Life Update - A LOT Has Changed

Well! I just about feel like I need to reintroduce myself after such a long hiatus. In all honesty I think I’ve felt so overwhelmed by just how much has changed since my last post that I've avoided writing this for a REALLY long time. I have been incredibly busy to say the least and I have just a few things to catch you up on. I’ve been on a cruise, taken a long break from uni, moved out of home, oh and HAD A  BABY.

That’s right, I’m now a full-time mumma and I think it's safe to say that growing a human is the LAST thing I thought I would be doing with most of my 2017. 

Bryce and I went on a cruise in Feb last year (2017) to celebrate his birthday and had no clue that it was actually the first holiday we took as a family (with a jellybean in my belly). We got home and a few weeks later on a Sunday after lunch we took a pregnancy test. Two pink lines later and it was pretty clear that our plans for the rest of 2017 (and beyond!) had just taken a huge turn. 

I’d love to maybe do another post sometime about the process of us finding out and dealing with an unexpected pregnancy but for now I will just say that it was a pretty crazy couple of months which saw many ups and downs and left me feeling more supported, loved and excited than I have in my whole life.

My 22^nd birthday rolled around in July and Bryce and my family planned a surprise dinner party for me at a greek restaurant where we danced and smashed plates and I stood on a chair while the MC read aloud all the best/funny memories my guests had of me. It was by far the best birthday I’ve ever had and probably one of the best nights of my life.

Skipping straight to November, we welcomed our precious son into the world:

- - - OLIVER JAMES - - -

I don’t think I was ready for the immense love that came so quickly and took over everything in my body. He was/is GORGEOUS. It's such a cliche saying that once the baby is born nothing else matters and you can't feel any of the pain anymore and I always thought that it MUST be a lie but seriously, that's how it was for me. As soon as I held Ollie in my arms I felt such intense emotion that I thought I could burst, I cried...a LOT (happy tears!). 

In all honesty, we adapted faster and better than I could have dreamed. Bryce is the most natural dad and partner and I couldn’t feel luckier to have him by my side. For the umpteenth time last year, I was overwhelmed with the incredible support we have from the people in our lives.

Ollie is now 4 months old and we are absolutely smitten with our beautiful boy. I can't think of anything to say that isn’t hugely cliche but pretty much all the sappy things that new parents say are so true. We love him more every single day and I feel like my heart could burst with the love I have for my little family. He is the most wonderful little boy and Bryce is the most wonderful daddy for him.

I would love to share a little more about the birth at some point because I couldn't be happier with how it went and I think a lot of that has to do with how much we educated ourselves beforehand. I truly think I may be the happiest I have ever been - who would’ve thought? The anxiety that I’ve suffered from for as long as I can remember has honestly improved astronomically and I think I’ve maybe had one panic attack in 4 months compared to pretty much one a day before Ollie came along.

I’m thinking of still doing a post with some photos from the cruise and maybe a few more pregnancy/new baby ones. I think its safe to say that this blog will probably become a little more personal because I just desperately want to capture and remember every moment of my life right now and this is a great way to do it. Sorry this post has been a little all over the place, hopefully they will make a little more sense in the future and there won't be such a big break until the next post!

Caitie x

What I've Been Up To // Life Update

So in lieu of the fairly large break I have had, I thought it might be nice to share a few of the things that have been making me happy and keeping me busy. I think this is going to be a pretty long one...

-So I am officially finished my first semester of my first year of Uni- WOOHOO! I don't go back until the 20th of July and am enjoying some time to relax. I didn't actually find the first semester too difficult and felt like the HSC (Australia's final year of schooling) was a lot harder,  although I'm sure it will speed up and get harder as we go along.

-I am house sitting for some friends for a few weeks which is a nice mix-up from daily life - plus they have American Netflix so I am currently binge watching my way through all the seasons of Orange Is The New Black after hearing so many good things about it. 

-Bryce and I went to the Sydney Vivid Festival this year (basically a gigantic light show spanning across the city for a few weeks) and I actually felt a little let down from last year...however I could put that down to running late, missing the water show/fireworks and a severe lack of navigational skills (oops). We still enjoyed walking around the city, and people watching in a busy city is always my idea of a good time.

-We made it to a place called 'N2 Gelato', which I have wanted to try for ages so I was stoked. Basically they use liquid nitrogen to make the gelato and have really creative ways of serving it. We chose a Ferrero Rocher one which had a rice bubble chocolate layer for crunch on top, a chocolate gelato with hazelnuts and a syringe with chocolate ganache inside. No word of a lie, it tasted EXACTLY like the real thing. We also got mango which was pretty standard in my opinion but still really nice and fresh.

-A few weeks ago, my friend Jordan invited a few friends over to his house just to hang out and after some intense battles on Mario Cart, most people left and was just myself, Jordan, Bryce and another friend, Daniel. We ended up staying until 4am and I honestly haven't enjoyed conversation so much in a really long time. We chatted about everything from Zombie Apocalypse plans to our future plans and it was just so great to get real with friends.

-I don't know about the rest of the world but Australia has been blessed with some killer sunsets recently, as in, the ones that set the whole sky on fire. Isn't God incredible?

 

-My little sister and I put on a 'cafe' at home and put together 3 breakfasts for our family, and then again the next morning for our neighbours (who had a birthday during the week). It was so much fun and such a good activity to do with a sibling.

-I used up the last of my Green Living candle, which would be disappointing because it is such a beautiful candle to burn but half the enjoyment is once I clean it out and can use the beautiful jar for other things. It is currently housing some red frogs but after they are eaten (won't be long) I will probably keep some sort of jewellery, or maybe my Polaroids...

-Priceline brought out their skincare goody bag in June and I've got to say, I don't think they have ever had a bag full of such good value.

This is what I bought:

And this (and more which I forgot to include) was all the freebies:

-I've been LOVING catching up with friends in general. I met up with my friend Cassie for dinner at a newly opened Cuban restaurant and we chatted for hours before heading back to her house and chatting some more. Its always so nice to have people in your life who you can go months without even talking to and then see and it is as if no time as passed at all. 

-I actually ended up in hospital the day after my birthday with Appendicitis and am still recovering. Its actually kind of nice to have an excuse to remove myself from life for a week or so, but the pains are certainly not so great :(

I have a couple of birthday related posts coming up, so stay tuned for those!
-Caitie xx