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Oh yes - Zara does that too. I call it "Klingon" No idea what she is saying but she keeps saying it and it is the same sound so it must be my fault for not understanding her, lol.
Teena - yes, Warringah Mall shopping trip :D !!! I know we get good clothes here too but the nice thing is that if you buy stuff in Oz, no one knows it here in Europe, I like that. I like the stuff Cotton on Kids and Pumpkin Patch has for girls but I like neither of them for boys. But will probably get some surfy-Tees for Wolf, maybe a naugthy/rude Mambo one, lol. Some uggs and some flip flops too!! Hi hi. Ppl here always ask me about the baby havaianas, they just don't sell them here.
Katie - yes, I want to find out and yes, I will let everyone know. Not phased this time. Last time I really didn't want to know but this time I think it's more practical seeing that I have boy and girl clothes already, so I know which ones to wash before going to hospital. Helps me with being organised.
I got my maternity clothes from the basement. It's all smelly (you know that mouldy/stinky old people kinda musty smell? YUCK) so am washing it at momo. I was a bit shocked to see how many I have *blush*... I thought I only had 2 or 3 pieces left... but I certainly need some more things as both previous pregnancies were winter ones and thus only have winter clothes. (ha! there's an excuse for more shopping!)
Feeling much better re. morning sickness. I hope it's all over now. I have been absolutely famished the last few days but I don't really want to put on too much weight... I still have Wolf's baby weight to lose (I lost all of Zara's but still had 4 kg from Wolf to lose)
Went to a nice spa hotel on the weekend in Interlaken and had a 2 hr spa treatment on Sunday - beautiful!! I felt like a different person. Wolf was still sick but DH said we should go seeing that we had paid for the room and everything. My mom came too so her spa treatment was her birthday present (which is on Friday). She loved it too.... so nice... I could do this once a week... no, make that every day :). This morning Wolf woke up without a fever, all back to normal and yesterday he had 40deg fever and was lethargic and floppy and not himself... it's funny how quickly kids recover. Now I am just praying that Zara won't get it because it was quite nasty, 4 days of 40 deg fever... nasty bugs...
Can't wait for Oz and to escape the last bout of winter bugs here.
Snowy
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Grrrr, I did a HUGE post yesterday. Wonder where it has gone? Gosh I hope I didn't post in the wrong thread, or the ladies in TTC are going to think I have gone nuts :lol: I better go check!
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hey everyone! we have just been in melbourne for a week for a family function(g'ma's 90th). the flight down was horrible, as both kids were asleep so we were stuck in uncomfortable positions holding them for hours on end- and walking with bags and babies (no pram/sling) was close to impossible... but we managed. i wrote olly's dob a month later so we didn't have to pay for his ticket down, but declared his proper age and paid full price on the way back... i needn't have bothered, both times no one asked for i.d and there was plenty of seats and he didn't sit in his seat at all anyway. he ran up and down the aisle talking to anyone who'd look at him, making friends, scamming food and speaking indonesian. the virginblue cabin crew loved him.
the party itself was great - mylo, now 2months, smiled at all the rellies and put up with being handed around all day loong. olly ran amok with the other kids and basked in the adoring attention of the adults. the week we were there involved non stop dinners and bbq's and get togethers- it was exhausting but awesome. glad to be home. first thing i did once home was get myself a double pram ($20 on ebay!:lol:) so i can get lots of exercise. i'm not pg (phew) so i have no excuse for all the chocolate and cake and icecream the holiday involved. went for a big walk this morning with the kids and feel great (but v hungry:rolleyes:). loving my boys and loving my life right now. hope everyone is going good
x lara
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Nadine - i HATE when that happens!
Lara - I wouldnt have bothered either. When we fly back to Oz I'm actually really happy that Ben is now 2, and has to pay for a seat. Gives me piece of mind. It was harder flying back (seat wise) than there last time because I was alone the airline blocked a seat (or a row where possible) next to me so Ben did have a seat (i was flying alone). But on the way back Dh was flying with me and they couldnt do that. Although we got the front seats, with more leg room, we had to have Ben on our laps most of the time... AND THEN the seatbelt sign comes on when we are eating. OMG, that's terrible. The airline was MUCH more helpful and nicer when i flew there alone. But we were basically ignored on the way home. grrr.
Snowy - I know what you mean about clothing. But when i tried to find a sleeping bag in Oz i had a terrible time! You would think being such a "child safe" country that sleeping bags would be everywhere. 90% of the people i talked to about it had no idea what i was going on about. In the end i had to order one online from Perth (grobag). Crazy. I love cotton-on too, but you're right, they have much nicer stuff for girls than boys.
You must be in Oz now (or almost). I want to be there too!! Have a great time :D
Me, well im chugging along. I've started a new German course (at night). It's great to get out of the house. Ben is sick with the flu at the moment. And he has a tooth coming through, so we have just had a couple of snuggling days. I had food poisoning last week (MIL gave us some cooked steak she brought home from work - lol). OMG what a horrible day that was.
Speaking of MIL. I had a gyno appointment (pap etc...) yesterday morning. My doc is very booked out so the only one i could get was at 8am. Ben was still sick so i asked if they could take ben for an hour in the morning - told them why. Then last night MIL came over with a smirk on her face and finally said "what was the appointment for, is everything okay?" *trying to hide smiles
I just said it was for a check-up etc.... And you could see her smile melting away. lol. I sware she thought i was pg because she knew i spent the whole day (and night) over the toilet the other week. Sorry MIL, it was your steak that did that. :rolleyes:
Dh is running a half-marathon on Saturday. The weather has been really bad here, storms and strong winds. I hope it settles down for it. cross fingers.
Well i need to go before i accidently delete this all (typical of me).
Katie.
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@ Katie
Ben looks so big in the avatar!! Well, our babies are all 2 now after all.
Oh yes, I am glad Zara is 2 and has her own seat. Last time we flew to Oz we flew just before Wolf's 2nd birthday, which meant that we didn't have to pay for a seat on the way back either, even though he was 2 then and DH regretted it so much. Wolf kept kicking him out off his seat going "My seat! Go away, Papa!" and DH said "next time everyone gets a seat, even when they are not 2" lol
I also said to DH that this Christmas will have to be the one we fly to Oz, so we should be back there again in December because I am not going next year with a 20 month old that has to be on my lap for 22 hours!! No way!
lol on your MIL thinking / hoping you might be p.g again!
@ Lara
arrg, I feel your pain on the flight... it's hard with 2 kids (we did that last year when Zara was 9 months - not a good time as she wanted to walk up and down the plane the whole time and I had to hold her hand... let's just say I knew EVERYONE on the plane really well by the end..)
Nadine - how are you doing???
Me - doing well. Looking big now! I have another appointment tomorrow. I am very excited and hoping to find out the gender.
Flying to Oz on Sunday. Nervous and apprehensive (about the flight) as well as excited.
Snowy
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Hi Ladies
I hope you don't mind me joining your thread as I am new to the site but I have a 2 year old daughter, Genevieve who was born 11/2/06 so I think we might belong here :lol:
I live in Melbourne with my partner and work part time as a HR Manager. I also sit on the board for our local childcare centre which is a parent run cooperative, so things get pretty hectic around here.
I look forward to getting to know you better and seeing what your wonderful 2 year olds are getting up to!
(And Snowy, i love your daughters middle name ;) )
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Welcome Nai!
Sorry It's so quiet in here. Most ladies are pregnant, TTC or have new babies, so they are more active in other forums. haha, i think I'm the only one that isnt any of the three, so i'll help keep this thread active!
I'm Katie and my son is Ben. I'm from Vic, but am currently living in Germany (my husband is German). We hope to move back to Oz in Dec, Jan or Feb. I really really (i cant stress that enough!) wish we were moving back now - i've had serious bouts of homesickness lately and am in a "black hole" ATM (but i wont go into that ;) )
I've had a quick look at your webpage, it's really great!
Hello to you all! I hope you are doing great!
Snowy, i hope you are enjoying Oz! Must be nice to be away from the cold! The weather here is warming up slightly - I'm sure it's the same where your parents are. But it's making me so sad. The smell of spring is making me miss home. So strange.
Not much news from my end. We are finally planning the move back to Oz. Need to start searching for companies for Dh to contact about work, organise Visa for Dh, citizenship (for Ben), scrape the money together and work up the courage to tell the in-laws. NOT looking forward to that at all. I know it will break their heart, but i just can't stay here anymore. I need my life back. I'm a pretty quiet person, and very shy - and i feel like it's having an impact on Ben. I want him to be happy and have a great childhood. Happy parents = happy children. And i'm just not happy ATM. Dh understands and is more than willing to go to Oz, he just needs to finish up Uni.
Snowy - Do you know the cheapest way we could start sending stuff home? We dont want to take any large things home, but we do want to start shipping things like Ben's favourite books etc... I know you can send up to 20kg for ?80 with DHL, it's the cheapest i've found.
Also, did you find out the gender???????????
OH! and i read about your floors! Did you get any answers?
Should go and so something productive.
take care,
Katie.
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Thanks Katie!
Where are you going to be returning to in Oz? If it's Melbourne then I may be able to help you (I work in HR and have worked in recruitment for 8+ years so have some good contacts around the place). The weather here has been diabolical - 2 weeks ago it was 41 degrees, then last week it was 10 degrees and yesterday we had 120km winds..... no wonder everyone is sneezing and spluttering and feeling under the weather (pun intended).
I will be more active in this thread too as I am like you - no 2nd baby, not pregnant and not TTC (yet).
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Welcome Nai :D Your daughter is beautiful. Very cute!
A little about me, I am married to my lovely DH and we live in Sydney. Our daughter Kayla is one very mischievious (sp?) toddler but we adore her :D We are TTC#2 and have been for 11months now, so we are hoping it will happen soon.
Katie- Sorry that you haven't been feeling the best. It must be very hard for you to be away from family. That would be lovely if you could be in Oz for christmas or Ben's 3rd birthday :)
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Nadine - Yes, it will be so wonderful to be back in Oz for Xmas and 3rd birthday! I have only been home for 1 Christmas in the past 7 years! Sad. I really can't wait to settle down :D I'm very excited for our future!
I've been teaching Ben his body parts lately. now he knows: nose, head, arm, hands, toes, legs, ears, mouth, eyes and belly. It's soooo gorgeous. He also LOVES Lazytown! (actually, i do too!). It's really fun watching him dance and sing to the lazytown cd soundtrack (he attempts the splits, lol), i must get it on film! He still isnt speaking as much as the other kids in his playgroup, but he is getting there. Speaking way more English than German, but he understands a lot of German.
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Nai, I've just PM'ed you :D
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Thanks Nadine, I think she is pretty cute too but I am slightly biased :lol: I have no doubt Kayla is keeping you on your toes, they really do start asserting that "mind of their own" thing around 2 years of age! I hope baby #2 isn't far away for you - TTC can be a tough journey.
Katie, I got your PM so have messaged you back. More than happy to help out :) It would be great to have a bilingual child. Unfortunately DP and I only speak English, however as Genevieve is obsessed with Dora the Explorer her Spanish is coming along nicely.....
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Katie - I think it is probably cheapest to ship everything together. You get part of a container and then if you don't care how long it takes, you can wait for someone to have space in their container. Getting a container for yourself can be quite costly and I don't think you probably have that much furniture to justify getting a whole container? We had about half a container (containing 1 bed, 2 sofas, bikes, 40 boxes of various things, some small pieces of furniture, bookshelf, chest of drawers, the like). We used a company called Anglo Pacific which I used from the UK (as the name implies, as we were living in London at the time). I have had good experience within Europe with UTS - it's a network of local shippers. Some people will give you ridiculous quotes and propose things like putting things on palettes, which is outrageoulsy expensive. There is definitely not that much experience with shipping things to Australia from continental Europe vs. UK. So it might pay to check with some UK shippers. Maybe, if you have friends in London, get someone to get you the TNT magazine (free magazine for antipdoeans in London). They have lots of ads in there. It might pay to pack stuff yourself and drive them to Dover, rather than using a European shipper. Or they might take it from Rotterdam, which should only be 2 hours from you. Also, what you can do, if you have tickets to Oz, is send things as unaccompanied luggage. I have done that, when I've only had roughly 80kg to ship. The stuff can then be collected from the airport when you arrive. It also takes longer, as it gets put on a plane when there is space (I think I sent mine 2 weeks before my actual flight and was able to pick it up 3 weeks after my arrival).
Also: re. visa for DH, if you need any help, let me know. I have done it for myself and for 2 friends (spousal visa). Passport for Ben should be easy. It might even pay to make a day trip to Berlin and sort out both things at one time. THe visa application can take quite some time! (and don't think just because you are married, they hand it to you... it can be very frustrating... you need statements from Australian citizens, that your relationship is true and ongoing, yadiya, lots of proof. I had this whole folder, all organised, labelled, indexed, etc. and they still came back with questions!!! and i thought I had put EVERYTHING in there - I hope you have joined bank accounts - if not get one, and make sure your name is on bills as well as his, to proof that you are living together and not just have a "fake marriage" )
Again - if you need help, contact me through facebook, okay? I am happy to help. Oh and for Ben I think you need an Australian who is not family to testify, that the passport photo is indeed him. The website is really good but you will need a lot of stuff to support applications with the Australian government. Do you have an international birth certificate? Otherwise get a certified translation (expensive). Same goes for marriage certificate, DH's birth certificate, etc. But you will find all that on the website.
Anyway ... sorry I am hijacking the thread for "immigration assistance"
lol
you gotta be happy to be moving back!!
No, haven't found out gender yet, but am contemplating going to a doc while in Oz, seeing that I have a medicare card and would get the big scan basically for free if I go to a bulk bill place. Otherwise will find out when I'm back in Switzerland - but I have to say that I am sooooo curious, I wouldn't mind knowing NOW (and being able to buy some stuff from Pumpkin Patch or Cotton on Kids that no one in Europe will have)
Nai - hi and welcome to the group!! My daughter's middle name is actually a family name. Name of grandma, name of SIL, middle name for lots of granddaughters and great granddaughters (incl. Zara) and I thought it was a really pretty name (but since it's SIL's first name, wouldn't have picked it has a first name). Do you call your daughter Gen or Genevieve? (SIL is always just called Gen).
re. floorboards: well I moved to SIL's place for one night as it was so stinky, then returned on Friday night to our place. Just went downstairs and it hardly smells anymore (have kept the front door open for 2 nights downstairs, with just the screendoor open, I guess that helped).
Hope everyone is well!!
Snowy
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Snowy, we call Genevieve Vievey for short. Mainly because she could say Vievey from a very early age and it is a bit different to Gen. I'm sure she will get called Gen at school though as she will probably think Vievey is too babyish. Claudia is a family name as DP's father's middle name was Claude and his grandfather was also Claude so we incorporated the feminine....there wasn't much we could do with his Dad's first name Barry :lol:
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Wow Snowy, you've scared me now! haha. We were married in Melbourne almost 4 years ago - have joint bank accounts in both Oz and Germany, living together for 6 years now... I will really need to get a move on and organize things like translations. I will definately contact you if i need any more help/info/advice! thank you!! I'm pretty sure Dh knows a few profs from Uni that can do certified translations. Good thing we're starting now.
On the subject... Dh went to a friend's birthday party on Friday night, being under the influence he told basically everyone about our plans to move back. I was so angry because our town is quite small, and word gets around faster than anything! He told them not to say anything as we hadnt told his family yet (OMG as if they wouldnt!). Sure enough the very next morning we got a call from BIL saying that they knew. I cannot believe Dh did that. We went to visit them the afternoon and i could tell MIL was upset. She went on and on about how much they understand "my" decision to move back. They said they will support us in everything we decide to do... I didnt say one word because i was fighting back the tears. It all came too fast i suppose - and Ben was playing in front of me. I was so upset because i know how much Ben loves them, and they love Ben, it breaks my heart knowing that I'm breaking them up (so to say). In the end i locked myself in the bathroom. :cry:
Well, should go - making a cake :D
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oh katie, so sad about u locking yrself in the bathroom. poor you! we cant live for our parents or inlaws- cant be responsible for other's happiness; they'll adapt. just glad you'll be happy once you move home. body parts hahaha olly too! i love it. we're into the wiggles - all day and night, wiggles songs in my head. i ebayed some different dvds to get a break (thomas etc) so i'll be hating the sound of the fat controller in weeks time. oh well, i'm sure the Indonesian kids shows are way worse, with way more annoying music. wiggles are pretty rockin' really. Hows the german kids shows?
typing one handed: i need more arms: 2 more wld b good. bad design this body of mine.
mylo is 3 months still keeping me up all nite. very cute and sociable now.
cant retain info about who's who doing what ( brain turned to jelly with pregnancy, never recovered) sorry everyone. hello tho.
lara
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German kid's programs arent too bad... but honestly, we (haha, Ben) watch Uk tv. We have a dish set up to get it. We have sooo many channels (disney etc (from pay-tv), german kids channels, Uk kids channels) so much to choose from. My dad sent over nearly all the wiggles Dvds for us. It's soooooooo funny you brought that up because we just got home from Playgroup and i was in the bathroom, and when i came out i found Ben had turned on the tv and put a wiggles Dvd in the dvd player (upside-down of course). He's never done that before. So as i type he is watching yummy yummy.
Lara, if Olly loves the wiggles, why not try to encourage Hi5? Their songs are quite catchy. Actually get him hooked on Lazytown! You might enjoy that too.
Ben loves Charlie and Lola, dora the explorer, blues clues, in the night garden, wiggles, hi5, Brum. So many. His very favourite is Lazytown (as i mentioned before:D). Not that he watches Tv THAT often ;)
i know we cant live for our parents/grandparents... I just know now is the right time to go back. I know the longer we stay, the harder it will be for everyone. also, my grandparents back home arent getting any younger, and im so scared something will happen to them before they were able to spend some time with Ben and Ben with them.
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Nai - lol, no not much you can do with Barry :D.
Katie - oh poor you. I can imagine it must be heart breaking. my mom always says, she hopes she is dead when we move back to Oz (great emotional blackmail, huh?). But I know what she means... Wolf and Zara really love her and she has seen them both from birth. At the same time I know it's hard for MIL that we are in Europe and they only get to see the kids 2-3 times a year (well, still that's pretty good for such a long distance). I actually think if you add it up, MIL sees the kids more than my own parents, because my parents only come for a few days, or we drive up for a long weekend or so, whereas we are here now for 7 weeks and they came for like 5 weeks at xmas (FIL even for 7 weeks)
But it is hard.
It's funny, when I was younger, I never thought twice about having an international relationship.. didn't see any problems with me living overseas etc. But when you have kids, things change. And grandparents love their grandkids so much (well, in most cases at least) and it all gets so complicated.
Lara - I hope Mylo will sleep better soon. It's so tyring with a newborn who wakes so often at night. (oh kinda dreading that phase... though I love the newborn phase in general... just not the broken nights)
Me - all good. Zara is a stubborn little monkey as usual. You should have seen the tantrums she has thrown her. Bashed me up with a thong in Warringah Mall the other day. People were staring at this little monster, who was SCREAMING and rolling on the floor. I was just laughing (what else can you do.. cry maybe...)
She is definitely speaking more and more. When I ask her where Papa is she says "Papa go away in a car" (cause that's the last she saw of him - he of course took a plane to London but we didn't all go to the airport)
Snowy
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Snowy, that's really cute. Ben isnt really putting sentences together yet.
I know what you mean about laughing at the tantrums. I feel like a terrible mother. when Ben throws one, i have to cover up my face or turn away so he can't see. At home we have time out when he is naughty, thank goodness it's not very often. It's so hard when you are out, or at someone's house. Ben usually gets the message that he did something wrong - even if "punishment" is just a frown and a "no".
Re: international relationship. I would have NEVER in my wildest dreams thought i would be living in europe, married to a German - I was the WORST in my German class for 6 years. I remember when i was 12 i said to my best friend that i would "never ever" go to Europe because it is "old and smelly". Still when i look back at how Dh and I started, i still can't believe it all worked out somehow. Life is crazy. Even when i applied to go on exchange, i only did it because it was a chance to travel overseas for free (and my best friend was doing it). I did it in secret because my parents couldnt afford to send me at the time and i think they didnt believe i would get a scholarship.
Lara - i think the worst thing is lack of sleep. I really hope Mylo starts sleeping through soon. Ben started at 7 or 8 weeks i think. I remember because i was so exhausted I caved in to the bottle and asked Dh to get up that night and give Ben his night feed. We both woke up the next morning at 6am, Ben still asleep. I freaked out because Ben hadn't woken through the night. He slept from 8pm - 7am from then on.
i now have a cold, but i wont sook because it's not too bad at the moment. I just hope i dont pass it onto Ben.
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Katie - lol, that's so funny re. your intl. relationship... life has some weird twists, hey?
Just wanted to let everyone know that we had the scan and found out that we are having a GIRL!!!
Very excited - I mean, I would have been either way - it's just so nice to know this time and it kinda makes it more real.
Received my university stuff last week and OMG - it's so much work.. not sure how I will get it all done... well and if I don't I don't... but I will give it a good go! Just not sure how I am going to sit exams in September with a newborn that will need to be breastfed every 2 hours.. hmmmmmmmmmmmm
Snowy
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Congratulations Snowy!! That's very exciting news. I'm sure the uni work will get done, you just need to make sure that you set some time aside each day to do something. I know it's not really the same but I finished my Masters whilst pregnant and working full time - I did 3 subjects int he last semester to get everything finished before Miss Genevieve's arrival. I had to sit exams while being heavily pregnant and having to rush off to the loo every half hour (I'm sure they thought I was cheating :lol:
Kaydee, I got your email and I will reply soon but I want to do it from work where I can access all of the information and I am off sick today (I was up all night with a sick tummy) so I will get on to all of that info this week for you.
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