Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Life has been quite busy since my last post. My schedule often gets so packed with errands and things that I have had to cut back on scheduled events. Feeling busy is good though!

The second week of March I attended a Program for Integrated Perinatal Peer Support (PIPPS) that was for five days split over two weeks. The training covered multiple elements where parents can help support each other particularly during the perinatal period. We discussed Neuroprotective Development Care – research based postnatal care that is an approach looking at the mum’s health, breastfeeding, sensory environment, sleep, etc. Two days were specifically on mental health first aid and you get a certificate of completion at the end. We also discussed Acceptance Commitment Therapy and how we can be a support to others. It was fantastic! There were about 12-14 mum’s and many of us had bubs under a year old and were participating while entertaining babies at the same time. It was amazing how we managed full days with babies and yet it didn’t seem like a hindrance at all. The environment was such that no one was bothered if a baby was a bit loud or distracting, and we were very respectful of different opinions. Sakura loved spending time with all the kids and the midwives on hand. For naps I would just put her in the wrap and pace back and forth while participating. I learned a lot as well and I hope this will be a good opportunity for me to get involved in the mental health industry while I wait for the right opportunity to complete my graduate degrees in Psychology.

Most of the month was spent doing errands. My awesome doctor decided to close his practice, so I had to find another doctor and separate osteopath to replace him. Additionally, Matt and I planned to go to Sydney, so we can get Matt’s work items in storage there and to apply for Sakura’s US passport at the U.S. Consulate (there isn’t one in QLD). We first needed to buy a work vehicle that could carry all the items. One day Matt randomly stopped at a dealer on the way home and found a decent truck that met all the criteria. Luckily, I was able to look up the details while he took it for a test drive and confirm the price was good and if there was anything negative listed for the registration number. It was all good! My favourite moment was that Matt said he just though “What would Shanna do?” and decided to pray about it before going forward with the sale. I had to get a competing quote to get the best loan detail but, in the end, everything worked out. I got roof racks installed which involved me walking around with Sakura in the pram for a couple of hours till it was done. At least for that I was near a shopping centre, but when I got the truck serviced it was an industrial area and very hot! I bought a fan for the pram ages ago and I’m pretty sure that was the only reason Sakura wasn’t cranky for the long walk.

Sakura and Finley at the baby show

Other events in March included going to the Baby Show and a friend’s baby shower. Both were fun and more great opportunities for Sakura to be out and about with people. The best thing that happened though was that I started Sakura in childcare. I toured a few places nearby and one just felt right. When I toured the educator happily had Sakura join the other babies while the Director showed me around and answered any questions. The place felt calm and as a bonus they even have some animals that the kids can interact with on occasion. They are just up the road, so it is about a 15-minute walk. This has been such an awesome decision for me. I knew I needed somebody to watch Sakura, so I could keep up with Matt’s business administration needs, but I worried that because Sakura wasn’t vaccinated no childcare place would take her. The government won’t help with childcare payment for unvaccinated children as well, so it is about $97 a day. Since I pay for the full day regardless, I decided I would just do one day a week from 8am – 5pm. Sakura loves it! She is so happy, loves the other kids and different toys, and is always ready for a nap when I take her home. This has allowed her to get lots of socialization while I get to catch up on work and other tasks that need to get done. I finally have a balance between time as a mom and me time. It’s been a huge blessing because many other areas people are on waiting lists for 12 months before getting a spot in a childcare location. Also, this location is quite flexible because sometimes I will need to switch up days or add another day to meet needs and they are able to accommodate that. By doing this I finally feel I have a better balance of feeling like myself and a mom.

April has flown by. We didn’t do anything for Easter other than eat a nice breakfast. I can’t even remember what it was though. As Sakura gets older we will be do more I think. That weekend we watched General Conference. Matt had to work so I watched on the TV at home with Sakura. Last conference I painted a picture. This year that seemed like a difficult task with Sakura, so I used Fresh Paint, the app on my Surface. I wasn’t very good, but it did help me pay attention and it was easy to switch between apps to take notes. Here are just a few of my favourite quotes from Conference:

"Repentance is His Plan, knowing that we will fail." Lynn G. Robbins 

"Failure is an opportunity, rather than a tragedy." Lynn G. Robbins 

"Service opens a window by which we understand the life and ministry of Christ" M. Russell Ballard 

"Meekness is strong, not weak; active, not passive; courageous, not timid; restrained, not excessive; modest, not self-aggrandizing; and gracious, not brash. A meek person is not easily provoked, pretentious, or overbearing and readily acknowledges the accomplishments of others." David A. Bednar 

"Family relationships can be some of the most rewarding yet challenging experiences we encounter." Dale G. Renlund 

"We can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance and direction, be warned about dangers and distractions, and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small." Russell M. Nelson

Matt and I completed the first Pathways class “Life Skills” on the 12^th. It was nice to finally have a break after that, but I am already missing all the readings since so much of it was old conference talks and applying what they taught. I just completed my first week of the Math’s class and I can tell it will be a difficult one. It is mostly basic math that you would apply in everyday situations and for managing your own personal finances. The math itself isn’t difficult (so far anyway), but it seems the time requirement has gone up a level. Our first week we were supposed to create flashcards for addition up to 15+15 and multiplication up to 15x15. Then we took tests that we needed to complete within a certain timeframe. Again, not extremely difficult but it is time consuming. I often feel that as I have a good basis in math and a lot of study experience it shouldn’t take me as long, but the time commitment of about 6-8 hours per week applies no matter what level of experience you have. Oh well.

We had some fun events in April like the Ward Movie night, a friend’s baptism, Sakura's first beach trip, a YSA cottage evening, and an engagement party. Although night activities are always difficult because Sakura is very tired, I was able to keep her happy enough to enjoy getting out and socializing.

Sakura at the YSA activity

Redcliffe Beach

Coastal Bay Motel

 The biggest event in April was our trip to Sydney. We left early Tuesday morning to drive South to Sydney. To our surprise Sakura slept A LOT! She slept 3-4 hours till we stopped for her next feed. Even though we only spent 30 minutes to 1 hour she would go back to sleep within an hour of driving again. We stopped in Coffs Harbour for the night and ate at Pizza Vino which was a fantastic Italian restaurant. As you might expect, that night was a real struggle. Sakura and I shared a bed, and Matt had his own bed. Sakura screamed for a large part of the night and I struggled to get her to sleep for more than an hour at a time. At least the second part of our drive she slept plenty again and that night she was back to normal. I wasn’t prepared for how cold it was in Sydney! The day was fine, but nights were freezing, and I had packed nothing warm for Sakura or myself. Luckily our first night our friend’s Brock and Kaytlin gave me some jackets for Sakura.

We stayed with our friend’s Josie and Lachie and I wasn’t sure if the babies would keep each other up. Luckily our room was on the opposite side of the house and I couldn’t hear a thing from their end. Josie and I discovered that our night wakeups seemed to be about the same anyway. We had lots of fun with baby Jett and Sakura together. Jett is about 8 weeks younger I believe and is a tank! Sakura is a little longer and as she is a little farther in development, Jett had no issues with her always grabbing his hand and shoving it in her mouth.

Our main purpose for going to Sydney was to get Sakura’s US Passport sorted (there isn’t a US embassy in Queensland) as well as get rid of Matt’s work storage in Macquarie Park. I only knew the day before that we were going so I was lucky I was able to schedule an appointment in time to do the passport. As the day arrived however it seemed all went south. We drove to the train station and to our surprise the whole carpark was full. Josie and I waited with bubs in prams as the boys tried to find a place to park and we missed our train. Knowing there wasn’t much I could do about it I wasn’t too stressed, but I tried to call on the train to notify them. What I discovered was that I had booked the appointment for the wrong week! I decided we would go anyway and see if there was anything that could be done. We took our time and grabbed a bite to eat before going to the consulate. To our surprise they let us in and we were still able to apply! You can’t take bags, prams, or electronics in, so Josie and Lachie watched our stuff while we did the application interview. Matt said it felt like we were criminals with all the police and security checks. I didn’t care, but I was a bit worried when we were waiting for the final step and Sakura did a massive poo, but I had no diaper bag to change it. We all survived and it’s complete.

As for Matt’s storage, we spent one day packing the whole truck up with the water Matt had stored and delivered it to friends. The second day we completely filled it again with the rest of his work stuff. I managed to help by wearing Sakura on my back in the ergo carrier. She quickly fell asleep despite all the movement and noise I was making tearing down a metal shelving unit. She is such a cutie!

The best part of this trip was of course visiting friends. We were only there for a few days so we didn’t have much time, but we visited who we could. Brock and Kaytlin were just about to leave to the U.S. so we got to see them our first night before they left. We got to see a much older Ronan and Leila. Ronan has tons of energy and I’m sure Sakura would have loved that more if she hadn’t already been tired from our long journey. After that we visited Dean and Crystal and I’m only sad it was late and we were all a bit too tired. We got to see Dean later as we dropped off water at least. Later in the week we visited Jon and Angie and their two daughters. Sakura LOVED their daughter Rochelle. They spent quite a bit of time jumping on the couch, which took a toll on my arms holding on to Sakura. We fed Sakura some applesauce with dinner at their place and later that night I breastfed her before leaving and she had a massive vomit! It was probably around 60ml or more and I’m just glad I kept it mostly on me and not all over their couch. I had spare clothes for Sakura and a spare shirt for me, but I had to sit in the car smelling like vomit for 45 minutes before I could take a good shower. Matt still thinks this was the highlight of the whole trip for some reason.

Sakura, Leila, and Ronan

Sakura, Rochelle, and Cadence

This was prior to leaving so just imagine this but worse at Jon & Angie's

Our drive back was just as easy as the drive there although we did have a couple of times where Sakura was really fussy. I solved this by playing animusic videos on my phone and clipping it to her car seat. This time we had a much better night in Coffs Harbour and I got sufficient sleep. The best was some of our stops along the way where Sakura could play in the grass and explore a bit. We also slept better on the way back because we had a pillow and blankets from storage to lay on.

Outside the Royal Federal Hotel in Braxton

Dinner at the Coffee Club

Ibis Budget Hotel in Coffs Harbour

The irony of this trip is that I wanted to get Sakura’s passport as quickly as possible so that when my grandpa dies I could go to his funeral and perhaps stay visiting family for a while. He died this weekend.  I guess I just wasn’t meant to go to the U.S. right now.  I’m happy all of my grandparents are in a much happier and peaceful place with their spouses, but I am sad I no longer have any living grandparents. My grandpa did write a book about his life, but here is a short 3 page biography for anyone interested. The full autobiography is a bit jumbled and overly detailed in places for my liking, so I haven’t gotten far. Some day I will finish it. He was an amazing and intelligent man. He helped me with my first science fair project in which I went to regionals, and he helped me come up with some ideas for research while at Oregon State University. I’ll always remember how he loved family history, technology, old records, and eating his cake in a bowl with milk. I hope to help digitize all of his family history work someday.

I’m happy to be back home now where the weather is significantly warmer and I don’t freeze at night. Wednesday the 25^th of April was ANZAC day of which we did nothing for really. Matt spent the day cleaning and consolidating the garage with all the stuff from Sydney. I went to King’s beach in the afternoon and Sakura got to spend a little time wading in the ocean. She hated it at first, but after spending the time watching the waves, then standing in the sand, then letting the water get on her feet, she was happy to have the water get to her waist. 

Later on, Friday I went with my friend Cate to the Gold Coast to visit our friend David and Racheal from Sydney. They were staying at the Gold Coast for Supernova and so it was great that we could meet them there and have some time catching up. We both actively tried to convince them to move to Queensland. Unfortunately, Cate is South Brisbane and I live in North Brisbane. Maybe they will move in the middle somewhere?

David and Racheal with Sakura and Finley at Crepe Addicts in the Gold Coast

Well it has been a very full on couple of months. I am often quite busy but happy for the most part. Sakura is 6 months old today and is very close to crawling! My brother comes to visit this week and he is determined to help her achieve that milestone while here. My next blog should have a lot going on!

Taken with Josie's much superior camera