Our house...

.... in the middle of our street ;) 

when we decided to move back to my home town, this house literally just fell into our laps. it is a three bedroom house, with an extra bedroom and sunroom area out the back (perfect for child care). it has a huge yard and a sandpit already built in. 

we are still renting, but one of the main reasons that we decided to move house was so that i could do child care from home, and have a steady income, that would enable us to be able to buy/build a house later this year or next year. as this house was perfect, we couldn't say no. i thought that i would share a little tour as i don't want to forget the things about this house, when we move out sometime. 

we had a house inspection a week or so ago, and as the house was so clean and tidy (a rare occurrence!) it was a good opportunity to take photos! it was night time and i didn't use the flash, and this house has terrible lighting. when we build a house i am having lights, lights, lights! 

THE ENTRY/LOUNGE ROOM... 

we love this lounge room so much more than at our old house. we like how it is open plan, and also the big windows. in summer it was amazing to have the big front windows to look out and let the sun in. we had to buy lace though as so many people were staring in as they walked past! 

it's annoying as there are hardly any power points in this house.. it also annoys me how the picture hooks were all so high on the wall, it makes it hard for short people (like me and Gavin!) to see the photos straight on. we don't want to make new holes in the wall as it isn't our house. 

i love our new leather couch, we bought it from a friend for a great deal. i also love my new cushions, at first i thought they were too eclectic to fit together(after i already bought them), but i like the colour. ^^

THE KITCHEN... 

the kitchen is open plan with the lounge room, which is nice. we are the fourth people in my family to be the owners of the chairs and they desperately need a make over. i should have put away the dry dishes on the sink too... 

THE BACKROOM/LAUNDRY/PLAY ROOM...

these are the rooms that i do day care from. except these past few weeks as it has been freezing and one of the rooms is an extension, and is super cold! we love that we can close the door at the end of the work week and not have day care toys etc over run our house. we barely go out there when i am not working, except to do some washing. 

THE SPARE ROOMS... 

the office is kind of embarrassing. it's cleaner this week, but i didn't take a photo. this is where we keep our computers, paperwork, wardrobe, and everything else! there are absolutely no cupboards in this house, except for the kitchen, so we had a hard time knowing where to put things! we had to donate a lot of stuff, and the things that we want to keep are in those big plastic tubs, piled up! lots of cupboards goes on the list with lots of lights for when we build a house. 

our wardrobes. not ideal, but they are better than nothing. ^^

our other spare room is used as mostly storage for day care toys that i rotate. there is a toddler bed and a porta cot that get set up for rest time for day care. we also keep our board games in a huge cardboard box behind the door. no storage, i tell you! ^^



THE BATHROOM...

there's not really much to say about the bathroom, except that everyone always asks us why there are two bathroom doors.

OUR BEDROOM... 

i saved the best until last! this is definitely my favourite room in our house. i love our bedroom furniture. it was a really good package deal from fantastic furniture. our bed and bedside tables only just fit in the room! the thing we don't like about this room is that there is only one power point, and it is halfway up the bed on my side. also, i always pile our washing that needs to be folded in a basket in the corner of our room. i should just fold it straight away, but anyway. my favourite doona cover is a white one, with our quilt over the top, but it was in the wash the day i took these photos. the bunting is from our wedding. 

this is opposite our bed. we are contemplating upgrading our tv in the lounge room and putting the small one in our bedroom, but i kind of like that we have a no tv in the bedroom rule. thoughts? ^^

it kind of bugs me that this white shelf doesn't match too, but i still like it. it is only new and still needs some things on the bottom shelves, maybe some more books? ;) ^^

we are really happy with our decision to move here. we like the house, and the location. my work is 100 times better than what i did before. it is great as we earn more money now and have the opportunity to save some money so that we can buy/build a house in the near future (we are leaning towards building and we can't wait!). the downside is that Gavin travels 45 minutes to work, but he is doing a great job with the 5:30am mornings, while also studying. 

we are definitely a lot happier here, and although this house isn't forever, it was definitely what we needed at the time. we have no idea why we felt prompted to move when we did, and back to my home town of all places, but we are glad that we followed that prompting anyway, as we are happy :) 

The move

Back in January Gavin & i decided that it was time to move house, and head back to my home town (something that we thought we would never do!). I decided to quit my job and run a family day care business from home (which is a whole other post!). When we made the decision and started looking for a house to rent, one literally just fell into our laps.. We moved a few weeks later.

We still have no idea why we had the feeling to move here, but we are glad that we did. We miss a lot of things that living in the city provides, but we also don't miss a lot of things too. We won't be here forever, but it felt right to move at the time!

My family and lots of friends came to help us pack & move house, thank you so much everyone, we couldn't have done it without you!!

not sure if packing or unpacking is the worst part!? ^^ 

cutest little moving helper ^^

we actually moved on our first anniversary! We arrived at the new house to this ^^

Thank you to who left it there, it was nice to relax with it later that night! I was told later that there were also chocolates in the glasses, but i never saw those! Guess that's what happens when your dad & brothers beat you to the house ;)
A friend also cooked us dinner and dropped it around, it made it a lot more relaxing as we could just eat and go to bed, especially as we had no clue where any kitchen items were!


Asha and i spent some time in the house before the actual moving day, taking some items over and setting some things up. Asha had heaps of fun playing in an empty house!

Thanks again to everyone who helped us move, we are definitely a lot happier & relaxed here! We love it :)

I'll share a house tour in my next post.

Insta-life {May & June}

I keep forgetting to post my instagram pictures, but i love having them in collages as it is then so easy to print them as 12x12 inch photos for my project life album. I love instagram for daily life documentation. I probably post way too many photos on there, but i am always glad that i have them. I am makayla_jack if you want to follow me.

When i made these collages, i put some photos out of order, which didn't bother me at the time, but it is bugging me now. I might go back and make new ones, but probably wont. So these photos are mostly may and june combined! :)

Left to right, from top to bottom.

1. Nana's birthday (which was actually in April, i wanted the pic in my instagram feed). 

2. Gavin trying to win a minion at the cinema (he didn't!)

3. Gavin's reply when i said i would like to get this bike, he knows me so well!

4. Asha being crazy on a walk. 

5. Spending the day with Asha. 

6. Asha swinging. 

7. Learning about Aussie animals in pretty, morning light. 

8. Pretty morning light!

9. Happy mail! 

1. Great coffee table books from the post office. We are big Downton Abbey fans! 

2. We had a thermomix demo. 

3. My new couch cushions arrived! 

4. 3am - me, awake... Gavin, snoring! 

5. Our kids will be worth the wait (more like the health issues). 

6. Worst. job. ever. 

7. Second worst job! 

8. Morgan's baby shower. 

9. Every time we open the dishwasher! 

1. Took off to Hobart for the weekend. 

2. Gavin's Hobart wish - Nandos. 

3. At MONA. 

4. Gavin's other Hobart wish - a sausage mcmuffin. 

5. At MONA. 

6. Out for lunch with Asha. 

7. Waiting for my appointment at the hospital. 

8. Updated my blog. 

9. All the rainy days remind me of our honeymoon! 

1. Asha left a teddy in our bed for Gavin to snuggle. 

2. Our thermomix arrived. 

3. First dinner creation in the thermie. 

4. Leaves all over our backyard! 

5. The thermomix can make a cake in less than 5 mins. 

6. Visiting the ANZAC memorial with Asha. (this was from the start of may). 

7. An amazing book! 

8. 7 years since my Unlce Stuart passed away (May 27th). 

9. Waiting at more appointments. 

1. Frost, frost, frost! 

2. In my backyard. 

3. On our way to see Morgan's baby. What are his uncle & aunty for?? 

4. Cuddling James, my first nephew!! 

PCOS/Surgery update

I have posted about my PCOS journey once before here on our blog, and as it is such an important part of our life right now, i have decided to keep posting about it. I had lots of responses from my last post, and i was very grateful for all the love and support that i received, it made me feel like i wasn't alone!

The last few months i have been feeling really down and defeated about my PCOS. I spoke to some family and friends and decided to go and get a second opinion. My first gynaecologist was someone who was assigned to me from the local hospital, and was free. I wasn't really very happy with him, mostly as he didn't listen to me! I decided to go to a private practice to get a second opinion. He cost me a lot ($200+), but it was definitely worth it!

I went to see him last week (Tuesday), and they were running a little late on the day. One hour later and i was finally in for an appointment (after 6 weeks waiting). He was SO nice, and he listened to everything that i had to say.

He was surprised that i have been on the waiting list for surgery for over a year as he thought that i should be a higher priority. He told me that my big dermoid cyst is actually more like 8 and a half cm, not 7cm as i was previously told. He said that it is a size that is quite high risk and needs to be removed asap. He pulled out a new surgery request form and filled it out, and when i signed it i saw that i have been moved from the 3 months + waiting bracket to the less than 30 days bracket! (urgent surgery!). I was SO happy that i could have hugged him! He kept saying 'I can't perform miracles, and you may not get in until early August'.... I totally didn't even care, 4-6 weeks is definitely better than another year waiting!!

Before i could say anything else he started saying 'Ok, so now surgery is on the table and hopefully it is soon, we need something to help you manage your symptoms in the meantime... You don't want to go back on the contraceptive pill as you want to get pregnant? (I nodded) Yes, ok... What is more important to you, having a baby? or managing your hair growth?'... (excessive hair is a problem with PCOS, on your arms, face, etc.)
I told him that i have made peace with the hair growth and have spent a lot of money on IPL and i feel that it is working. I told him that we want to have a baby. He then said 'Seeing as that is your answer, then i will help you with both.'

He then pulled out two prescription forms for me. One is Metformin - this is usually a diabetes medication, but it is also used for PCOS. This one is to (hopefully!) bring back my cycle, as it has disappeared for over a year (!!), and it can sometimes act as a fertility medication too, so hopefully it may help me to ovulate as well as bring back my cycle. If this doesn't work as a fertility med, there are others to try (but not until after surgery). It will also hopefully help me with my acne, and i may have clear skin for the first time in my life!

The other one is to help with the excessive hair growth that is associated with PCOS. I still need to keep having IPL and removing the hair in normal ways, but it should help to not have it grow back as thick or as bad.

I am so excited about this!! Surgery is obviously the priority, to remove the big (dermoid) cyst, but to have some help with the other things in the meantime, is amazing. The first Gyno told me that there was no point having any medication in the meantime...

Two days after my appointment with my gynaecologist (Thursday), i received a call from admissions at the hospital... They told me that they have received my form, and that all i need to do now was come in that week (Friday just gone), and have all my pre admission things done, height, weight, blood pressure etc. They booked me in for the next day, and on Friday i went and did all of it. I got there at 10:30am, met with two doctors, but didn't leave until 3pm as one had to go and deliver a baby in the middle of my appointment! Luckily i thought to bring a book! I ended up reading half of it as i was waiting for a while... 

They sent me away with some medication for a UTI, and some forms for some more blood tests, so that when i get a date for surgery i can go straight to pathology to get the bloods done fast. 

Now all i have to do is to take my medication and wait! This is definitely a different kind of waiting. Before, i was feeling like i was waiting hopelessly, and that there was no point as nothing was going to happen... As they acted so fast at admissions i feel like i might actually get to have the surgery within 30 days!! I am SO nervous, but i am also just really excited to have it over and done with! 

Gavin and i are excited that after a whole year of nothing, we feel like we are taking steps towards getting me healthy, and actively doing something towards starting a family (besides the other thing, haha ;)

This was definitely an answered prayer, and i feel so good about this! I am looking forward to the future again, with hope! :)