It's safe to say that as far as E is concerned, poor old Santa is a great big fail this year.

Does anyone else have a heck of a time trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for their parents and inlaws? It's never so much about the money for us (although I always have a budget), it's more about finding the perfect gift that tells them just how much we love and appreciate them both now and always.

I usually keep a running list of  gift ideas for everyone eg. My go to for mum is theatre tickets and Swarovski ornaments but sometimes there is nothing showing and none of the crystal appeals. This year has been one of those years. Scott and I haven't had a single idea for our parents ... Until tonight! It all came to me while watching Scott cook dinner funnily enough.

I heard on the radio today (between wiggles CDs) that Dragon were on tour and scheduled to play the Gold COast in 2014 ... You know, the 1980's band that sung 'Young Years' ... Which is also one of my dad and my all time favourite songs. Dad and I share a big love of music, especially all things 80s and have been to many a concert together including The Eagles and Richard Marx to give you an idea so Dragon tickets are completely perfect.

Consultation with my sister led us to deciding to organise a family sitting over our family holiday with a photographer mum loves for her gift. The photographer did my sister's wedding and niece's first pictures so we know his work well. She's been desperate for an entire family portrait, especially since the babies came along so she will love this. Pity the pictures will be out of date come May when B2 arrives but we can always just repeat next year.

The in-laws were proving impossible this year. Never easy to buy for at the best of times, they don't like clutter, have just returned from an OS holiday and have absolutely everything they need. We were tossing up books, box sets and not much else when my brainwave struck! I was thinking of an experience for them when I put two and two together and came up with a full day wine tour with lunch at our very own local wine country, Mount Tamborine. I did some research and found a great one that does pickup, drop off, 2 course lunch and 4 wineries. I can't believe I've never thought of this before as it's right up the ILs alley given they love wine, food, Mount Tamborine... It's perfect.

We are breathing a big sigh of relief tonight knowing that we really have completed all of our Christmas shopping.

How's your shopping going?

How far along? 15 weeks


Stretch marks? No - and I go on and on about it but I am loving using my Mothercare cream again.

Symptoms: I definitely need to keep up those pelvic floor exercises as an annoying cough this week reinforced they aren't quite what they used to be.

Sleep: the nights have been cooler which helps enormously as my body temp is much higher lately but not enough to help me sleep through this week.

Have you told family and friends: Yes! And you can check last month's 'sooner than expected' post if you want to see E's eviction notice.

Miss Anything? After the week I've had, you guessed it, WINE!

Movement: slight flutters but nothing definite or consistent. I had an anterior placenta with E so didn't feel anything till 21/22 weeks last time so I'll probably be shocked to feel anything significant before then.

Age: 17 Months

We had a bit of an unenviable early start to our weekend when we were woken before dawn by the sounds of E's very laboured breathing. Concerned as he appeared to be struggling for air, we woke him and were greeted by a very sad baby with a harsh seal like cough that frightened him (and us) each time. Poor babe also had a temp spike of 38.6 (not bad considering how many times we've nursed 39+). Whooping cough was the number 1 illness that popped into my head and given it appeared his breathing was affected, we made the decision to head straight to emergency. Luckily it was a surprisingly quiet night/morning and the triage nurse had one listen to E and admitted us immediately saying that we did the right thing bringing him in as he very much needed to be there.

How far along? 14 weeks


Stretch marks? No - Loving using my Mothercare cream again.

Symptoms: still tired but that's about it now with some occasional queasiness.

Sleep: it's great... I'm sleeping well and solidly thank goodness.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Wine! Yep, still badly missing my sav blanc ... But it's totally worth it.

Movement: no, nothing this week. I can't wait for Scott and Ethan to feel them though.
Best moment this week: putting up our Christmas tree with Es help and thinking forward to how much fun the future has in store for our little family in every Christmas to come.

Food cravings: loving my cola drinks and mangoes - thank goodness they're back in season.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing I can pinpoint this week.

Have you started to show yet: yes but it's still not a definite bump.

Baby is a: Girl ... I'm dying to know! Must hold out! Only 26 weeks give or take to go 😩

Belly Button in or out? Innie and unlikely to change.

Wedding rings on or off? On and there to stay for awhile.

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy definitely but feeling more overwhelmed than usual and have had a few OMG how will I do this with 2 under 2 moments.

Looking forward to: having more energy, the 20 week scan and Christmas with all it entails.

1. Make nuts and bolts - it's an Aussie thing involving nutri grain cereal and curry powder amongst other things.