My Unborn Baby

This is something new for me, a baby, and it's in my belly.

I can remember the day I found out I was pregnant like yesterday, I had a feeling something was up with me when I did not get my period for 2 weeks. I happen to be walking past a chemist on my lunch break and stopped in my tracks, I thought I have to know for sure and this was the only certain way. I asked the assistant where I find the pregnancy tests and she guided me to the baby section, there are so many to choose from. The assistant assured me they all did the same job so I purchased the test and took it home that night.

I told Andre that I had purchased the test and he wanted me to do it right away...so I peed in a cup (because I did not want to pee all over my hand) and dipped the test fibers into the pee. Now the test is supposed to come up positive after about 5 minutes well, we only had to wait 30 seconds for a positive result, I'm pregnant. I was speechless, I mean I wanted to have children with the love of my life and we talked about it but when it actually happens I did not know what to say. I didn't have to say much anyway Andre was ever so excited and still to this day says it was the happiest day of his life when he found out he was going to be a father. I am excited but weary because of the what if's and I know will I share Andre's excitement once the baby is in my arms.

Pregnancy was not kind to me in the beginning, I had constant nausea 24 hours a day but I never vomited. I was cranky, moody, snappy, tired and I think I almost made Andre hate me during this period. I hated myself because I could not control my own body, I felt like the young girl in the Exorcist movie, possessed by the devil. Saying and doing things I would never in my dreams say otherwise. The nausea stayed with me until 16 weeks before it subsided and I haven't even mentioned the sore gums yet. In to my second trimester my gums on the left side become weak and this was very painful, I could not eat and I still cannot eat on my left side of my mouth.

So far we have had 3 ultra sound tests, the first at 8 weeks. The blob in my uterus did not resemble a baby yet, but it already had a heart beat. Every time we have a scan Andre gets so excited to see the baby, it's a real treat for him because he can have a look behind the scenes once in a while. The second scan was at 13 weeks and now the baby has arms, legs and we see all the internal organs and brain. The last scan was yesterday at 18 weeks with my new obstetrician in Brazil, he is very happy with the baby and I and kept saying how perfect baby looks. It is amazing to see the baby at this stage, we could see all the bones developed and the baby measures 21cm. It's half way to meeting Andre and I.

Thank god now at almost 19 weeks I am finally starting to enjoy my pregnancy, my belly is growing day by day and I love rubbing my buddha belly. For the last three weeks the baby is strong enough for me to feel it moving, at first I thought I had wind but quickly realised that it was actually the baby. Each day the movement gets stronger and stronger and over the past week Andre has been able to feel the baby to, you should see the smile on his face when he feels the baby move. The baby is most active at 10'o'clock in the evening, I when I am settling to sleep, cheeky.

The obstetrician asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby, at the beginning of the pregnancy I wanted to know so I could pick a name and buy appropriate colours, but now I changed my mind and want a surprise. I figured that I really don't get all that many surprises in my life so I want to wait to the birth to find out whether I am having a boy or a sweet little girl. Right now I don't have any interest in knowing the sex, I am just happy that the baby is healthy and moving. Although I have thought about names, for a girl I would love to name her Jasmin and for a boy I adore Benjamin but Andre is not so keen but one name we have agreed on is Romeo.

Whether is be Jasmin or Romeo, I look forward to finally meeting you come mid april next year.

My new home in Rondonopolis, Brazil

Well here I am in Rondonopolis, Mato Grosso, Brazil. With my new husbands (Andre Gustavo Dinardi Peixoto) family and I am 4 and a half months pregnant. You could say a lot has happened in the last 6 months. There is way to much to write about so I will focus on my first impressions of my new home.

Rondonopolis is a small town with a population of 200,000, to a new comer it would be a bit of a culture shock however I have travelled all through Peru, Bolivia and Brazil before so I knew what to expect. Rondonopolis is a very dusty town, not just any old dust but red dust, I kept waiting for horse back cowboys to stroll down the main roads and my wait is over, last night on the way home form the farmers markets I got my 2 cowboys on horseback, hats and all.

It is very hot in Rondonopolis depending on the season rainy - humid and dry - dry hot, yesterday was very humid hot being rainy season at the moment and no matter how much liquids I was consuming I was constantly parched. I found it difficult to breath at times to. I need to keep a bottle of water with me at all times and pray I get use to the heat. Maybe I should make use of the pool in the back yard to cool down at times.

The night markets were pretty good, lots of fresh produce which is heaven for me and half the market was food stalls preparing dinner for the shoppers. The market reminded me of the night markets in Melbourne in the summer time except it is always summer time here and so every friday and night you can grab a bite, catch up with friends (not that I have any yet) and shop for fresh produce for the week. I experienced my first proper "pastel", a square pastry pocket with various filling, mine being shredded chicken. It was delicious and I will have to try all the flavours. I also had a bite of "pamonha", a creamed corn steamed slice and fresh sugarcane juice, "garapa" mmmmmm. I hope Andre takes me to these markets every friday.

Brazilian people are very friendly and come in all shapes, sizes and colours, I wish I knew Portuguese, I would love to converse with the locals and shop for myself. I will make it my mission to learn asap. One thing that really alarms me about Brazil is they don't really use seat belts, I see pick up trucks loaded with kids on the back and even Andre's sisters always tell me I don't need to wear a seat belt. I wear one anyway because they might be good drivers but I worry about the other drivers on the road.

My new family, are a colourful bunch. Andre my adorable husband is sweet and we are so alike in many ways, we both share a passion for food, arts in all forms and love of course. Our greatest love will be making an appearance mid April of next year.

Iracema my mother inlaw is a work'a'holic, she owns and runs a private school nearby and it is one of the most successful school in Brazil. She is amazing with time management and seems to balance her personal life with her professional life and most importantly she is a loving mother. Grazi (Andre's older sister) and Diego who I have already met in Savona, Italy are still the same, Grazi is a shit stirrer like Andre and has a very strong character and highly opinionated with a soft gooey centre which sneaks out once in a while and Diego is placid and gentle and love football (soccer)

Jerusa is sweet and affectionate, she has so much love to give. She is studding to become a law judge and she will make a fine judge at that. All Grazi, Diego and Jerusa work for their mother at her school, CIE. Maria the maid does not say much but she cleans and cooks for the family everyday except Sundays. That leaves the 2 little fluff balls Sofia and Nicolie who might I add took an instant liking to me which surprised everyone. These 2 little territorial mutts were like melted butter in my palms.

The Peixoto's live and a very beautiful double story home, very new, modern and secure with electrical fencing around the house. Andre and I sleep in the granny flat out the back, it's a small space but we have everything we need including air conditioning (thank god for that). I am loving the food however once I get over the germs and bacteria's I can enjoy it even more.

These were my first impressions of my new home.

I love the Italian life style

I have been in Italy for 3 days and it has been very cold, the town of Savona is at the beginning of the Alps and all are capped with snow. I saw a van today that drove past while Andre and I were warming up in a cafe with 30 centimeters of snow on the roof!!! I have never in my life seen anything like it. Thank goodness Grazi has loads of jackets and I have adopted a nice big, grey, metallic looking number that almost touches the ground. It's as warm as a duvet (dooner), come to think of it shiny, metallic and futuristic looking jackets are in. I'm not to keen on them. 

Andre and I have come across the most amazing hot chocolate drinks while in Savona, so thick it is more like a dessert than a hot chocolate and we will randomly stop in bakery's and buy cake. Ahhh Italians now how to make good cakes and sweets, I suppose they have had over a thousand years mastering these recipes and it show mmmmmmmmmmm cake.

We spend our days walking whether it be window shopping or by the cold windy beaches then come home and I cook a dinner for everyone. After dinner we may play some rummikub, they are all quick learner's and were whipping our butts in no time. And well, last night Grazi's house mate a 45 year old Brazilian woman completely shocked us all by bringing out a black box. In the box was a latex life size dildo, I was very scared and asked if it was a used one and she assured us it was an unused present, well once we know that, who would have thought we could have so much fun and laughs with a dildo. All clean fun, I can assure you. 

Last night I also tried fizzy red Lambrucho vino, strangely enough it was was bloody good. I frowned at it when it first appeared because it was taken out of the fridge and everyone knows you store red wine at room temperature and then when I made out the translations that it was fizzy I was going to give it a miss altogether, I am so glad I kept an open mind and tried it. I wonder it they sell this in Australia????

Tonight we went to Grazi's work, she looks after and keeps company a little 85 year old Italian lady named Luciana. She is the sweetest thing and I want to keep her for myself and take her home with me. Grazi spends 3 hours with her most days of the week and I can see what a difference it makes in her life. Luciana has family but they find her a choir rather then family, tonight as we left we all kissed her and said good night to her and she cried because her family don't even do that. She found more love from strangers tonight than she has had from her family in a long time. I will always remember sweet Luciana and her beautiful green eyes.

Italy

In primary school as part of the school curriculum we learnt Italian. As our Italian teachers would describe the places they grew up in and the food they ate and the way of life, I have always wanted to visit there. I have finally made it. With the love of my life Andre, we arrived to Milan airport yesterday then a 3 hour train ride to the lovely town of Savona. 

It was quite a drama to get here as we were booked on a flight on Monday morning but we missed it by a whisker, this could have been the worst day of my life so far. I cried like a baby all the way back to London with good reason, I was awake all night and been trying to get to Stansted airport, I hit my head tyring to get my bags out from the bus then no PDQ (EFPOS) machines weren't working, the reason to missing the flight....after all that I had to turn around and make the same journey back. 

Once we were at Milan Central Station we brought our train tickets to Savona, I was thirsty and hungry. I purchased a bottle of water then we looked for a shop that sold food. I waited a while before I was served and just pointed at everything I wanted. I waited while they toasted our flat sandwiches and heated up some sort of crumbed thingamajig(which ended up being mushie rice with cheese centre and then the outside crumbed), I collected our goodies, turned and gave Andre a big smile and the next moment I was on the ground, fallen flat. Tripped over by an old woman's suitcase, didn't bother to apologise and continued walking. Squashed food in one hand and I could not get up because my backpack was weighing me down, my knees were killing me. Andre and two strangers came to my rescue. Welcome to Italy, nice welcome indeed. Andre could not stop laughing, after the shock had settled I must admit it was quite funny. 

Anyway lets not dwell on the past, I'm here and what a glorious day it is, I cannot get over all the manifico shops and boutique's. Every food shop I walked past I found myself starring with my tongue hanging out and Andre would have to drag me away. Health food stores, chocolate shops, cake shops, butchers, fish mongers, you name it they have it here and the quality and variety to die for. 

Fashion, well were do I start.....Italian women love to look glamorous, they all deserve the cover page on Vogue. Clothes are very stylish and classical, I feel a bit out of place because I am such a scruffer and my clothes are made up of random bits from around the world. One day I may look like these ladies. Shoes, dresses, coats, boots, trousers, shirts, scarves loved it all except for those awful velvet traxies, ooooooh they really hurt my eyes. What possesses women to wear these? 

Only if I got paid out from Ripcurl after they went into receivership, I would have a field day shopping for everything but the velvet traxies. 

I really miss our house mate Ben Collis, he rang me to tell me he made meat balls from the new Jamie Oliver cook book Andre and I brought him, oh bless him, love him to bits. 

I have finally met Andre's sister Graziela and her husband Diego, Grazi sure suits the Italian lifestyle, she loves to talk a lot, shame I cannot understand instead her voice puts me to sleep. She is a bit bigger then a midget with big luscious kissable lips, little lady but big personality. Diego is a sweet man, they have both lived in Italy for the past 7 months tying to get their European Citizenship. Andre is here for the same reason, this time next year we will be able to live freely here and experience a new way of life, culture and language. 

Maybe here in Savona, who knows.

 

Friendship Bands

I made a friendship band tonight for the first time in a long time, infact I cannot remember the last time I made one. 

Andre the love of my life has been wearing rubber bands around his wrist and I really didn't like them and could not find any nice bracelets for him so I thought how cool it would be to make one for him. Making one is a lot more personal and a lot of thought needs to go into a friendship band, where to buy the cotton from, what colors to use and remembering how to make it in the first place. 

I have been trying to think of keep sakes I could give to Andre before we part for half a year so friendship bands are great for this. Once you make a friendship band for a special person and tie it to there wrist, it is not allowed to be taken off until it falls off with wear. It was so difficult to choose just 3 colors, it's like buying candy from a candy store. I decided to choose colors I liked so I went with red, blue and black. I forgot how to make them until I tied the three strings together onto my big toe and started notting, it all came back to me like riding a bike. 

I thoroughly enjoyed making the bands, taking the time to do something creative and the patience to see it form start to finish. Oh the satisfaction of seeing the finished band on a loved one. 

I wonder why we stopped making friendship bands when we grew up, why should kids have all the fun! 

Should you receive a friendship band consider yourself very special to me.  

My Friend Ruth

I met Ruth when I started with Prosurf in St Columb Major, she was so bubbly and always had a big cheesy grin. Now she is a very good friend of mine and my boss at Ripcurl, how lucky I am as she is magical..... 

This youthful lass originally from Leeds is unique, kind, selfless and a peaceful person. Ruth makes birthday/any occasion cards instead of buying them, makes animals out of socks and cuts up most of her t-shirts in to halter necks. She loves to host dinner parties and has introduced me to many typical English dishes like Yorkshire Pudding, Stew with dumplings and Bread 'n' Butter Pudding mmmmmmm. Not only English dishes also a dish she ate in the much talked about Bali, Gado Gado. I cannot wait to eat Gado Gado in Bali myself, from the stories Ruth has told me, Bali sounds like heaven.

I have had many BBQ's on the beach with her, friends and the famous English portable BBQ. I was amazed when I first gazed my eyes upon this BBQ, they are a great idea. We have no need for portable BBQ's in Australia because there are provisions of BBQ's every where you go whether it be an electric coin operated or wood fire. Ruth loves getting in the water so we spent many afternoons surfing and having fun, in our wet suits of course. The English water is much colder than the water back home.

My magical lady has been unlucky in Love until she met Simon Gibbs through Ripcurl, he has totally swept her off her feet with his kindness and endless love. So in love she is in such a short time (1 month of knowing each other) she will meet Simon who just left to go to Australia. She will greet her love in 6 weeks and they will embark their own adventure together, how exciting.

This also means I will get to see Ruth again once I return home to share some more of that magic which she radiates. 

Will always love you hun

xxx  

Wow

I always dreamed of seeing the world when I was young and now at age 29, I have seen and done so much. I have so much I want to see and do still.

I had a dream from the time I was 12 year of age, I wanted to do the Inca Train in Peru and 15 years later I made my first dream come true. I booked myself a ticket to New York which blew my mind away, from there to Hollywood and then on to a South American Coast to Coast tour that embarked from Lima then on to Cusco, Inca Trail, Puno, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, Potosi, Sucre, Santa Cruz, Pantanal, Bonito, Iguazu Falls, Atlantic Rainforest, Paranagua Honey Island through to Rio De Janeiro, one month of bitter/sweet experiences. The bitter being ill for most of my trip and the sweet being the amazing people, cultures, colors, food, dancing and friendships I encountered.

After returning home from my big Adventure I went back to my old job and old life, I found it so boring and I was sitting at my desk at work and it hit me.... my adventure did not have to end and there was nothing to hold me back so I organised my work/holiday visa for the UK and off I went to London. I was there for a year and enjoyed my time in the big smoke but was ready to move on so now I live in Newquay, South West of England with the love of my life Andre Peixoto. We both work for Ripcurls flagship store in town and have grown quite fond of life by the sea.