made my way down the steep, wood stairs to the jetty. I don't quite know what happened after that. I think because I had made it safely down the stairs, I let my guard down. Ironically, I was on flat ground when it happened. I had just stepped off the jetty in order to get the perfect angle for my photo, and my foot got caught up on a thin wire cable. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. Oh, my poor knees!! I am so thankful I had the sense to protect my belly because, honestly, it was the kind of fall that should have laid me out flat. I not only protected our baby, but also my camera by going down on my knees. It wasn't a planned landing. But, I went down HARD on both knees and on the hand that wasn't carrying the camera. I think I scared Howard and his brother in law, Dietmar, but I KNOW I scared myself. I was, understandably, panicky for the rest of the night for fear that the fall had hurt the baby. Ryan kept reassuring me that my poor, bloody knees were the only thing that I had hurt. And he made sure to add, "I told you to be careful". Ever since the fall, I have been conscientiously aware of how I move my body and am being much more methodical about my steps so that nothing like that ever happens again.

Babymoon on the Sunshine Coast

Ryan and I drove up the Queensland Coast this past weekend for a last getaway before Bub makes his arrival in a few weeks. It was a BIG weekend in Oz. We met Marg and Howard at Eumarella Shores on Lake Weyba to celebrate Howard's 60th Birthday, it was both the 1st weekend of Spring & Father's Day, and Ryan and I were happy to have a Babymoon on the Sunshine Coast. Heaps of things to celebrate!

We drove up at midday on Friday stopping at Howard and Marg's beautiful lake front accommodations on Lake Weyba. We had planned to pop by for a quick visit before leaving to check in at our place at Castaway Cove. But, we ended up being invited to stay for a delicious wild Baramundi dinner, and how can you say no to that? It was delicious! Plus, we had a 5 Star view of the lake from the Lake Room at the cottage. Not too shabby!!


On Saturday, Ryan and I started the day at the Eumundi Markets , which is an outdoor hippy, skippy, artsy, fartsy type market. Here "you'll find original artworks, sculptures, furniture, handmade toys, housewares, and skincare, as well as cutting edge fashion and jewelery by local designers", not to mention the plethora of food stalls. I LoVE the Eumundi Markets, and was happy to find a small, handmade purse for a reasonable price.

Here are a couple of stalls from the markets

After spending a lazy morning wandering the market stalls, we headed back to the lake cottage to celebrate Howard's 60th Birthday with a surprise lunch. Marg had organized for about 20 people to join them for a beautiful afternoon. I wish I would have taken a picture of the food table. It was gorgeous! There were scrumptious salads, ripe fruit, a variety of cheeses, beautiful breads, meat & sea food trays and more. Everyone used a plate to start lunch off. But, then we all grazed for about 6 more hours. We finished the night with ice cream and berries while watching a Paul Kelly tribute DVD. I would have to say, Howard's surprise birthday lunch was a huge success.

On Sunday, Ryan and I checked out Castaway Beach, where our hotel was....




before heading a few kilometers into Noosa. We walked up and down the quaint beach town window shopping and drinking a cappuccino. We didn't spend too much time in Noosa since, as we sat on the beach, we watched a tropical storm approach.

Paddle Boarder at Noosa trying to beat the storm

Noosa Beach looking toward the National Park

We started our two hour drive home just as the rain started to come down. It was perfect timing. The weather had cooperated for our last getaway before baby is born, and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

*Click here to see the full gallery of photos from our weekend on the Sunshine Coast.