Surprise bedroom reveal - Volume Two {Happy Birthday Liam}

After doing a whirlwind makeover on Jack's bedroom only 3 days prior, Liam was insistent for his birthday that we makeover his room as well. Unlike Jack's room, Liam's room was set up for an older boy from the time we moved in here (2 years ago). So he already had a "display" surfboard and some pieces that fit a the surfing theme that he chose. Liam is also much fussier about his "stuff" than Jack so we knew there wasn't too much we could move. So with all that in mind, we told him that his room was already age appropriate and maybe next year we could do something with it. Astonishingly, he believed us so he was in for a shock when he got home from school.

SURPRISE!!!

I totally love how it turned out and Liam does too. Never in a million years did I think that the husband would agree to putting corrugated iron on the walls (he won't even let me paint the walls) but I'm so glad he agreed.  The bargain is that it only cost us just over $250, especially considering the wave canvas was $149. Awesome.

Getting my Susie on : Cake of Win

Anyone see that pic I posted on Fb of the ice cream cake that was just awesome?
If not, here's a refresher.

So because biting off more than I can chew is how I roll, I was determined I could and would make this cake. Next time I'm buying one of those Peters ones because by the time I'd bought the fifty billion Kit Kats and two 2lt tubs of icecream I'd spent double what an ice cream cake costs and that doesn't even include the time spend making the damn thing. See the crazy shit that Mummy guilt makes you do?

So this is how it went down.

 Two very happy little boys. Mummy guilt, all worthwhile.

Come on, you gotta admit, it did look all kinds of awesome.

Lighting it up blue : The personal journey

The Sydney Opera House Lights it up Blue for World Autism Awareness Day

April 2nd, 2013

For a few days now I've been spruiking the lead up to World Autism Awareness day. Funny how much things have changed in the space of a few years. 10 years ago, hell even 5 years ago I never imagined that I be out here spreading to word about Autism. What parent does? Like with many other causes, unless you're personally affected or a loved one is you would usually see someone's post, acknowledge it, and move on. It's not callous, it's just life. Then I suddenly became personally touched by Autism.

I want to go back a few years and share our story, so tune out right now if you're not in the mood for a long winded personal journey.

Liam is our firstborn. He was an adorable baby. He slept well, he made eye contact, he communicated with you making his baby sounds, he rolled at the right time, he started solids at six months, he sat up when he should have, he started walking around holding on to furniture at 10 months. All awesome developmental milestones. And taking? Boy could he talk. Even as a baby he was always noisy and babbling and once the words started he wouldn't stop. But he just wouldn't walk. It look until he was just over 18 months for him to take his first few unassisted steps. We didn't see it as any concern, he was just lazy right?

He was an adorable toddler. Hardly ever had tantrums, just loved everyone to death instead. Jack was born when Liam was only 12 months old and he was Liam's obsession. Liam constantly had to be touching him, laying on him to be exact. We didn't see it as any concern, he was just loving his brother right?

Liam loved books. Every night we'd put a few books in his cot with him and every night when we'd check on him we'd find the books all nicely lined up down the end of his cot all facing in the same direction. EVERY . SINGLE . NIGHT. We thought it was cute. We didn't see it as any concern, he was just really smart right? Hell we even took photos of how clever he was. 

Liam suffered from chronic constipation. We took him to the doctors several times for this. Both the doctors and health nurse told us that toilet training is harder for boys and to just give him time. We were even told he was just plain lazy. But we thought it was fine.  We just keep dealing with the symptoms with the hope that he' d get the hang of the toilet eventually.

Liam was an adorable little boy who loved Matchbox cars. All those cars so neatly arranged in lines. We were so proud that he was neat, tidy and organised (a skill he certainly didn't inherit from me). We took photos of the awesomely arranged cars. We didn't see it as any concern, he just liked to be tidy right?

Liam loved kinder and everyone seemed to adore him right back. His kinder teachers said he was such a loving little boy but boy could he talk. From memory the exact quote from her was "In all my years as a teacher, I've never had a little boy so inquisitive and ask so many questions". That's good right, inquisitive? We thought so.

At school he made friends with everyone....and I mean EVERYONE. Still to this day  it amazes me that when we walk through the school grounds that every single teacher we pass knows him by name. Tons of kids say hi to him. Kids from both primary and senior school. They all know him by name and he knows all of them right back. And we don't go to a small school, it's in fact one of the biggest schools in Victoria. So while him chatting away to anyone and everyone seemed to be great, it was actually a hindrance in the classroom. He would interrupt the teacher, interrupt other kids. What he had to say or ask would trump what anyone else was doing. The teacher divised ways of controlling the behaviour by giving Liam post it notes with exclamation marks and question marks on them. He had 20 of each to use every day so he had to think about his questions and statements and how important they are before saying them. At the time I thought it was great, but in hindsight I shake my head.

It wasn't until his second year of school that we really noticed that he seemed to be struggling. He was the target of some bullying (which although it doesn't excuse the bullying, it didn't help that Liam was the self appointed class policeman who had to dob in every single wrong doing that he saw), he was struggling maintaining friendships, his reading and writing was not improving at all and was seemingly getting worse. He was cranky a lot and would throw massive tantrums if things didn't go his way. But on the other hand he would be in your face and constantly having to sit, lay, or touch both Brian and I. In that year I had many, many appointments with his teacher. She was the leading teacher for that year level, she seemed to be switched on, from my limited experience with teachers she seemingly knew her stuff so I trusted her each time she downplayed my concerns. I believed her that there was nothing wrong with Liam other than his lack of confidence. I made more of an effort with his reading and spelling, I did so many things to try to boost his confidence but nothing really seemed to change. 

In his third year of school the struggles continued. He would come home crying about how mean his friends were to him. He started stealing things from school and bringing them home. Weird things. Paperclips, shiny rocks, broken pieces of rulers, almost used up pencils, the teacher's brightly colored eraser. He was like a magpie finding all the shiny objects for their nest. I spoke to his teacher about all of my concerns, who gently suggested that I should take him to the GP. She suggested that he may possibly have ADHD. That night I googled my ass off and found myself nodding and crying from relief that everything just seemed to  fit. It all made sense. 

The next few months were a whirlwind of GPs, Paeds, filling in surverys, getting the school to fill in surveys, more specialists before Brian and I finally sat alone with a Paediatric Neuropsychologist to go through the results of all the testing. I wasn't upset, I was looking forward to finally having answers. I had no doubt that he had ADHD. The Pead had already said as much but she had said that she though he also had an anxiety disorder. Today we could move forward and get the help he needed. I remember the Neuropsych explaining how the tests worked, what his results meant, how we could help in certain areas but I remember nothing after the words High Functioning Autism. Honestly the rest of that meeting was a complete blur. I couldn't remember what was said even if you paid me. To say that I was completely blown away and shocked would have been the understatement of the year. Never in a million years did I expect an Autism diagnosis. 

Initially I was a parent out of their depth, with no idea of where to go, what to do or even how to get help for him. It really took at least a few weeks for the reality of what this meant for not only Liam, but for us as a family to sink in. The specialists, the obsessive online reading into how I could help him, the fifty billion forms to fill in, the meetings with the school, the routines at home, the plans all effectively put in to place to do everything we could to make Liam's life as little a struggle for him as possible. 

It's almost been two years since Liam's diagnosis. It's something I very rarely talk about online. Not because I'm ashamed. On the contrary, I'm so proud of my little man. Every day I see but a snapshot of the million miles an hour that his brain functions and it blows my mind. How he has learnt to function in this world is a testament to his resilience and endurance. But I'm sharing today because it's Autism Awareness month. And people need to be aware.

The day that Liam was diagnosed was life changing. We knew so very little about Autism. If we had more awareness we could have made Liam's challenging first few years at school so much easier. Those early years are so important to a child who has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Early intervention really is the be all and end all it's made out to be. Yes, I do kick myself for all the shoulda, coulda, woulda's. All those little quirky things we though were so cute were big red flags waving at us be we were not aware enough to see them. It took a long time to stop beating myself up over not seeing it earlier, so I'm doing my damnedest to help other parents by putting this all out there today.

A photo a day - Swimming...sorta

37 degrees in Melbourne
$15 blow up pool from a $2ish type shop
3 happy kids
PRICELESS

A photo a day - Face in a hole

The princess wasn't too happy about not being tall enough to be the girl but managed a smile. Liam however was a tad over excited.

A photo a day - Can we build it.

Yes we can.
Every single piece of Duplo that Nannie owns piled that high that Liam had to stand on a chair.

A photo a day - And school goes back

The big cheesy grin on Liam's face is comical since just two seconds before he was refusing to get in the photo and cracking it about me walking him into school.

A photo a day - My little Masterchef is back

The boys are back from their holiday and aside from the multitude of hugs and  kisses that I was covered in when I got home from work, the other awesome thing was having Mr Masterchef back. Liam saw a cooking show while he was away and they made home made nuggets. He remembered how to make it and all the ingredients and did it all himself with Daddy only supervising.

A photo a day - In holiday mode

All ready for sleep. Surprisingly enough they went straight to sleep and didn't muck around.

A photo a day - Goodbye Uncle Marc & Jade

The last goodbye for a while as Uncle Marc and Jade are moving to Perth :(

A photo a day - Brotherly love

Cute but less than five minutes later I was telling them off for fighting. Boys eh? Who'd have em?

Memories, like the corners of my mind

Misty water colored memories...
*shudder* Enough of that, but on that topic since my "Go live, 365" was reduced to a "Time waste did I what, 87 is all I got" here's a snapshot of everything that the Brodrick's have been up to in 2011.

JAN 2011

"I just got peed on by my daughter. It's all good for her as she has spare clothes. I've got to walk around in 30 degree heat with 4 layers of pissed on clothes"

Ah yes, that Fauna Park was a barrel of laughs. NOT








"My heart goes out to all the flood victims in Qld. The footage is just unbelievably devastating.
Please stay safe xx"
Please take the time to have a look at this link. It will give you a real understanding of the devastation that was caused. Queensland Floods - Before & After



"First open for inspection day today. 
Fingers crossed some people turn up"
And turn up they did. Six groups in the first inspection. I was pretty chuffed with that.

FEB 2011

 "OMFG. My house is flooding. I have a river running through my garage. The street is completely flooded. If the rain hits us hard again I'll have to start moving stuff."

In case you can't tell from the pic, that's my garage floor completely flooded. Yes I know it doesn't hold a candle to the devastation that Queenslanders went through, but still quite shocking for us all the same.

"WOW I must have pleased the gods. In the one week I've managed to sell my house, secure my land and land a rental property"

That says it all really.

QOTD courtesy of Liam after being told off for playing with my glasses.

Liam: Do you wear glasses Mummy cause you can't see very far?

Me: Yes Liam

Liam: Can all old people not see very far?

MAR 2011



"Has just completed 7 laps straight (with 2 carrying a child) to make 10 laps" at Relay for Life.
I love this image. When all the flood lights go out all you can see is the hope and remembrance candles forming a ring around the oval and a sign of hope projected on to the cliff face.



Bwahahhaha. Ripper QOTD brought to you by Liam.
Liam: What is Sunday school?
Me: It's when you learn about religion.
Liam: Imogen? Why do I want to learn about my sister?

"Is going to see Carl Baron tonight. Be jealous bitches"

Best comedian evah.

APR 2011

"RIP Laura Franks 105 What an innings. I'm sure the old girl will be kicking up her heels and throwing back the hard ones. Look out upstairs – I don't think you know what you're in for"

Brian's Grandmother passed away at the grand old age of 105. I only met her a few times when she visited Australia, but she was a classic for all the wrong and hilarious reasons.

"Is off for a romantic night in the city. 

Big love to John for looking after Gigi" 

View from our window at Crown Metropol Hotel. Highly recommend it - gorgeous room, great service. Shame both Brian and I where really sick with the flu. Gotta wonder what the room cleaners thought when they saw the billions of tissues in the bins. LOL

To our beautiful, loud, adorable, drama queen, ballerina, squealer, cuddle bunny, epic tantrum thrower Princess Imogen – Happy 3rd birthday baby girl. We wouldn't have you any other way. Love you all the way to the moon and back xx

QOTD (whilst on a car trip) courtesy of Jack.

Liam: Mum, Jack's using string to clean his teeth.

Me: Jack where did you get the string from?

Jack: I found it on my sock.

LOL so gross it's funny

MAY 2011 




"Finally after all my whinging and carrying on, we have a sold sticker"
I'd been waiting for the photo opportunity, that is all LOL

I can hear Brian cooking something that sounds suspiciously like bacon and eggs. What a lovely husband. He's probably going to be late for work but he's still making me breakfast.

What a great start to Mother's Day

JUN 2011

FML. Why the hell is everything 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Now I have no gas because Tru energy apparently don't supply gas to this area. So tell me who the hell we've been paying for the last 4 months. Oh and TRU Energy's computers are down so can't help today. So no hot water, no heater and no cook top. Excellent . Just f'ing excellent.

Oh yes, that was a fun week. We ended up with no gas for 10 days, Brian was away in Sydney, Jack has gastro, Imogen was so constipated that she was projectile vomiting. Yes there was fun to be had by all.

 "Ahh the best thing about sitting at home relaxing...leggings can be pants. Hope to Christ that no one comes to the door though"

But only at home - ever. No excuses.

JUL 2011
QOTD courtesy of Imogen: I asked her what she wanted to eat and each time the answer was "Herms". I couldn't work out what she meant so I asked her to show me and she went to the cupboard and got the Italian herbs out of the cupboard and yelled at me “See I said herms Mummy" LOL

"Is talking the kids on a magical mystery tour today. Of course it's my child that falls over in the dog poo"

We ended up taking the kids to Stanley Park, Mt Macedon then on to a playground in Woodend.

AUG 2011

I'm now the proud parent of not one but two seven year olds. Happy 7th birthday my Jackasaurus. Love you to the moon, the planets, the stars and even to Nan and Grandad's xx 

My baby boy is 8. Where did the time go. Happy birthday Lipm. Love you all the way to the moon and back xx 

Using your celebrity slim shaker to make a full cream milking with chocolate topping and ice cream = epic weight loss fail

SEPT 2011

"What a beautiful wedding. Margaretta looks gorgeous. So over the moon for them"
Brian and I had the pleasure of being there to share in the Wedding of one of my oldest friends. 







"Was almost involved in fisty cuffs. LOLing at the thought of me in a brawl"
No word of a lie - I was almost in a punch on - in the car park of Werribee Plaza no less. Can't get much more bogan than that LOL

OCT 2011

"OMG Johnny Ruffo is the shittest of shit. How embarrassment"

Yes for those that know me, they know of my X-Factor fetish. I watched it obsessively. Why though, I don't know when people like this clown constantly got voted in.

"To my amazing husband: today after 18 years together and 10 year married I still love you more than anything. Happy anniversary xx" 

Yep, 10 years this year and what a way to spend it - child free on the Gold Coast.

NOV 2011

QOTD goes to my friends son:
Elijah (to Liam): Do you know my Grandma's name?
Liam: No
Elijah: It's Joy. Like I'm not having any joy packing up these blocks
LMFAO, poor child comes to my house is apparently my slave

"All Boganed out. Night peeps" Jacqui's hen's night was as Bogan as they come thanks to Bogan Bingo. Brilliant night had by all.





QOTD courtesy of Jack (in front of his after school care leaders):
Jack:Mum are you wearing bras today because it doesn't look like it?"
Man they must have laughed after I left.

Dec 2011

QOTD today goes to Imogen: 

Imogen: Cheese mummy, cheese – whilst holding her drink out to me. 

Me: Cheese? What do you mean cheese?

Imogen: No cheeeeese

Ah she means cheers LOL

"Is all primped and preened and ready to go" 

A biggest, hugest congratulations to my bestest friend in the whole wide world on her wedding day. The day was spectacular, even the rain couldn't dampen our spirits. So happy for both you and Mark.

"One child has woken up with croup and the power has just gone out. Lucky it's Christmas day and the kids couldn't care less" Merry Christmas everyone.

So that brings us to the end of 2011. So what's in store for 2012?  

Only time will tell.

Baby you can drive my car

Well ride my bike/scooter whatever.

Anyone ever been to the Essendon Traffic School? Seems like I was the only disadvantaged child that never got to go in primary school. Luckily my kids won't be in the same boat since they where lucky enough to be invited to a kids party there. Who knew that you could hire the place out? The kids had a ball.