The Big Move

We moved across the world. We left a soon-to-be snowy Utah for hot and sunny Canberra, Australia.

Canberra

Salt Lake City, Utah

               TO







Here's the why: While Chandler was at BYU, a couple of professors at Australia National University reached out to his employer to ask if they knew any students who could code python (computer stuff - not my thing so I can't tell you any more than that). Chandler was the only one who could so they asked him to help with collecting and analyzing data on the NBA. Coincidentally, my husband has a minor major obsession with the Utah Jazz NBA team (as in he tries to watch all 82 of their games each season) and was happy to help. When we moved to Texas the professors asked him to continue his work with them and soon set about to convince him to study under them at ANU. The timing was perfect and we felt inspired to apply. The promised full-ride scholarship and $26,000 annual living stipend helped too.

So now we're here. Chandler is studying for a Finance PhD at ANU in Canberra and I'm planning on looking after our home and 5-month-old Sawyer full time.

Plane Ride

It took 25 hours to get to Canberra. We were nervous about flying with Sawyer, but he suffered the least of us. He slept A LOT and nursed A LOT. We became really jealous of his ability to sleep anywhere, anytime. The only way that Chandler and I made it was to distract ourselves from exhaustion by watching as many new release movies as we could. Between the two of us, we watched Anchorman 2, The 100 Foot Journey, The Planet of the Apes, and The Mazerunner. I feel pretty impressed with that list.

Living Situation

While in Utah, I used the handy dandy internet to get the information for a member of my church who lives here in Canberra, Australia. I'm a Mormon and our church is world-wide. We even get the same lessons taught the same way here as we did at home. I told the member about my family's situation and she contacted other ward/congregation members who were willing to help. Without her and the others who helped us out, we'd be staying in a $100 per night hotel using a rental car and eating out every meal. With one-way plane tickets over 1,000 each, we needed to avoid that set-up.

First we stayed with the Easts in southern Canberra who offered us a room and meals for a low renting price. They are a sweet, loud family who had a crazy snake turtle (head of a snake, body of a turtle) which as a result, I dubbed Snurtle. Chandler, was sick most of the time so we weren't super social, but they brought him medicine and the dad was able to give him a priesthood blessing for healing. When we left, their 10-year-old daughter made us a Christmas tree cake which pulled at my heart strings.

We didn't find a place to rent in that first week so we went to phase II: house-sitting for the Youngs in northern Canberra. They were going out of town for a couple of weeks and offered their home to us which we still can't get over the kindness of. They're our age, but a little ahead in the game of life as they have 2 kids. Their 4-year-old daughter is fascinated with Baby Sawyer and when I nursed she did the same thing with her baby Cinderella doll. They are the only people that I've ever known to leave 5 hours AHEAD of schedule for a trip instead of 5 hours behind, like is our tendency. The location is great because most homes we're interested in are close-by and we love the ward/congregation of our church that they belong to. We're thinking about moving a few streets over to be within walking distance of them and other friends that we've met. We're still here for the next couple of days then are staying with another family that we recently met here.

View from the East's home

Driving Situation

We didn't want to be stuck mooching rides everywhere so on our third day out, we bought a 2001 Toyota Avalon (so glad to be back in an automatic). Chandler, my finance man, made a weighted Excel doc to weigh the pros and cons of each car we were interested in. I'm still making fun of him for this, but it did work. When we went to the car lot, the top of the list Avalon was being test driven by a guy for the 4th time and he committed to buy it the next day. When we told the dealer that we had planned on looking at it, he cut the price by $400 and we were sold. We guess that he didn't like the other guy very much.

Since then we've taken the hands-on approach to driving on the opposite side of the road. It's not too hard to remember to keep left instead of right, but what is hard is driving from the opposite side of the car. Not only do I regularly call attention to myself by getting in the wrong side of the car, but we both have a tendency to hug the left side of the road when driving. We are both looking forward to the day when our driving isn't ruled by our GPS which consistently alerts us to turns after the fact. Thankfully, traffic here wouldn't scare a 16-year-old (but then, what would?).

Sawyer's Adjustment

Isn't he the cutest thing that you've ever seen?! 

We keep getting questions about how Sawyer is adjusting to the big change, but honestly, there was nothing for him to adjust. He never slept well at night and has always been an inconsistent eater. He stirs a lot at night and makes all sorts of noises which wake me up, and he recently decided that he needs an hour-long play time at 3am. Out of desperation, we started trying something new which has been a game changer.  At night we move him down the hall to a room where him fussing won't wake us up. I set my phone for every 3 hours (how often he usually goes between nurses, day and night) and when it goes off, I go and feed him. When I sneak in, he's always either sleeping or playing and goes back to sleep relatively easy. It's made both days and nights easier which makes us very, very happy.




The Next Week - Hello 2015


Chandler starts work tomorrow, then school in 2 weeks. We're hoping to find a place asap and get settled in before he starts school. We're hoping for a 3 bedroom townhouse or house - one room for Chan and me, one for Sawyer, and one for either guests who will probably stay for at least a week at a time or for the second addition to our family who will probably make an appearance in the 2-4 year minimum that we're here for. Decent places run for $350 per week or $1510 per month in Australian dollars (approx, $1240 in USD). Homes here aren't quite as spacious as in the US, but they're nice and more modern which is a fair trade off in my mind. I think my level of excitement to create a homey, yet modern home is of the freakishly high caliber. Pinterest, here I come.

So now you're all updated on our big move to Australia. I'll continue to post, maybe weekly, to share stories and updates. If you'd like to chat, add me on Skype which provides free calls, or use Facebook. My Skype name is Brittanyphelps4.

Ta-Ta for now.

7 ways to Save Money with a Newborn

1. Sound Machine
Relax Melodies is a free sound machine I downloaded onto my iPad. It has dozens of different sounds in HD to help me and baby sleep negating my need for a pricey sound machine. Baby Sawyer likes noise (I didn't see that one coming) so I play it during sleep time and just to calm him down - like when I'm 4 days overdue for a shower. Sometimes after nursing in the night I struggle to go back to sleep, but now I just focus on the calming sounds this app creates, and I'm back to la-la-land. I can play white noise, outdoor sounds, piano music, etc. and mix them however I want. I usually create a thunderstorm and place my IPad near the window so I can trick myself into believing it's real.


2. Baby Monitor 
iSitter is a free baby monitor that I downloaded onto 2 smart devices. It has HD sound that is so clear that I can clearly hear the bedroom clock ticking. It also takes pictures every few seconds so I can check on him without checking on him. I set my iPad up by Sawyer, then select 'parent's side' on my iPhone and voila! That's my static-free baby monitor.

3. Cheap diapers.
This saves us $20 each month ($240 in a year). I just did the math and here is how the prices compare using the cheapest price that I could find for each (links provided) and a formula to accurately compare the price:

We have used about 7 diapers a day since he was born. 1 month at 7 diapers a day = 210 diapers.

price (divided by) #diapers x 210 = price for 210 size 1 diapers

Pampers Swaddlers: $46.70
Huggies Little Snugglers: $45.90
Up & Up (Target): $31.90
Luv's: $27.50
Parent's Choice (Wal-Mart): $26.20

$20.50 per month in savings when we go with the cheapest brand. 7 a day is a little low for a lot of babies at this age, so the savings could be even greater.


We've tried each of the above diapers. Our favorite were the top two, no surprise there, but the best value for us is in Up & Up. The only one of the five that struggled with Sawyer's poo explosions (and they are EXPLOSIONS) is Luv's,but they have the best leak-guard and are the biggest diaper.Parent's Choice worked fine, but is a slightly smaller and lower quality diaper than Up & Up.


We debated a little about whether to go with the cheaper or more expensive brands. We figure that we change Sawyer around every 3-4 hours, even throughout the night, which doesn't give him time to leak in even the cheap ones. If we had the more expensive ones, we may rationalize procrastinating a diaper change to save some cents and we figure a frequent, no-guilt change is healthiest for his little baby bum.

Another option is to buy a small pack of nicer diapers for longer periods between diaper changes, like during the night.

4. Use Craigslist and KSL to buy baby items
We got a co-sleeper, a bassinet, a pack of diapers (a free-add in), a baby bouncer, and a car seat for a total of $45. Low cost was a priority for us since we're moving to Australia in a month and didn't want to pay a fortune for temporary items. The items we got were in such impressive condition for such a good price that we now plan to do the same thing for our longer term items.

Our bassinet - in perfect condition and you can't deny that it's precious!

5. Pacifier clip ($3)
I was skeptical of this, but after seeing one for cheap, I caved and now I'd never go back. This is a budget saver because now we never have to replace a pacifier. Since we got them, we've gone from struggling to keep track of 3 pacifiers to using only one. It saves us the cost of replacing lost pacifiers and Sawyer loves playing with the clip. I had to adapt my clips since I bought the wrong kind, but they work great now. Here's how I did it.

Thank you Grammy!

6. Home-made crocheted blanket
Sawyer is thrilled with this blanket. It became his first toy when he learned that he could thread his fingers through the holes and pull it up to his mouth. I like using it as his swaddle blanket as it's flexible and I don't have to worry about it covering his face as his blankets inevitably do (is he alone in loving his head to be burrowed in whatever is around? Blankets, armpits, etc.). Instead of paying for a premade blanket, all this costs is the price of yarn.


7. Go without the Changing Table
Changing table? Psh. I change his diapers on our bed. If he's gotten his clothes dirty, I put a towel under him. He rarely creates a fire hose, so the bed stays clean. The bed is also where we play with him a lot so I guess it's become a happy place for him. The result? A baby who loves his diaper changes. Chandler and I have actually fought over who got to do the diaper change because of Sawyer's cute chatter once the breeze hits. We think he's a nudist at heart.

Any more money saving tips? Add them in the comments!

Air New Zealand's Hobbit Themed Safety Video

There has never been a more memorable way to teach safety.

If New Zealand is this awesome, then their next door neighbor Australia must be too, right?! Okay, maybe my logic is flawed, but this video is too epic not to post.

2 a.m. Clean-up

Sawyer is not a messy baby.

His diapers do a good job containing whatever he sends their way, even the cheap brands.
He does not spit up often and when he does, it's in small amounts.
He has only minor amounts of drool.
He can stay in an outfit for a couple days without soiling it.

However, last night, he was the messiest.

It's 2 am and he's fussing after a feeding. My husband, Chandler, and I are both awake and I take Sawyer back to bed with me for some hopefully soothing snuggles. Chandler plays a little with Sawyer, holding his hand and smiling at him.

Precious, right?

When Sawyer turns to me, I prepare to do the same thing when I'm interrupted by a...

volcanic eruption of vomit to my face. It seems like it goes on forever, it won't stop! It's in my hair, my eyes, on my shirt, and let's not even mention the state of my pillow. When the eruption finally ceases, I look though my now throw-up covered eyelashes to see a smiling little boy without a drop on him. It was like he had no idea that anything had just happened.

Who could stay mad at this?

Chandler, on the other hand, was very aware of what had just happened and laughed at me. He laughed at me, poor, puke-faced me who had just wanted to comfort my baby. He had the good sense to apologize for his laughter, but by that point I had accepted the bizarre reality of the situation and was laughing too.

Moral of the story: Babies are gross. But in a contradictory way, nothing could ever be cuter.

Sitting on the Bench: Thoughts on Suicide Prevention

Sitting on the Bench: Thoughts on Suicide Prevention

I have never been close with someone who committed suicide, but I have been good friends with a couple girls who have tried. It surprised me to learn it both times - I would have had no idea had they not said something to me about it. They taught me that as well as I may think that I know a person, I may never really understand their history or their struggles. Everyone has a unique story. Including me. Including you. 

To be honest, I wasn't inspired by this video in the way I thought I would be, but I agree with the message. The main thing that we can do for those that suffer with depression, is to simply be there for them. Just like the brother in this video who rarely said a word, but took a week off of work and sat at his brother's bedside, we don't always have to have the right words, or any. We can convey love to that person that won't fade no matter what they do, and maybe, just maybe, they'll begin to feel safe enough to share their feelings with us. As Elder Oaks said, “There is nothing more powerful than the arm of love that can be put around those who are struggling.” 

                               

That's exactly what they need, an arm of love. Not judgment. I hear judgment on and pity for the eternal state of those who have committed suicide frequently. This is not okay. We don't know enough to make any judgment. As suggested, leave judgment to God. All of it! There is no way that we can completely understand what someone else is going through, especially those with a struggle like severe depression. I mean, I hardly understand myself sometimes! 

Although I don't know exactly what will happen to these individuals after death, one thing that I firmly believe that will happen to us all when we pass from this life, whether we die from old age, physical disease, or mental illness, is that we will meet a merciful God. He loves ALL of us and wants us each to be happy - both during our life and after. 

                  

Brown Sugar Glaze Meatloaf

I love myself a good challenge. I love them so much that I create them on a daily basis, like: accomplish these 6 things before dinner, clip my 2 month old son's toenails even though he's ticklish, create a card that looks store bought, and in this case, create a meatloaf that even kids will enjoy.

This recipe is what I came up with, with the help of Allrecipes.com, my favorite recipe bank. I'm convinced that I beat the challenge, but let me know what you think.

Brown Sugar Glaze Meatloaf

I never knew how important nice plates would be when taking food pictures. Next challenge: buy some pretty plates.

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cups breadcrumbs or finely crushed Saltine crackers 

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Optional: 1 1/2 slices of bread on the bottom of the sprayed loaf pan to absorb excess grease, bacon on top

Makes: 1 5x9 loaf of meatloaf

Directions:

   1.  In a medium mixing bowl, mix all of the meatloaf ingredients. 

   2.  Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan. Pack the meatloaf into the pan.

   3.  In a small bowl, mix all of the glaze ingredients. Spread over the top of the meatloaf.

   4.  Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until the juices are clear. 

   5.  Enjoy! I preferred the meatloaf all mixed up so that the glaze was in every bite, but it definitely looks better in slices. Either way it's good!

This recipe was made using a compilation of reviews on the Brown Sugar Meatloaf page of Allrecipes.com. 

MM: You Never Know

Mormon Message: You Never Know

There's a chance that you'll hear this from me about every Mormon Message, but this video warms my heart. I struggle to think of a better way to put it.

Throughout the whole start I feel irritation with how much pressure the mom is putting on herself. Doesn't she know that she's overbooked?! Then I realize that there's no Dad in this picture - anywhere, and that she is doing everything on her own.

Right about the time that I realize this, her son ends the night with a prayer and says, "we thank thee that we could get all the things done that you needed us to do today" and my perspective again changes. I remember how many times I've broken down, feeling inadequate, and my husband reminded me that next year I won't even remember doing/not doing most things on that day's list. I remember how easy I have it now and that life will get much harder.

Then comes the voice of the prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley and the slideshow like display of the impact she was able to have during that one, hectic Thursday. I just know this was a Thursday. It always seems to be the hardest day. Her son won the science fair, thanks to her taking the time to help him on an already chaotic morning.  Her friend was able to go to her doctor appointment and have the time to grieve hard news before reuniting with her daughter. And one unmentioned success: her son understood that prayers are an important part of the bedroom routine and was willing to say one.

"You never know how much good you do." In this mom's case, those words ring true and if for her, why not for me? I know that I can't or don't always express my gratitude to others for what they do for me and I imagine that the same thing could be said by all of us.

This video gives me hope that I've been a lasting, positive influence for someone out there and makes me want to do more. Maybe I'll take a meal to someone this week, or visit the local veteran's home with Sawyer (older people love babies, right?).

The beautiful thing is that the options are endless.