Tag Archives: achievement

Time to Shine!

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I love writing a blog that has a happy ending and this one does 😉……

Almost three years ago when my middle baby started prep she was shy, quiet, reserved and suffered separation anxiety. Sienna (aka Sie Sie) was the little girl who never caused any harm, never caused any commotion and was the one who would always be the peace keeper to make everyone else happy. She was the little girl who was too shy to talk to strangers. She was the little girl who hid behind my leg if someone tried to engage in a conversation. She was the little girl who would be pushed around in the toddler area of a play ground but would never make waves and would go to another area to play. She’s always been bright but lacked confidence in her own ability, and her chance to shine was always crippled by that. But that was then…..

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Over the past few years while she’s been at school, she has been so very lucky to have the most amazing educators who have not only nurtured her learning, but have never given up on her when it comes to her being confident. From prep to now (end of grade 2), her walls that she has built so strong around her, have been chipped away and knocked down bit by bit, layer by layer. I’m so happy to now say that my daughter who I’ve always worried about where all of this would end up, is on top of her world! She now oozes with confidence, challenges herself at school with new concepts and tasks and is reaping the rewards.

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Only a few weeks ago Sie Sie received an award for moving up 6 levels in her reading just in a couple of months. To say I’m proud is an understatement. I knew she had it in her, but she has always lacked confidence with her reading, but now this boost has paved the way for her. Living with a brother that is very confident (almost too confident) has to be hard when you’re battling a lack of confidence yourself and it sure doesn’t help when her little 4-year-old sister corrects her and answers questions for her all the time.

I think it’s safe to say Sienna has found her voice in her home and in her school life. She is no longer the girl who hides behind us, nor is she the girl who is shy and softly spoken. She is funny, charismatic, fearless and very mature. She stands up for herself and is very caring for her peers who struggle with things that other children take for granted. She is CONFIDENT in her own skin.

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This has also been evident with her sporting achievements this year. Sienna started playing basketball at the beginning of this year when she was only 6 and a half. After one match of playing in under 8s, she was asked to play in the under 10 mixed division. She had such a wonderful first season and was asked to play in the under 11 girls this season. This also followed with receiving a place in the under 12 girls rep team, but due to only being 7 and not even playing for a year yet, we thought it would be best to wait for rep basketball until she is a little older. We get so much enjoyment out of watching her shine in her chosen sport and her infectious smiles and giggles on court are beautiful. This girl has come so far it makes my heart beat with pride!

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So to all the mummas out there who worry about their quiet achieves who lack confidence, be patient and try not to worry. This experience for me has shown me that all children develop in their own way and in their own time. The solution to this is TIME. Children shine when they are ready to let down their walls of security. For some it’s easier than others. All we can do is encourage and support them and be there to celebrate their success. This year sure has been my daughter’s time to shine and what a wonderful feeling it’s been for us all! All I can say, there is hope for my littlest girl yet lol!

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Results are in!

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Last month I set myself a new running challenge. As running has been my chosen exercise for the past 18 months, I’ve found myself to have many ups as downs with it. I love to run, but it’s one of those exercises that I find myself becoming a little bored with every now and again. But once I tweak my routine or route a bit, I get a new lease of life for a while and I’m all good!

My latest challenge I set for myself has been the best one yet! You can read all about from my post 4 Week Challenge! I’m happy to say I completed it last weekend and am stoked with how I went! It’s amazing just by changing a few things in my weekly running routine and having a positive attitude towards it how much I’ve improved! Just in that month I set PBS for my 1,2,3,9 and 10kms!!!! And my most rewarding achievement of all was running 10km in the 50s!!!!!!

Here is a list of my results over the 4 weeks….
4 week challenge
Week 1 –
5km -25.40
Sprint session (4x1km with 1 minute rest between) – 4.08(pb), 4.45, 4.39, 4.44
10km – hill run 52.53

Week 2-
5km – 25.14
3km (sprint session) – 14.03 – 4.28(1km), 9.17(2km)
10km – flat run 50.42 (pb) – best achievement by far!!!

Week 3 –
5km – 24.57
sprint session (4 x 1km with a 1 minute rest) – 4.10, 4.42, 4.34, 4.40
10km – hill run 52.42

Week 4 –
5km – 24.39
3km – 13.53 (pb)- 4.23, 9.13
10km – flat run 51.55

My 4 week challenge now leaves my running PBS at….
Running PBs
1km 4.25 – sprinting only 1km 4.08
2km 9.15
3km 13.53
4km 18.47
5km 24.02
6km 29.36
7km 35.40
8km 40.57
9km 46.00
10km 50.42
10km hill run 51.10

I’m so stoked with how I’ve gone!!! And am even more stoked with running my 10km hill run yesterday morning in 51.10!!!! If you know my area that is Warrigal, Padstow, Mains and Beenleigh rds there are some challenging spots that’s for sure!!!

Where to from here?? Well for starters I DISLIKE winter and and the only good thing that comes with it is the fashion and those beautiful crystal blue skies!! So my challenge to myself now is to get through winter by maintaining one 10km run per week, one sprint session and a light run session per week as well. There isn’t enough light in the day to exercise on my two work days so they will be my days off and the other 5 days will be for my 3 running sessions and 2 walks with my beautiful babies!

We’ve hit the hard time of the year now where the weather is cold and the days are shorter, but this is where we have to dig deeper and force ourself not to lose sight of our goals and to just keep going….

Remember all you have to do is put your shoes on and start…the rest will fall into place:) and before you know it you’re hot, sweaty and the thought of your nice warm bed is a thing of the past:)!

Here’s to surviving winter….:)

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Goosebumps!

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Are you the sort of person who when told something either wonderful or sad gets goosebumps? I am and this week I’ve had a few of those moments!

With the kids returning to school on Monday it meant I also had to return to work. We had a fabulous holiday together so none of us wanted to part with each other Monday morning, but we did! After Sienna went to bed crying Sunday night because she didn’t want to go back to school and leave me, I went to bed feeling sick. I was expecting something like this to occur, but I was so hopeful that she had overcome the separation anxiety feelings she gets. Thankfully after a bit of a shaky morning getting ready for her first day back, she has been fabulous at school all week! Not one tear has been shed just lots of beautiful big happy smiles! Phew!!!

Tuesday night was parent teacher night. I arrived a little bit early (I know what some of you are thinking – early?? Lol…yes I am capable of being early lol) When I walked up to the lady who was directing all the parents where to go, with a sincere smile she said “are you Bailey’s mum?” very proudly I said “yes!” She proceeded to tell me how wonderful she thought my son was and how much determination he has and that any adult that knows him thinks he is just fantastic! I started getting goosebumps and I couldn’t thank her enough for her kind words. But when she said it’s obvious he has great role models, I stopped for a mere moment and let out a sigh of relief! It was in that moment that I said to myself….the grey hairs, the wrinkles, the bad cop moments, the times when you sound like a broken record have been so worth hearing such kind words about one of my children!

But it didn’t stop there. I had Sienna’s interview first and her teacher said the same thing! Well mannered, caring, kind, pleasure to teach, tries hard, doing well….another goosebump moment! Then over to Bailey’s teacher who claimed the very same things….hard worker, great role model, mature, working above year level standard, we love having him in our class!!! I walked away on such a high!!! The children they were talking about were ours….very different from the ones we sometimes see at home lol….but they were ours!!!!

Then another goosebump moment occurred the very next day when Bailey came home and told me he had been chosen for the third year running to lay the wreath for his class during their school’s Anzac Day Parade. I was so proud of him. And finally I was able to be present for the parade today. He did such a fabulous job and like always he takes any job he is given seriously!

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Then there is our littlest one. Well what can I say. She is at the ‘sponge’ age of 2 where she is taking in everything, saying any word that is asked of her, stringing words together, using her beautiful manners, telling us what to do next in the routine, learning her colours and her goosebump moment this week was when she counted past ten for the first time to twelve…fourteen and eighteen then followed but that is awesome too as she knows that teen numbers are to follow. I’m really enjoying our time together when the two bigger ones are at school, but love it even more when we are altogether!

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It’s these goosebump moments that make my life so fulfilled. It makes all the sleepless nights worth it. It’s worth the pain you go through to finally be able to hold them in your arms. The tantrums, the billion times we are endured to the word no and the back chatting which I would have to say grinds my nerves the most! And even though parenting is a road full of flat, bumpy curves, with lots of ups and downs, it’s the moments that bring us to goosebumps or tears which usually accompany the bumps, that make this job the best around!

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Good Riddens 10kgs!!!

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On this day at exactly 6.ooam, I weighed in at my goal weight…..10kgs less than what I was 6 months ago!

Last year was one of the most challenging and emotional years of my life! The year started with the most precious gift born into our lives….Mia Natalie Trew! Her birth was so bittersweet. I was induced at 38 weeks as I had just been diagnosed with a heart condition and no one knew what was going to happen to me during child birth! Thankfully all went well, but mentally I wasn’t in the place I had been after having Bailey and Sienna! I felt robbed of giving birth the way I knew how to.  Instead of being free to birth how I had in the past, I was hooked up to machines, checked every 10-15 minutes and had every obstetrician who was on duty that day come and ask me the same questions over and over again…..all I kept thinking was “enough already, I just want to meet my little girl!” Knowing Mia is my last baby I was really disappointed with how my birthing days had ended:( This played on my mind for a long time, along with not knowing how my heart was going to handle recovering from giving birth!

The above photo is of me at Mia’s Christening July last year!

To add to all of this, Mia was my worst newborn out of all 3! She took at least a month or so to settle at night into the one feed routine and her days were never as settled as her brother and sister! She was always the baby who never had two days the same…..thankfully being my third, this didn’t stress me out too much! But between being emotionally drained and sleep deprived all the time, I turned to food for comfort! I didn’t put a gross amount of weight on when I was pregnant with Mia (not like Sienna….we won’t go there…lol) it was months after that my state of mind was in such a bad place I stopped caring! I would eat anything and everything! Sonny (our dog) would never get leftovers because I would polish them off! Kane use to make fun of me and say things like “you’re right I didn’t want any!” Obviously I was starting to make a pig of myself and this is not normally the person I am!

My journey to lose the weight I emotionally put on started back in October last year! Mia was 8 months old and still such a difficult baby! She had so many issues that we took a trip to a pediatrician who diagnosed her with reflux, but apart of finding out what was wrong with her, I had to go on a crazy rabbit food diet for 2 weeks to eliminate some things as I breastfeed her.  I literally detox during the course of the 2 weeks.  I had withdrawals so bad I wanted to cry all day and night! I had to keep busy to distract myself from eating…..it was SOOOOO hard! But by the end of the two weeks I felt so much better! I had lost a couple of kilos, my stomach had started to go down and I was feeling less tired already! This was a huge turning point for me, from that day on I knew I had it in me to lose the 10kgs that would get me back to the weight that I always was before becoming a mum!

The above photo is me 5kg down on Christmas Day….my first goal achieved!

I initially was only going to concentrate on the diet side of things.  Because I’m breastfeeding, I didn’t want to chance losing my milk so I was going to wait and start exercising when I stopped breastfeeding. I also had an 8cm stomach muscle separation after carrying Mia so I wanted to take a full 12 months for that to heal.  It’s funny how things change quickly! One afternoon Kane came home from work and I said “see ya, the kids have been feral and I’m going for a walk!” He looked at me and said “seriously!” That day I walked and did a lot of thinking and from that day on I have maintained exercising 5-6 times a week!

Thank you to my wonderful husband who always supports me with whatever I do!

It’s not easy, in fact it can be very challenging at times! Preparing meals that are lean and healthy, not snacking, exercising. But the end result is so worth it! My first goal was to lose 5kgs by christmas and that I did.  The next goal was to lose the second 5kgs by my birthday which is next week!  There are  still days where I want to eat anything in sight but my mental strength over takes and yells out NO! I haven’t reached that point with the exercising, that I am absolutely loving! It’s also not easy fitting in the exercise! I’m lucky I have a husband that is very supportive and doesn’t leave for work until 6.30. I get up BF my daughter and then I eitheFIFO for a 4km run or half hour walk.  I make sure each week I do a total of 3 hours worth of exercise.  A doctor on the Today show reported that a human exercising 3-5 hours a week is very beneficial to their body!  When I’m having a moment of weakness I think about the clothes I can fit into now…..especially my new size 8 skinny jeans – I’ve never worn size 8 skinny jeans!!! Most importantly I think about how all the good I’ve done is helping my heart not get any worse.  When I’m running and feeling like I can’t run another step (this was more in the early days of exercising) I think of the kids and how I birthed them with no epidural and they were massive 10 pounders!!!

I am very proud of myself for what I have accomplished in the past 6 months, cause not only have I reached my goal weight and am now as fit as ever, I am as mentally fit as I have ever been.  I feel like I could do anything….sounds corny I know, but that is just how I’m feeling:) But I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the love and support of my wonderful husband and children! Being a wife and a mum of 3 little children is awesome but exhausting and for too long now I used this as an excuse to not get fit and healthy!  Now I feel I am a better wife and mum as I have more energy and am in a really good place with myself!

This is me now 10kgs gone for good!

WEEKLY EXERCISE PLAN

Monday – day off, Tuesday – Run 4km, Wednesday – half hour walk, Thursday – Run 4km, Friday – half hour walk, Saturday – 5km run, Sunday – 4km run.

DAILY EATING PLAN

Breakfast – large bowl of cereal with rice milk, Lunch – ham/chicken and salad sandwich, Dinner – Meat and salad/veggies.

During the day if I am hungry I’ll have fruit or rice cakes.  Meals at night may also have rice or pasta with them. I also drink at least 2 litres of water a day and take a multivitamin (Natures Way – Rest and Restore).

Saturday is usually my one day I will treat myself!

Thought of the day…..Everything takes time, you put the effort in and you will see results!

Everything I do, I do it for you!