new dishwasher

sooooo, a while back, our dishwasher died. only that's not quite correct.. i bumped the waste pipe where it joined at our drain and it broke through. which meant, next time the water drained, it went into the cupboard and onto our solid wood floor. i didn't know what had caused a huge wet patch and thought there was a leak somewhere, but didn't work out where it had come from for a day or two, but thankfully didn't try to use it again before i located the issue.

so, the floorboards went all sharp from where the water had been and the sealant had cracked and i was devastated. our flooring is so nice and i was convinced it was ruined. thankfully this has now dried out and has gone nicely back into place. but when we disconnected the dishwasher and checked it out, all the pipe cracked along the back as we pulled it out, so it was basically an accident waiting to happen.

here comes the fun part. after we found out it couldn't be repaired, i had to then start the search for a new one, only to find out our hole was 2cm smaller than a standard model. oh my gosh. i must have looked at a hundred dishwashers online, going through their specifications, to find one that would fit. finally, i was able to locate one. just one. it seems there was only one option haha. so we bought our new dishwasher and here it is! 

we bought from appliances online and were so impressed with them. way cheaper than the regular recommended retail of listed products, free next day delivery and the installation was worth every cent! highly recommend them. the only sad part was that alex was sad that his little cubby hole he had staked a claim was rudely taken away haha, but this mum is stoked with her new well-fitted dishwasher. i'm working my way through that things to do list and loving the results. 

earthquakes and updates

just when it seemed that things could not get any more strange, we woke up thursday morning to the news that there had been a pretty big earthquake that had hit utah, particularly salt lake city itself. andddd it had been enough to rock the angel moroni atop of the salt lake temple and knock the trump from his hand! cue the internet with people freaking out that this was going to be the end... and alllll of the epic memes. my personal favourite was the one that said we probably should start to worry now that it looked like moroni was checking his watch. nannaleah had the best comment though, "what are you all freaking out about? he can't blow his trump to signal the end of times if he can't find it, can he?" hahahha

but. what a blessing. the very reason the salt lake temple is closed is to undergo a seismic upgrade... to prevent possible damage from earthquakes! foreseen or what?

well. updates from our end. at this stage the schools here remain open... but all activities have been cancelled. my phone kept going off on friday all day with notices from the school. swimming lessons on hold, no further assemblies, colour run cancelled... every thing one by one.

our australian borders closed to anyone that is not an australian citizen or permanent resident midnight last night and we are being encouraged to stay at home to prevent any possible spread of the virus. it still feels like a bad dream, like something out of a movie - but it keeps on getting worse. madeline is just waiting for their dance classes to be cancelled and i cannot imagine that it's far away. when will this end? 

:(

everyone freaking out - leah's gold comment

dragons are frightened of princesses

i thought it was about time i updated you all about our little madeline. what a bombshell. she certainly lives up to the feisty redhead reputation. she is sassy and likes to now everything that's going on, no secrets allowed. what are you doing mum? where are you going? she is bossy as, and loves to tell us all what to do... or maybe she just knows she's always right (yeah, right.) she's always organising everything exactly how she likes it and heaven forbid you touch or move a thing from where she put it. she adores playing "shopping" and will move around the house putting random things in her little bags or pram loading them up until things fall out, then bringing them to me and pulling them out one by one to show me what she has. she loves to play with her dolls and make them chat to each other, she loves to play baby (mostly when she is tired, it's a dead giveaway haha) and she loves her baby brother. she is always chatting to him, passing him things, patting him and just generally loving him. she is obsessed with kinder eggs and sometimes is so excited to open them that she forgets to eat the chocolate haha.

she still loves the disney princesses and always tells me all about them as she moves them around her castle, she has even learned the names of their boyfriends and talks about them being married. haha. i think i'd be safe saying her current favourite is aurora from sleeping beauty, she always chooses her from the bandaid tin (i buy a few different kinds of character bandaids and let her choose according to her mood) although this week she chose one of the fingers she sucks on and had to lose the bandaid after a few minutes. i found it discarded with her toys. we saw mulan for the first time this month and she has added her to her endless stories, not that i blame her... i loved her too, what a hero. she also loves hello kitty after my friend started the craze buying her a "blind bag" and we now have the whole set. they are very cute! she wants to show every single person that comes to our house, "my bedroom that mummy made for me" thank goodness she likes it.

madeline still loves nursery and tried to tell me the other day that she couldn't wear the dress i had chosen to church because "sister currie won't like it" (side note, sister currie did like it) she has some lovely leaders and there are some sweet children in there with her. she has made firm friends with leigh and leiara, our friends daughters and spends all day telling me that she is going to their house to play with them and jump on the trampoline. 

she is still quite petite and wears size 2 without any problems, we are definitely not ready for all 3's just yet, although we've moved into some just for length. she still doesn't have much hair and i look enviously at all our friends girls, waiting for her hair to grow. she is a sweet smiley girl, who wants to befriend everyone she meets.

we had a few issues with bedtime as madeline was a little afraid of the dark - i heard a few things that could be hiding in her room including lions and dragons... i suggested she wear her crown to bed because dragons are frightened of princesses. she went off to sleep and was quite happy, then the following night i checked on her again and there she was fast asleep with it on, she'd climbed out of bed and gotten her crown to wear. we now of course have to wear it every night, fine by me... at least she feels safe.

she is still as funny as ever, every ready with a cheeky grin - and we love her for it. i can't imagine life without her sassiness.

4 months old

baby joseph is 4 months old! so it's time for an update... 

after seeing the osteopath a few times, he is feeding beautifully and is practically a different child. so sweet and smiley, with the exception of the "witching hour" (as i like to call it - i am sure all mums are familiar with this - between 4-6pm, when they are getting tired and ready for their feed and bath before bed) he makes all kinds of noises, gooing and gahhing and gurgling when you speak to him, almost as if he is trying to speak back... i'm sure, basing my suspicions on miss madeline, it won't be long.

he had his 4 month appointment on friday for his needles and i had the nurses weigh him, he's clocking in at a hefty 8.3kg - and i whipped out the tape measure when we got home for his baby book - he's 65cm long now. wowsers. i've just broken out the 00 size clothing for him, including an "all blacks" onesie that friends of ours bought madeline as a gift for her first birthday! (bit of a size difference!)

he is sleeping all night (yay for this mama!!) and has also started to grab at things that you hold by him, or pass to him. such a smart boy! his cheeky smile (and that simple, that i have no doubt will break hearts when he gets older) and amazing... you can't take your eyes off him when he is smiling - and he gets mad if you do! he follows everyone's every move around the room... ensuring you don't leave him alone, cause if you do - he will call out and start whingeing until you come back. 

he still has bright blue eyes, much to everyones delight - they are amazing. i am 100% pleased to report that he looks like his mama. especially those eyes. he is growing well (maybe a little too well... haha) and getting cuter by the day! we love our baby boy and are so glad he's here with us.