Growing.
So I know that growing up is part of life, and is currently my 8 month old daughter’s number one job. But I get a little misty eyed when I think about how just a few short months ago, when she was immobile, cuddling with her mama was the highlight of her day (I assume, as it was usually the highlight of mine). But ever since she has figured out this whole crawling gig, she only wants me for food. Sometimes if I put her down she will whinge (whine) but when I pick her up she isn’t exactly cuddly – I think she just wanted the birdseye view of things. So when I get those rare moments near bedtime when she will actually just relax in my arms, I am in my happy place.

And then I look at Ty and see a smart young man, not the baby I swear I was holding just last week, it makes me wonder where the time has gone…

Tide.
The price of Tide is ridiculous. A bottle (not bulk size) is about $22 regular price. So when we find it on sale, we stock up. This week Jay found the deal of the century – $5 a bottle!!!!! Ty asked Jay, “dad, are you going to buy ALL of the bottles?” “Yep”

Fever.
Friday morning after I had finished getting ready for work, I noticed Lily looked really flushed. Checked her temp, and she had a low grade fever. Jay had month end things to wrap up, my calendar was pretty free, so I stayed home with her. She was pretty good about letting me get some work done, but when she wasn’t happy, she let me know about it. She took a couple good naps, temp has come down. We will see how she goes tomorrow. Runny nose, grabbing her ears, putting everything in her mouth, mild diaper rash. Pretty sure it is more teeth, but I can’t see any yet.

The best part about staying home was getting to FaceTime with mom, Steven and Brooke. Lily and Papa had a great conversation – lots of shrieks. Brooke took this picture during the call. You wouldn’t know by looking at that smile that she wasn’t feeling well. So darn cute!

Rain!
Queensland is in a drought – I think someone said it has been like a 7 year drought. So everyone seemed to be pretty happy when the rain came this week. It rained for several days straight. Jay has drained an inch or more of water out of the pool a couple times now, and it keeps filling right back up again. Crazy! Hopefully it keeps raining and gets to the farmers that need it most. Crop insurance is not available here, so farmers tend to struggle.

Pigs.
Speaking of farmers…when I think about the diet of Australians, I think pork. The steak sucks. Maybe some lamb. But pork wins by a landslide. Bacon. Middle bacon. Streaky bacon. All different types of bacon. Sausage rolls. More sausage options than I can count. So I have asked a couple people – where are all of the pork producers in Australia. The response I have received was, “Um, not sure, nobody has ever asked.” This answer doesn’t satisfy my curiosity , so I did a little research.

Pork is the most widely consumed form of animal protein
Australia’s pig industry has a farmgate value of just over a billion dollars (Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics, ABARE).

The Australian pork supply chain is valued at $3.5 billion and employs more than 33,000 people.

Approximately 87% of Australia’s pigmeat production is for domestic consumption.

I found this map at http://www.daff.gov.au

Mystery solved!!

Barricade.
Lily is all over, everywhere. The house is pretty well kid proofed, but today I blocked off the kitchen so she couldn’t get at the trash and pantry. She wasn’t impressed…

Month end.
Jay is really getting into the swing of things, as was evident by the very smooth month end the week. He was home most nights by 6 or 6:30 (yay!!).

Now it’s the start of the weekend. Pizza and movie night, and about the 100th time we have watched Oz the Great and Powerful. Hoping to have a fun, relaxing weekend. G’day mates!