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| Summer Fun Down Under |
Friday, March 26, 2010
Boy are our faces red...
Ummmm…(shuffle, shuffle) so ya. Sorry for the unintended 2 month break. It wasn’t you, it was me! Yadiyadaa.
Unfortunately for Team Jardine in Australia, this time of year always kicks our butts. The bulk of Tim’s fieldwork falls in these first 4 months which means that he’s gone more often than he’s here, leaving a cranky wife and bubby to hold the fort down. I’ll say that this year has been easier than last in that a) Edie is in daycare most days so that I can get to work or catch a zzz or two if necessary and b) Edie poos now. That’s not to say that she’s been easy to deal with on my own. In fact, for the last month and a half I’ve had the dickens of a time trying to get her to stay asleep at night. Almost every night she’d make her way to our room, end up kicking Tim out to the couch (if he was home) or I’d end up having to sleep with her in her bed. And sleeping with Edie is no picnic. I equate it to the honeymoon sleep: Edie’s always looking for something to hold and I’m spending the night trying to devise ways of discretely avoiding contact. So, there hasn’t been a whole lot of sleeping going on in this house over the past few months, which hopefully excuses our absence in the blogosphere.
Given the amount of time that it’s been since we’ve last posted, I’m in a bit of a quandary as to what to even write about...I’m rarely at a loss for words for very long though.
Tim, Edie and I did take a family weekend trip to Melbourne in between two of his fieldtrips. We think that Melbourne is a lot like Montreal, and we were very happy to wander through the streets and along the river for the two days that we spent in the city. The weather was gorgeous and it’s very easy to find great spots to eat while out and about. It was really enjoyable to spend the days there. The nights, however, were a bit of a living nightmare (for Team Jardine who thrives on good sleep). Edie hasn’t been sleeping well at home, and she certainly didn’t sleep very well in a strange hotel room. We’d rented a portable crib which she outright refused to use, meaning that Tim slept on the floor for 2 nights and I slept next to sprawling, crawling, restless Edie (who also managed to fall out of the bed). If you could have been a fly on the wall in our bathroom on our first night, you would have had a good chuckle. Tim and I stood in the bathroom for an hour that night waiting for Edie to settle down in the crib. You could cut the tension in that room with a knife by the time we finally gave in and went back out into the main room. I’m sure Edie thought it was all in a good nights work. Ahhh parenting. In the end, the best way to settle Miss E back down into some form of sleep, was to list off the names of her friends and to talk about how they were sleeping and how we should be sleeping too, I’ve used this tactic a lot since then. The things you learn on the fly as a parent…I should write a book. Oh yes, following this trip I walked away with a huge coldsore, and Tim had a situation on his right eyebrow which pretty much half-shut that eye…Stress doesn’t look very good on either of us.
We’re excited by the prospect of some visitors shortly. My sister Sarah and her (insert whatever word you would use for significant other here) will be hitting this lovely island paradise up in late April. We’re really looking forward to their visit. Our friends the Beavers have also confirmed a trip in late August, with the potential for more Bishop’s University alumni to join them on the trip. I’m sooooo excited for this!
It’s a new footy season here in Brisbane and we’re starting things off in fine style by taking in a game on Sunday afternoon. Home games are always so much fun, whether the Broncos are on a winning or a losing streak, they always manage to pull off big wins at home. Being a non-lover of violence, I surprise myself every time I’m at one of these games by booing, or cheering with the best of them…Picture the woman who yells “the chair! Hit him with the chair!” at a wrestling match, and you’d have an idea of what I turn in to. I blame this behavior, like most everything else, on my mom. She used to ring her cowbell like it was going out of style at my brother’s hockey games. I used to be embarrassed, but now I’m kind of proud of her.
Well, summer is finally gone and the change in weather here could be likened to what it’s like to go from April to May in Canada, with some obvious differences. You all of a sudden feel much happier and can’t put your finger on just why, until you realize that (and here’s one difference) you’re not covered in sweat at 5am (as opposed to having realized that you haven’t seen the sun for the last 4 months). It’s just such a more tolerable temperature here right now. I’m excited that I don’t have to change my clothes 5 times a day because I was so stinking hot. Of course, we’ll be complaining about the cold in a few short months, but for now I am reminded of why living in Queensland is so good. Too stinking far away from home, but a good place to be otherwise.
Miss E is growing up fast. She’s taken to reciting pretty much anything she hears, including the alphabet, which is really fun. She’s in LOVE with reading, all day long she just wants books. I guess nerdiness may be genetically linked, and if this is the case, she’s doomed with the pair of us for parents. She’s really into Dr. Suess and every now and then she’ll be making sounds that we can’t quite figure out, and then realize that it’s a Suess rhyme…Today she was talking about Nixie Knox (see X in Dr Suess’s ABC).
Love to everyone, we’ll get this blog thing back on track now that Tim is home for a bit of a stretch. Thanks to all who’ve been shaking your fingers at us for not posting.
Laura
PS. Congratulations to Shona and Ryan on the addition of lovely Lydia to their growing family. And to Tim and Lindsay for qualifying for Australian Medicare- Go North American researchers with pregnant spouses who irresponsibly move to Australia!
Unfortunately for Team Jardine in Australia, this time of year always kicks our butts. The bulk of Tim’s fieldwork falls in these first 4 months which means that he’s gone more often than he’s here, leaving a cranky wife and bubby to hold the fort down. I’ll say that this year has been easier than last in that a) Edie is in daycare most days so that I can get to work or catch a zzz or two if necessary and b) Edie poos now. That’s not to say that she’s been easy to deal with on my own. In fact, for the last month and a half I’ve had the dickens of a time trying to get her to stay asleep at night. Almost every night she’d make her way to our room, end up kicking Tim out to the couch (if he was home) or I’d end up having to sleep with her in her bed. And sleeping with Edie is no picnic. I equate it to the honeymoon sleep: Edie’s always looking for something to hold and I’m spending the night trying to devise ways of discretely avoiding contact. So, there hasn’t been a whole lot of sleeping going on in this house over the past few months, which hopefully excuses our absence in the blogosphere.
Given the amount of time that it’s been since we’ve last posted, I’m in a bit of a quandary as to what to even write about...I’m rarely at a loss for words for very long though.
Tim, Edie and I did take a family weekend trip to Melbourne in between two of his fieldtrips. We think that Melbourne is a lot like Montreal, and we were very happy to wander through the streets and along the river for the two days that we spent in the city. The weather was gorgeous and it’s very easy to find great spots to eat while out and about. It was really enjoyable to spend the days there. The nights, however, were a bit of a living nightmare (for Team Jardine who thrives on good sleep). Edie hasn’t been sleeping well at home, and she certainly didn’t sleep very well in a strange hotel room. We’d rented a portable crib which she outright refused to use, meaning that Tim slept on the floor for 2 nights and I slept next to sprawling, crawling, restless Edie (who also managed to fall out of the bed). If you could have been a fly on the wall in our bathroom on our first night, you would have had a good chuckle. Tim and I stood in the bathroom for an hour that night waiting for Edie to settle down in the crib. You could cut the tension in that room with a knife by the time we finally gave in and went back out into the main room. I’m sure Edie thought it was all in a good nights work. Ahhh parenting. In the end, the best way to settle Miss E back down into some form of sleep, was to list off the names of her friends and to talk about how they were sleeping and how we should be sleeping too, I’ve used this tactic a lot since then. The things you learn on the fly as a parent…I should write a book. Oh yes, following this trip I walked away with a huge coldsore, and Tim had a situation on his right eyebrow which pretty much half-shut that eye…Stress doesn’t look very good on either of us.
We’re excited by the prospect of some visitors shortly. My sister Sarah and her (insert whatever word you would use for significant other here) will be hitting this lovely island paradise up in late April. We’re really looking forward to their visit. Our friends the Beavers have also confirmed a trip in late August, with the potential for more Bishop’s University alumni to join them on the trip. I’m sooooo excited for this!
It’s a new footy season here in Brisbane and we’re starting things off in fine style by taking in a game on Sunday afternoon. Home games are always so much fun, whether the Broncos are on a winning or a losing streak, they always manage to pull off big wins at home. Being a non-lover of violence, I surprise myself every time I’m at one of these games by booing, or cheering with the best of them…Picture the woman who yells “the chair! Hit him with the chair!” at a wrestling match, and you’d have an idea of what I turn in to. I blame this behavior, like most everything else, on my mom. She used to ring her cowbell like it was going out of style at my brother’s hockey games. I used to be embarrassed, but now I’m kind of proud of her.
Well, summer is finally gone and the change in weather here could be likened to what it’s like to go from April to May in Canada, with some obvious differences. You all of a sudden feel much happier and can’t put your finger on just why, until you realize that (and here’s one difference) you’re not covered in sweat at 5am (as opposed to having realized that you haven’t seen the sun for the last 4 months). It’s just such a more tolerable temperature here right now. I’m excited that I don’t have to change my clothes 5 times a day because I was so stinking hot. Of course, we’ll be complaining about the cold in a few short months, but for now I am reminded of why living in Queensland is so good. Too stinking far away from home, but a good place to be otherwise.
Miss E is growing up fast. She’s taken to reciting pretty much anything she hears, including the alphabet, which is really fun. She’s in LOVE with reading, all day long she just wants books. I guess nerdiness may be genetically linked, and if this is the case, she’s doomed with the pair of us for parents. She’s really into Dr. Suess and every now and then she’ll be making sounds that we can’t quite figure out, and then realize that it’s a Suess rhyme…Today she was talking about Nixie Knox (see X in Dr Suess’s ABC).
Love to everyone, we’ll get this blog thing back on track now that Tim is home for a bit of a stretch. Thanks to all who’ve been shaking your fingers at us for not posting.
Laura
PS. Congratulations to Shona and Ryan on the addition of lovely Lydia to their growing family. And to Tim and Lindsay for qualifying for Australian Medicare- Go North American researchers with pregnant spouses who irresponsibly move to Australia!
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