Our new little secret

Well the secret is out, I can now write about it.  About 6 weeks ago Marcus and I discovered we were expecting our third child.  We had talked about having another child but Marcus was quite adamant that he only wanted 2 kids but I could not get it out of my head that I wasn't finished having children.  He must have had a weak moment and we conceived much to my delight.  When I took the home pregnancy test I was unsure of how to tell him as I knew his initial reaction would not be one of delight.  I decided to just bite the bullet and tell him that night and as I predicted he did not take it well, we actually didn't talk to each other for 2 days until I sent him a very personal email (we get our emotions across to each other better that way, face to face gets too heated and usually ends in arguments) and his reply came quickly and much to my relief he said he was very happy about the baby but his main concern was whether or not I could handle having 2 small kids plus a new baby.  Not that he doesn't think I am a good mother, it is more because I have admitted to him in the past since we moved to Thailand and became Expats that I was having more hard days than good.  But I had to explain to him that it wasn't the children that made it hard it was the stress of moving countries and trying to make this foreign land feel like home for our family.  Once we came to an understanding we both started to get excited about this new addition to our family.  I unfortunately started to suffer quite bad morning sickness, constantly nauseous, dizzy and always tired.  It tends to take some of the shine out of the excitement when you feel ill all day long but since the 8 week mark I have started to feel much better and the nausea is only for a brief while in the mornings after breakfast.  I started to feel bloated immediately and all of my clothes are much tighter around my waist.  It isn't the best feeling when I have been trying to trim down (before conceiving of course) and now I have the bloated swollen feeling and only a handful of people know why, it is a bit of a blow to the self esteem.  I did tell a few friends here and at home about my condition, mostly to explain the my different behaviour and my avoiding alcohol.  I had just met some good drinking buddies too and now I have to sit on the sidelines again while they hit the town but in the end I remind myself of the hangovers the next day and that it may be fun at the time but is it worth not being able to parent my kids properly the next day? No.  So in the end avoiding of drinking and late nights isn't such a bad thing.
After 6 weeks of keeping our secret a dear friend of ours mistakenly announced it on my Facebook page last night intending it to be a personal inbox message that instead went onto my Wall and within minutes there were posts from all of our friends laughing and commenting on his innocent mistake.  Marcus and I thought it was all terribly funny and reassured him that we were not upset in any way and that it was nearly time to announce it anyway.  He also managed to blow a secret holiday he was planning for his wife as well.  Poor guy, but so funny. 
I still haven't had my scan yet, they don't do early scans over here, they wait until the 12th week.  It is unfortunate because I like to have early scans to reassure myself that there is a viable foetus with a nice heart beat.  So I pray that this announcement will not be all in vain if so some terrible reason our scan next week isn't what we think it is.  But that is a very morbid thought one that I do not like to dwell on for too long.

So there is our happy news, a new challenge for our journey over here, being pregnant and giving birth in Thailand will have its differences compared to Australia but at the end of the day I have to remind myself that babies are born in every country all over the world and women have been giving birth for millions of years, it is a natural act and one that I hopefully will be able to undergo with as minimal medical intervention as possible.  My greatest concern is after the birth if the baby requires medical treatment that he/she will be able to get the best care possible. 
I am really looking forward to my scan and to meet this little joy inside me growing bigger everyday, it will confirm it all to be real and really happening.

Netball in Pattaya, Thailand

A couple of friends of mine had the idea to try and get the Pattaya Netball Club back together and playing games and of course I jumped at the chance to play.  Tonight was the first game and we had 17 ladies show up to play, such a positive turn out.  I volunteered to umpire the game as I have umpired before and know the rules fairly well.  So we began the game and I was off to a running start as these ladies were no beginners to the sport and since the game of Netball is usually umpired by 2 refs I found myself running and working up a sweat straight away.  It was during the first quarter that I was running along the sideline and my ankle rolled on a small mound in the concrete and I crumbled to the ground in agony.  I haven't had a rolled ankle like that since I was a kid playing and this one stung bad.  I managed to suck it up and once I realised I could put pressure on it I continued to umpire the rest of the game, limping lamely up and down the court.  I was also very embarrassed and didn't want to look like a total klutz.  The game went really well, we had a few ladies try and argue the rules with me a bit which I didn't mind as I was used to umpiring loud women and pushing men, it's all part of the game.  But I did make it clear to the ladies that I was letting alot slide to keep the game flowing but if they wanted me to I can pull them up for every rule error but they agreed to let the game flow.  I had a bit of trouble keeping the time for each quarter as the stop watch on my phone was too quiet for me to hear so they ended up playing a bit longer than we planned.  By the end of the game my ankle was quite sore but I still managed to go out for a beer with some of the girls but my the time I made it home I could barely put pressure on my foot and my ankle had swollen up like a balloon.  I should have stayed off it and iced it straight away but my pride wouldn't let me and now I sit here up late at night when I would rather be sleeping trying to reduce the swelling with a bag of frozen peas.  I wonder what tomorrow will be like?  Will I be able to walk on it at all or will I have to pull Marcus' crutches out of the cupboard to help me get around? 

Judd has been sick all week as well with very high fevers.  I would get in down with some medicine but then it would continue to climb back up.  We took him to the hospital on Sunday night and the doctor said the Influenza was going around the schools and to keep a close eye on him with his temperature in case I need to bring him back to the hospital.  So for 2 days he has been home from school hanging with me and watching his favourite movies so tomorrow when he has to return to school he will put up a huge fight and try to convince me that he is still sick.  He loves to go to school but he loves to stay home and hang out watching TV with me more.  I have enjoyed having him just to myself these couple of days but by the end of each day I am so tired and don't have much energy left for the evening.  I am looking forward to going back to our usual routine but it will be interesting how I will get the kids to school if my ankle gets any worse.
I have no regrets though, I thoroughly enjoyed umpiring, it was almost as fun as playing and I really look forward to next week but I will make sure I watch where I step.

Another move, another house!

We tackled the big move and won.  We decided to make the move a day early this week as Marcus had the Grand Opening of their engine plant the next day, even the new Prime Minister of Thailand was supposed to attend, however due to the crisis of floods in northern Thailand she could not make it.  But back to the move.  A colleague of Marcus' offered the use of his driver and Ute for the day which made everything so much easier.  I had majority of our stuff boxed and ready to go and had dropped a few things off the night before while the land lady was here with her team of cleaners.  She had them scrubbing the grout in the floor tiles with Hydrochloric acid and toothbrushes!  Unfortunately they didn't realise was that in the process of all that scrubbing they have taken the shine off the tiles and there is a milky film covering them that wont wash off.  But at least the grout is white again.  This land lady is quite meticulous, she has her nose in everything and was even hanging about the day we moved in making me feel a little bit uncomfortable.  However in saying that she has kept this house very well maintained and in great working order, especially compared to our last place.  The furniture is well thought of and quite tasteful, the kitchen is immaculate and outside is well landscaped and kept very tidy.  Makes me feel a bit scared of any damage we may do in the process of living here with 2 kids and a dog.  Already the dog has attacked the garden and dug up the pots but I am sure everything will be fine.  There is a pool out the front of the house right near the front door with a small spa and an outdoor shower.  There was no fence when took the lease but the owner agreed to let us have one installed at our own expense for the safety of the kids.  We had a team of guys come in yesterday, Friday, and install a black steel fence that Marcus designed to comply with Australian standards.  Surprisingly they succeeded in putting together a pretty good fence, I did however have to point out a few gaps where the fence joined the boundary and asked them to weld in a few more pieces to block the hole.  The only thing I really don't like about this fence is the gates, the latches are placed down the bottom of the gate on the inside so in order for me to unlock it I have to get down on my knees, reach through with the key to undo the padlock and open it up.  To me that is a obvious design fault but once I looked at how it was built I realised that the land lady who was here during the design process would have told them to not drill any holes in the upright pillars and only drill into the cement on the ground.  She told Marcus that she is happy with a fence as long as we remove it when we leave and putty up holes.  I mean this fence cost us 15000baht ($550) and is an obvious enhancement to her being able to lease the property again, especially to a Western family who are educated enough to realise the importance of pool safety with children.  But if that is what she wants then that's fine, it wont cost much to hire a few men to come in and take it away, maybe the same guys who built it will want it back.
So far we have gone swimming everyday and yesterday was so nice to just sit on the sun lounge and watch as Lilly and Judd played quietly in the pool with their pool toys rather than being up at the communal pool feeling self conscious and always scared the kids will slip over on the slippery tiles that surround the pool area.  Now I can sit in all my glory, with the lap top or a book for as long as the kids like and they can come and go and swim and play as long as they like.  We picked the perfect time for a pool I think as Judd can now swim without any floaties and Lillie is growing more and more confident everyday.
The other great thing I love about this new house is the automatic gate!  OMG!  How wonderful to not have to get out every single time to open and shut the gate, especially in the rain.  The kids think is like magic that it can open all by itself. 

Overall we are feeling very happy here, straight away it felt like home and we have moved in, settled and feel like we have been here for ages already.  If Marcus was to get a contract extension I think we would be more than happy to stay here even longer, can't say that the cold winters of Melbourne are calling us home, not yet anyway.

Happy Birthday Judd!

Saturday was the day of Judd's 4th birthday party.  He had been counting down to this day for over 2 months and finally it had arrived.  We held the party at a children's play center called Wiggle Town and they planned and organised everything for us, all we had to do was show up.  I had decided to invite all of Judd's kindergarten class (all 20 of them) assuming that not all of the kids would show up.  We also invited a few of the expat families that we have become friends with so on the day we ended up with about 25 kids!  Only 7 of those were from school, the rest were expat kids.  It was such a good day, plenty of food, lots of games, heaps of noise and a giant Stegosaurus Dinosaur cake plus a lovely chocolate mud cake for the parents.  Judd got plenty of presents and he remembered his manners and said hello and thank you to all of his guests.  We finished up around 2.30 in the afternoon and all we had to do was pile all the gifts into the car and leave the mess.  It was ideal.

Sunday was Judd's actual birthday and he woke up singing Happy Birthday to himself and remembered that I told him that I would take him shopping to spend his birthday money and get a special toy.  He of course chose a giant Bumble Bee Transformer, so difficult that only his father can make it transform but Judd loves it and that's all that matters.

Today I am trying to pack up the house so we can move tomorrow into the new house that we have rented and I wanted to try and get some boxes moved today while the kids are at school but the land lady who owns the house is still cleaning it and it is such a bother.  We were told we could have the keys today to start moving and now I have to sit about waiting, something I don't do well.
But I should know by now that nothing moves quickly in Thailand and patience is necessary.  I just have to focus on the fact that we will move in tomorrow and we should be swimming in the pool tomorrow night, just wish I could have a glass of wine to top off the evening.