Thursday, May 30, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Mega update for the past month (parvo virus, hospital and Vanuatu)
Yep, a month between updates; I'm either slack, or have been quite busy. Those who know us will agree it's been the latter...
Dad is now acting Director at work, and has been working very long hours - in acting up an Assistant Director, there is now effectively two operational staff members less, as we pretend to be management!
Linc was diagnosed with Parvo Virus on our return from Melbourne; a nasty rash developed with an even worse cough making bedtimes a bit of struggle. This is from NSW Health:
Parvovirus B19 infection is a mild rash illness that occurs most commonly in children. The ill child typically has a "slapped-cheek" rash on the face and a lacy red rash on the trunk and limbs. The child is not very ill, and the rash resolves in 7 to 10 days.
Not very ill - I think they should revisit their definition of 'not very ill'... He even vomited a few nights due to the uncontrollable coughing fits. And the best thing about it was that, because it's a virus, there is nothing you an do except treat the symptoms. One month on, and he's still crook, although he is improving every day (we think).
To add to our fun-filled lives, Linc was booked in for surgery on 13 May to have an examination and possible hemorrhoidectomy - this one day after Mum and Dad were to return from overseas (more on that later). We found out while we were overseas that the surgery for the 13th was cancelled and rescheduled to 17 May (yesterday). So we fronted up to the hospital at 7am sharp and proceeded to wait for almost three hours for the surgery. Good times. He was eventually admitted to the theatre, and Dad accompanied him while he went under a general anesthetic (which is never pleasant). Within 30 minutes Dr Malecky (the specialist) was done, telling us that all he could do was an exam, as the hemorrhoids were ringing his bottom, therefore making surgery too risky (as it would result in excess scar tissue where scar tissue shouldn't be)... not great news. Good news, however, is that there are no internal hemorrhoids so no surgery required.
Linc recovered quickly, within 20 minutes he was eating Jatz and watching Top Gear; within an hour he was running around as if nothing had happened. Amazing! We were all glad to go home though as it was a very long day and emotionally exhausting; Mum reckons this hospital visit was much harder than with Carter as at least Carter didn't really know what was happening; Linc certainly did, and became quite withdrawn once the scrubs were broken out for both Dad and him.
Just to pick up on an earlier comment, Mum and Dad finally escaped for a five night holiday in Vanuatu from 6-11 May, while Mum and Dad's folks teamed up to look after the kids for the week. This was our first big vacation away from the kids. It was a wonderful holiday, and we even got to visit Mount Yasur Volcano on Tanna Island - an amazing experience to see, hear, smell and feel VANUATU BLOG
the heartbeat of the earth. The photo blog for that visit is here:
Dad's folks have just departed for overseas. They have already spent a couple of days in Dubai and are now in the UK; unfortunately Nan had a bit of an asthma attack and was taken to hospital by ambulance; she was treated and diagnosed with a severe chest infection; hope you get better soon me mother!
Dad is now acting Director at work, and has been working very long hours - in acting up an Assistant Director, there is now effectively two operational staff members less, as we pretend to be management!
Linc was diagnosed with Parvo Virus on our return from Melbourne; a nasty rash developed with an even worse cough making bedtimes a bit of struggle. This is from NSW Health:
Parvovirus B19 infection is a mild rash illness that occurs most commonly in children. The ill child typically has a "slapped-cheek" rash on the face and a lacy red rash on the trunk and limbs. The child is not very ill, and the rash resolves in 7 to 10 days.
Not very ill - I think they should revisit their definition of 'not very ill'... He even vomited a few nights due to the uncontrollable coughing fits. And the best thing about it was that, because it's a virus, there is nothing you an do except treat the symptoms. One month on, and he's still crook, although he is improving every day (we think).
To add to our fun-filled lives, Linc was booked in for surgery on 13 May to have an examination and possible hemorrhoidectomy - this one day after Mum and Dad were to return from overseas (more on that later). We found out while we were overseas that the surgery for the 13th was cancelled and rescheduled to 17 May (yesterday). So we fronted up to the hospital at 7am sharp and proceeded to wait for almost three hours for the surgery. Good times. He was eventually admitted to the theatre, and Dad accompanied him while he went under a general anesthetic (which is never pleasant). Within 30 minutes Dr Malecky (the specialist) was done, telling us that all he could do was an exam, as the hemorrhoids were ringing his bottom, therefore making surgery too risky (as it would result in excess scar tissue where scar tissue shouldn't be)... not great news. Good news, however, is that there are no internal hemorrhoids so no surgery required.
Linc recovered quickly, within 20 minutes he was eating Jatz and watching Top Gear; within an hour he was running around as if nothing had happened. Amazing! We were all glad to go home though as it was a very long day and emotionally exhausting; Mum reckons this hospital visit was much harder than with Carter as at least Carter didn't really know what was happening; Linc certainly did, and became quite withdrawn once the scrubs were broken out for both Dad and him.
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| Linc and Dr. Dad ready for theatre |
the heartbeat of the earth. The photo blog for that visit is here:
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| Mount Yasur Volcano - Tanna Island |
Dad's folks have just departed for overseas. They have already spent a couple of days in Dubai and are now in the UK; unfortunately Nan had a bit of an asthma attack and was taken to hospital by ambulance; she was treated and diagnosed with a severe chest infection; hope you get better soon me mother!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Happy One-hundredth birthday to our Ma
Mum's grandmother turned 100 years old last week. We drove down to Koo Wee Rup for the party which was attended by about 80 people.
It was a good weekend, although the drive down to Melbourne is the most mind-numbing you are likely to encounter; ridiculously low speed limits combined with over the top enforcement of said speed limits by a combination of police, speed cameras and point-to-point speed cameras. When will the government wake up to themselves that fatigue is killing just as many (if not more) drivers than speeding is...yet one is an easy fix, and the other is much more difficult. Anyway, I digress; we stayed at the Big 4 Dandenong in a lovely new 3 bdrm cabin and the kids were just excellent. The Mondeo went beautifully, easily getting to Melbourne and around on one tank of fuel.
The party was extremely well catered for, with an over-abundance of food. The kids had fun grabbing the electric fence (with a bit of encouragement from Dad), running around the property, playing in the cubby-house and on the huge slide, and feeding the calf some dinner.
It was a good weekend, although the drive down to Melbourne is the most mind-numbing you are likely to encounter; ridiculously low speed limits combined with over the top enforcement of said speed limits by a combination of police, speed cameras and point-to-point speed cameras. When will the government wake up to themselves that fatigue is killing just as many (if not more) drivers than speeding is...yet one is an easy fix, and the other is much more difficult. Anyway, I digress; we stayed at the Big 4 Dandenong in a lovely new 3 bdrm cabin and the kids were just excellent. The Mondeo went beautifully, easily getting to Melbourne and around on one tank of fuel.
The party was extremely well catered for, with an over-abundance of food. The kids had fun grabbing the electric fence (with a bit of encouragement from Dad), running around the property, playing in the cubby-house and on the huge slide, and feeding the calf some dinner.
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| A letter from Lizzie! |
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| 2 yrs old, 4 yrs old and 100 yrs old! |
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| Carter loved the slide |
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| Linc looking far too grown up! |
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Welcome Ollie, the newest member of the family!
No, we haven't secretly popped out another human bean, but we have just procured another member of the family; meet Ollie [edit 17/4]. He's a pure-bred sealpoint ragdoll kitten, about 10.5 weeks old (born on 26/1/13), white with grey ears, tail and paws (and a little bit of grey above his nose, as you can see from the photos). The kids love him, and can't wait until we pick him up - which will not be until next weekend, unfortunately!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Happy Easter
A hectic weekend this easter loooonnnngggg weekend, with lots of fun (and chocolates). We started on friday night with a gathering at Aunty Chooks house, then saturday we did some shopping, then sunday we had a street easter egg hunt, followed closely by another easter egg hunt at the AFP K9 training centre at Majura! Then today we had another easter gathering (and easter egg hunt) at Aunty Chook's place before heading to Murrumbateman for Linc's friend Hayley's 4th birthday party. Can't wait for the weekend to have a break!
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| All of the kids had a barrel of fun! |
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| The AFP K9 team's office dog Flint |
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Linc and Carter go to Jackson's birthday party
Jackson is Linc's best mate at school. And we hear a lot about Jackson. The upside is that Linc and Carter got invited to Jackson's birthday party at the Reptile Centre; it was actually very cool (even for big people) as they had a number of lizards, turtles and snakes for everybody to touch. Linc and Carter did really well and behaved for Dad (as Mum was at work) and didn't break anything (I think).
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| A python that looks very much like a brown snake. The kids were quite shocked to see it crawl out of the bag. |
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| One kid was so shocked at the snake, he literally fell off his chair! |
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| Jackson showing the boys a baby crocodile |
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Making the most of every second weekend!
Over one month since the last post, so time for a blog update!
Life is in a pretty good routine; there are still the odd surprises (like, 02.04am when Linc comes in - "Mum, my feet are wet"...), but Linc is loving school, Carter loves going to Gran's house, and we're finding that we make more of the weekends where Mum doesn't work, such as going to the Arboretum, feeding the ducks, or going to Cockington Green for a train ride!
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| Feeding the (very assertive) birds at John Knight Memorial Park |
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| Riding on the train at Cockington Green |
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| Canberra day long weekend at the Rose Gardens |
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