26 February 2010

Hear No Evil

Lana's dad came in with a present for the girls.  Some disposable ear plugs!
"Woohoo!" the girls explained.
Then the next moment they asked, "What are they?"
He explained what they were for and so they immediately tried them out.  While they were out of earshot, I asked Dad, "Shouldn't they be for us?"
***
We are still waiting.  * sigh*.
On Sunday evening Lana had a pretty busy day quilting and doing other crafty type things and went to bed around 9:30pm.  Then she called me over, "I can't feel the baby move.  I don't remember feeling him move all day."
So we poked and prodded to no effect.
I went online and read that a sweet drink should encourage the baby to start moving.  Lana looked at me with that "You're kidding" look, so I called the hospital and went in for a "trace".
A trace is when a monitor is placed on the belly to listen for the baby's heart beat.
So, after a 40 minute drive we arrived in the Maternity ward and were promptly taken to the room with the machine that goes ping.  One can worry and think a lot in 40 minutes.
Within a few seconds we heard the reassuring "Tapokita Tapokita Tapokita" of a heart beat, a sound we have heard many times before.
So now we have been requested to pop in to the hospital every 2nd day to hear that same reassuring sound.
Until the baby decides he wants to stop playing around and see his family!
On Tuesday we had our visit with the Doctor and he told us a sweet drink or some sugar works very well to wake up the baby.  The sugar is a stimulant and it takes about 25 minutes to affect the baby.  I looked across to Lana and just nodded.

17 February 2010

More Help on the way

Lana is very close to giving birth to the latest Bruggie Baby.  The due date is next week some time and based on past experience Lana is always late.  We figured it would be safe for me to do some client support away this week.  One client is about 3 hours away and the other is in Victoria about 8 hours away.
Last night I stayed half way between Client 1 and Client 2 about 5 hours away from home.  I went to Mass this morning for Ash Wednesday and just as I started driving South, Lana rang.
She had some minor contractions.  They weren't Braxton Hicks (sort of practice contractions), they were real - just fairly small.
So I turned around and came home.
And the contractions stopped.  Of course.
But this means we are pretty close and things can get moving at any time, so I am staying close to home at the moment.  Stay tuned.
And then when the time comes, Lana will get another helper, just like the ones in this photo, "helping" Lana make mini pizzas.  Lana is very quick with the spoon on helping fingers that get too close!

16 February 2010

Rain is great - sometimes


On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we had just over 100mm (4 inches) of rain.  This is good steady rain, the type that fills dams, water tanks and soaks into the ground.  Grass and trees are rejoicing, farmers are smiling again and gum boot sellers are liking the look of muddy ground.
But there are always those who find the grey lining to every silver cloud.  Martin wanted to play in the rain but we said he couldn't.  We had to go to Mass in a short time so we would have to wait for another time. However, he did agree to pose for this photo.
The other issue is that we have found lots of new places where the rain comes into our shop.  A leak here, a leak there, and an old and rusty box gutter combine to give us a pretty collection of drips under which we have placed a variety of buckets.  I was hoping to delay with the roof repairs I knew were needed, but they will have to be done sooner rather than later.


Lana and I went out clutching an umbrella to meet a roofing fellow who was able to see all the leaks in action and then climb up on the roof and check out the source.  I am sure the quote for the fix will be in soon.
On the other hand Eric did volunteer to check the rain gauge just to see how much rain we had so far. I think it was more to test his beloved Drizabone coat.

13 February 2010

Have I got a deal for you!

We have worked hard over the years to emphasise with the children that "There is no such thing as a free lunch" and working well can bring rewards.
As we mentioned earlier, Eric and I were up in Northern NSW helping set up business systems for friends of ours.  This was pretty full on, flying up on New Year's Day and then working 5 full days including a stock take (counting all the stock in the business and matching it to the records) and then while I worked on setting up the software, Eric went around the store matching bar codes to products.  He just set up a laptop on a wheeled office chair, plugged in the handheld barcode scanner and then had a nice long power cord connecting him from power point to power point.  Each time I looked up I noticed he had moved along to another section and more of the products had become matched up to their barcodes.
Once we had finished, Eric was able to make a deal with our friends and purchase a Drizabone coat.  He is very happy that we are currently having a lot of rain as this allows him to wear the coat almost everywhere.
Here he is showing how he could be a door to door salesman.  Somehow I think he may have mis-understood the concept.

7 February 2010

Barefoot Pregnant and in the Kitchen - but...

We have been informed by radical feminists that marriage is just a male plot to keep women barefoot, pregnant and in the dreaded kitchen.  Apparently the only way to be truly free is to go work outside the home where you are told by strangers when, where and how to work doing stuff that almost anyone else can do.
Only those poor enslaved women are stuck at home doing what they want for ones they know and love where no one else can take their place.

I mean, what type of choice is that?

In this photo Lana is posing in our shop's wonder kitchen - and she is pregnant.  But she is wearing shoes (for Occupational Health and Safety reasons) and working outside the home.  So does this make her choice valid, or does it just confuse the issue?

Soon we will have the enjoyment of filling in paperwork for the new baby's birth certificate (in 2 to 3 week's time).  The forms always ask the job of mother and father.  Our answers for Lana have changed over the years.  The first one we used was "Home Duties" which was duly recorded as "None".
The next few I entered"Project Manager" which was recorded correctly.  At parties they used to ask us what job Lana had.  If we answered "Mother" the questioner's eyes would glaze over and that would end the enquiry.  So I answered "Project Manager" and described her very important job.  Lana manages a number of long term projects, handling all logistics, on site training, entertainment, catering, transport, cleaning and accommodation.  An additional project is added about every 2 to 3 years and the work is very fulfilling, being on demand 24/7.  And Lana gets to work at home in a very flexible environment.

The last few times we answered "Home Maker" which is really what the above description truly describes.  That has been accepted, probably because the data entry clerk thought it might have something to do with the building industry.

Update:  We are getting some great comments on how our readers have recorded the homemaker's job on official documents.  How have you described this most important - and under-rated - position?

3 February 2010

Is this the last child?

We have lost count of the number of times friends, acquaintances and complete strangers have asked us, "So, is this the last one?" in relation to the impending arrival of the next Bruggie Baby.
Lana has perfected the best response.
"Yes," she replies, waiting while the questioner gives a sigh of approval or "understanding", and then completes her sentence, "But then, this is my fourth last one."
In fact, each child has been the "last" one until the next gift has come along.  This is a photo of the last three last children enjoying a photo session with a local farmer at Christmas time.

Further valuable information is imparted to us when we share the size of our family with people. Apparently television has a completely undocumented, but very well known, function.  In olden times TV was said to rot the brain.  Nowadays it is commonly held to prevent children from arriving.  "Don't you have a TV?" is the common cry.
My response has been, "I missed the big sign at the Electrical Retailer. I saw the ones telling me the screen size, pixels, brightness and price, but TV's contraceptive powers were not in the brochure."

So sometime in the next 3 to 4 weeks, we will be celebrating our victory over the child defeating power of television with the arrival of our last child.  This time.