{Part 2} My Hardworking Husband

Further to Part 1...

I think I've spoken before that we don't take many holidays and as a family, we rarely even take a break just for a long weekend. This is because Justin Never. Stops. Working.

Justin did take two weeks off when I had Amelie in February 2009 although worked from home as you can see from the pained expression on his face while taking a call.

We took our first family holiday for 5 days in October 2009.

Our next family holiday for 4 days in Cairns in May 2011.

The long stretch between the short breaks of October 2009 and May 2011 were probably justified in my husband's mind because he was forced to stay home during the Queensland floods for 5 days when his offices were flooded.

During this time, and between rescuing our friends' cars, he renovated our ensuite...because fortunately Bunnings was still accessible...and apparently he cannot sit idle...even at home.

We bought our now home when I was 7 months pregnant with Amelie and moved in 5 days before Christmas last year. The entire renovation, from major redesign to the last lick of paint was chosen, carried out or managed by my husband.

My role mostly involved nodding in agreement and being the sole renovation cheer squad. The renovations took much longer than expected and even when we finally moved in we still had a lot of work left to do - refer exhibit A and B - our front and backyards.

We waited six months for the pool to go in which was also delayed, and the minute it was completed - literally the same day - he had the lawn laid.

Over many weekends that followed and too many trips to Bunnings to count, he had landscaped the entire block  which included the planting of a special garden just for Amelie, just in time for Amelie's 2nd birthday.

He then set to work on the construction of a cubby house of grand proportions.  True to form, upon finishing the cubby house, he commented, "Now if she doesn't play in there, I'm converting it into a shed!". Translation: "I hope she loves her cubby house. I made it as big as a castle because she is my little princess."

Amelie, like me, knows her father all too well and just giggled at him....

....next week, the big cubby house reveal...