Alive and kicking!

Thought I'd better do a blog post to let those of you en France (and of course my huge readership worldwide *ahem*) know that not only am I alive and kicking but thriving!

It would be pretty much impossible to try and re-cap the last  few weeks in detail but I'll give it a whirl.
Suffice to say it has been hectic.
Hectic and awesome.

We arrived tired and rather discombomulated in Melbourne late on the 10th of December. All of our luggage arrived too, thank goodness and I was less tired than normal thanks to the benefits of Qatar Business Class. Oh yeah baby. Travelling in luxury is where it's AT.

I sent a text to my sister during our 6 hour lay-over in Doha that reads "I now understand why people pay a lot more for Business Class. Because it's f*cking AWESOME!!!" And it's the truth. So good.
Though I fear International Travel may now be off the cards for me as I don't know if I can go back to Cattle Class.It was that good.

Our first 2 weeks in Melbourne were a festival of eating, catching up with friends, celebrating my birthday and trying to get things organised. Staying with my bestie Sarah and her husband Ash was so nice as I was able to find some time to relax in amongst the craziness; watch some TV, go to Yoga,  do Christmas shopping, go to various doctors appointments, take long walks and eat brunch with Sarah ........ several times. Mmmm. Bacon.

M however, didn't fare quite as well having to jump quickly into new job mode which, coupled with our very busy social calendar where we were eating out pretty much every night meant he was one tired boy by the time we packed up for the road-trip back to Adelaide for Christmas.

Being back home in Adelaide (after a long-ass 8 hour drive) was wonderful - it never changes so is immediately comfortable and familiar and we were both taken aback once again by the sheer space and openness compared to France - it's so flat and expansive and beautiful, and the amazing quality of life we enjoy is hard to beat.

The festival of eating and social events marched on - more BBQ's, lunches and excessive amounts of food which characterise the silly season. We had a lovely - if busy - Christmas Day and I received my new BFF as a surprise present - an iPad. I love her. She is awesomesauce.

M's Grandma's amazing Christmas Pudding. 

I love this photo mostly because of Tessa and Drew's faces! 

So much foodie deliciousness - this is Pork Belly in the foreground. 

And a lot of it got in my belly. Sooooo good

Check out the yabbies behind the pork! huge!

My sister and mum also threw me a wonderful baby shower. Lots of  my best girl-friends and a handful of female family members spent an enjoyable (if very warm) afternoon drinking champagne and eating chicken sandwiches and cupcakes. I might try and do a longer blog on this as Sarah took lots of great photos. Raj and I were utterly spoilt too - it's safe to say that Raj will be the best dressed bubba in the southern hemisphere! SO many gorgeous outfits.

Me and my friend Holly who is due a month after me

We rang in the New Year with a costume party "Come dressed as someone famous". It was a double celebration as my darling friend Kate (who you might know from this blog and this one and this one .... and this one) announced her engagement to the lovely Roger. They are both so happy and I am beyond thrilled for them. The party was such fun - everyone embraced the fancy dress aspect and there was a delicious dinner and then lots of dancing and silliness.

Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter; Kim Kardashian, The Virgin Mary, Audrey Hepburn

Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, a Fairy and Angelina Jolie + kids

Little Red Riding Hood, (me) Katy Perry  

                                      

      Katy Perry and Russel Brand  (who had divorce papers in his back pocket!)

 That's Lance Armstrong on the end - he even had a band-aid patch over the missing left testicle and a syringe in his arm. 

Attention to detail = me likey. 

A strange assortment of guests for dinner

Russel Brand enjoys Pavlova. 

All the boys doing the "Shuffl'in" from LMFAO "Party Rock Anthem"

I begged M to remove the hideous blonde wig early in the night. 

He refused. 

Now we are back in Melbourne - after driving the 8-hours again in 41 degree heat (nasty) and living in a hotel for a month while we try and find a house to rent. The hotel is great - we have a "suite" which means there is a kitchen and living room and I spent a bit of time yesterday unpacking as we are both over living out of a suitcase.

Raj is doing well and I'm feeling pretty good - getting a bit of pain in my hips and lower back and having to use an assortment of pillows for comfy sleeping but other than that, no complaints. I get lots of  kicks and movements every day - and hiccups every now and then, and my belly is doing that cool alien-like roll/undulations which is wicked. We're really happy with our hospital and Obstetrician and we start antenatal classes in a few weeks, which should be good. M continues to be awesome and urges me to take it easy. Which I should, finally, be able to do! Once I find us somewhere to live ..... before Raj arrives .......

I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and New Years with loved ones and that all is well in your worlds. I will try and post more regularly too. Next week, Mum is visiting and we plan to do some touristy stuff, so I might have more of interest to blog about!

Hope you are all well
Gros bisous

B 
xxx