Love

We had valentines day last week and on the weekend we had another celebration of love. We were lucky enough to attend the island wedding of friends of ours. Such a beautiful wedding I'm still thinking about it. What I loved most was the two people getting married, two of the nicest, most sincere people you will ever meet. I'm so happy they found each other.

[boys melting in their suits]

It was lovely to bask in their reflected glow. We were on the beach which added to the glow so I'm glad we had Mia with us so we got to sit in the front row under an umbrella next to the brides parents. Close enough to see the grooms tears as his beautiful bride came in to view.

[Mia and I waiting in the shade]

"Island Wedding" sounds very grand, and it was a beautiful wedding, but we didn't jet off anywhere. We caught the ferry over to Rottnest (half hour from Fremantle). I haven't been to Rottnest for years. I'd love to spend a week there every year having a family holiday, it's pretty magical. My parents had their honeymoon there when the army still had barracks and accommodation on the island, and I remember holidaying over there as a child in the army digs.

[Bathurst Lighthouse]

The weekend was going to be my first night away from Charlie (2.5yo), but as we were staying away Friday and Saturday nights, Grandma thought two nights was too long for his first time. So he came with us and Grandma caught the ferry over on Saturday morning to babysit while we were at the wedding. When we got back to the unit Charlie was sleeping with Grandma so we slept in the other room and Charlie didn't see us until the morning. Even though he was in the next room, it was my first night not sleeping with Charlie, and I'm counting it!

I hope your weekend was full of love too.

Mx

Ok, Yeah Sure.

[Charlie being heart meltingly strange/cute]

Before Mia was born, I had what is probably the very common fears that I would either not love the new baby as much as my first baby, or my love for the new baby would replace some of my love for my first. Of course all of you who have more than one child knows that your heart just expands and you find more love than you thought you could possibly have inside you. So much that it makes you cry.

I didn't know the birth of our second baby would make me love our first baby even more. He is making my heart melt, I think it's a large part of hormones but also he seems more vulnerable to me since I can't be with him the same as I was before I had another babe to care for. I'm just now reminded of this quote by Elizabeth Stone, thank goodness, because I've been struggling to put into words how I've been feeling.

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body" 

I didn't feel it as acutely as I feel it now that Charlie feels a step further away from me. Just reading that "a step further away from me" is bringing tears to my eyes.

Anyway, Charlie is a melter of my heart and one of the cute things about him is the way he says yes, and it's just gotten cuter. Normally Charlie will say something like "pool?" and if you ask him "you want to go to the pool?" he'll say "ok" like it was your suggestion and he's just going along with your idea. Just in the last couple of days when you ask him a question he'll answer by saying "yeah, sure" instead of yes. "Do you want blueberries?" "Yeah, sure".

He has picked up both these sayings from me, and being imitated by a barely stringing-two-words-together toddler is hilarious and the most adorable thing you've ever heard.

Hope that wasn't too sappy for you all. 

Mx

Home

After a long seven weeks away we are now all home. Slowly finding our way. Little Mia is a pretty good sleeper so far and I go to bed when I put her and Charlie down for the night so I feel well and rested enough.

When we first got home though I found myself hormonal and struggling with Charlie not being my baby any more. Did any of you find that? I really missed him and felt like I'd somehow lost him/lost his babyhood.

It's okay, I know they don't stay babies forever, it's just an adjustment I'm going through. I needn't have worried about being stuck on the couch for 40 minutes while breastfeeding though. Little Miss feeds for between 5 and 10 mins and she is done! I do find I'm feeding her nearly hourly though.

Counting our blessings at having two healthy, beautiful babes.

Mx

Now We Are Four

[sleeping babe and proud Dad]

The waiting and wondering are over. Little Mia was born at quarter to midnight last night, at home (my parent's home) in the birth pool. I am feeling very well compared to how I felt after wee man was born. I can stand up without going faint! I can walk to the toilet, and have a shower!! Luxury :)

She is a beautiful little blessing of cherubic proportions at almost 10 pounds (9lb 15oz!)

I am falling in love all over again.

Mx

41 Weeks

And baby is still on the inside! I am comfortable and happy to be carrying, but I am getting homesick after being away for six weeks, and the thought of having a hospital birth if I go past 42 weeks is quite upsetting.

We went for a family walk after dinner last night to hopefully get things moving but they didn't, so we reluctantly waved Ian off this morning back home to work. Now he is 3 hours away and labour was fairly quick with Charlie, so we're hoping he makes it back in time to catch number two. I love that catching Charlie is one of his proudest moments and I can read it all over his face whenever he tells people.

I just need to trust this baby that it will come at the exact right time for it, when it's ready. With Charlie coming early I just never thought we'd be here!

Mx

Full Term!

Today is my due date, nothing to report, just wanted to post my 40 week photo.

Mx

Year in Review

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

2012 was a mostly happy year though we did seem to attend an inordinate amount of close family funerals. We're hoping for births only this year, starting with the birth of our second baby any day now.

A year of being pregnant (and not feeling the best for the first two trimesters, morning sickness and painful varicose veins I'm looking at you) I feel fantastic now though and would happily swap the last month of being pregnant for the whole nine months.

A year of planning our house and then shelving those plans and putting together another idea. Will let you know if plan number two goes ahead. Gosh I'd really love to be in our own home again before next Christmas.

A year with some ongoing family tensions. We're playing Sweden at our house though.

A year of kinda getting my shiz together a bit more as far as keeping house and organising goes ( I can't take all the credit, having the bathroom and floors done once a fortnight helps).

A year of moderate crafting, not too much achieved but some old projects further along, two(?) baby quilts, my massive denim quilt (yet to be blogged, needs more quilting before washing I've been advised), a couple of gifts, and lots of planning and dreaming on Pinterest. Last year my motto was "I'm a finisher" I'm going to continue with that thought this year and try and finish more projects than I start.

I hope you can look back on 2012 with fondness too. I'd love to hear any of your highlights, or challenges.

Mx

December

It's only 5 days past the end of the month and I am posting my monthly mosaic already!!

December was
:: leaving home to wait for baby in the city
:: not too hot (except for that heatwave at the end, but it didn't feel too hot to me)
:: a Hoorah Christmas dinner
:: a quilt finished
:: toilet training (= bare bum)
:: another sourdough bread baking class (I've actually been baking bread afterwards this time, making the dough in the thermomix is so much easier!)

Yet again I didn't come close to taking a photo a day. I figure if I've at least got 9 photos a month to make a mosaic that's good enough for me.

I'd like to do a New Years post and end of year post, but we'll see how we go. This baby has already given me more days than I expected. We are due on Monday, I'm hoping to make it to next weekend when Ian will be back in Perth. Fingers (and legs!) crossed! I'm thinking girl this time (like last time) but I'm just as prepared to be as shocked as I was with Charlie. I'll let you know.

Mx

November

:: A few hot days but pretty mild heat wise, cruel late rain for farmers
:: My pregnancy niggles disappeared and I hit my favourite time of pregnancy
:: A trip to Perth with a fun night out with our Hoorahs to Run Amuk in Fremantle for hotdogs
:: We had an awful week long bout of family gastro
:: I had my worst mummy meltdown after a failed trip to find a natural swimming spot

:: Ian and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary

:: And we fleshed out new plans for our own home for next year.

Mx

38 Weeks

My most favourite time of being pregnant. So much more fun than trimesters one and two. I feel great, everything's stopped aching and pain-ing, even my varicose veins have improved. Now I just want baby to stay put until at least the 3rd of Jan so I can go to a family wedding :)

Ian is down with us in the city now, so that is nice, I had a lymph drainage massage this week which was also nice (part of which was because I saw my skinny ankles return) and fun and interesting was seeing a Podiatrist for the first time. I'll give you the hot tip, no 'nail technician' or beauty therapist will give your feet as good a going over as a Podiatrist.

I have a friend or two who are completely grossed out by feet, so if you are one of those, stop reading now. Otherwise, let me encourage you to go and get your feet scraped with a scalpel and sanded with a mini disc sander before your next pedi. It was so fun! I haven't followed up yet with getting a pedicure (to match my dress for the wedding of course) but my feet are ready for another year of neglect now.

I also have plans for a spray tan and getting the grey coloured out of my hair (after bub is out) and maybe an eyelash tint too, so I don't slide in to feeling like just a middle-aged milk machine in the coming months...

Any way, I hope you're ready for Christmas or at least enjoying this time of year!

Mx

Baby Girl Quilt

For a friend who's baby is a couple of months old now.

I used mostly 4 1/2 in squares left over from all the other simple squares baby quilts I've done cut in half. It's nice to see fabrics from all the other quilts in there, and from the very first quilt I ever made!

It's been difficult to get photos with all this unseasonal rain we've had in Perth. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I don't need the summer heat at 8 months baked.

My plan for our time in Perth was making the most of the summer and hitting the beach, but really, I can hardly be bothered leaving the house. At Grandma's with the tiled floor is the best place for us at the moment anyway since we've started efforts at toilet training this week.

I dived in to my vintage sheet stash for the first time for the backing,

and used a pink polka dot for the binding which I also used on the front to make the quilt more oblong that square. I didn't use a pattern (hence the quilt originally turing out quite sqaure) but winged it with my scraps, and a natural coloured cotton.

Now I need to get on to my plans for Christmas presents. I hope your on track with your Christmas crafting!

Mx

35 Week Photo

This photo is from last week (35wks). Only one week to go till they will let me birth at home. We're due on Jan 7 but my guess is somewhere between Christmas and New Years. Charlie and I are 'living' in Perth at my parent's house now until baby arrives.

I'm feeling good, I just have to keep my fingers crossed that the bloods I had taken today come back with my iron levels high enough to stay on the home birth program. The pathology guy said the colour of my blood was good, so hopefully my ferretin hasn't dropped any more and my haemoglobin stays above 100.

I am using my laptop to post this but I have been cautious about turning it on before getting it serviced. The problem now is that no-one is prepared to work on liquid damaged machines because they tend to hide corrosion problems that surface later. Seems the best advice I can get is to replace it. Accidental damage is not covered in our home contents insurance. So I think I'm just going to do very regular back ups and start saving for a newie, until this one dies.... but I don't want a new one, I love this one, just the way it is/was :(  sulking...

I do have a finished quilt to show you though!

Mx

Laptop Teepee

This is what google told me to do if your laptop gets wet.

OMG! It seems Charlie is determined to destroy my beloved MacBook. After an incredibly craptacular week* I sat down with a big glass of fresh coconut water and Charlie knocked the whole thing over my laptop. To say I had a Massive Mummy Meltdown is putting it nicely. I eventually calmed down but spent the rest of the day on the verge of tears with a face that felt like it was being dragged down by lead balloons, could not crack a smile.

The good news is...

Holy shit - I'm writing this on my iPad in the dark sitting up in bed and a white tip spider just crawled over my screen. I only saw it while it was back lit on the screen. I scrambled for my phone so I could turn the torch on. Charlie is asleep next to me. I found my phone and the spider was crawling across the pillow towards my foot** there is nothing but soft backed kids books next to the bed to squash it with. That will have to do, I don't know how many times I squashed it between Dora The Explorer Goes To Play Park and the pillow before it was just about on Charlie. I suppose that's when mothers instinct stops you messing about and you squash it with your hand, enough to make it stop it for a second at least, geez that spider was tough.

It's dead now, I can go on telling you the good news...

The good news is... my laptop seems to be working fine, if a little sticky. When I go to the city this week I will take it in for a long overdue service - its first one...

I'm so not ready to head to Perth to have this baby!

Hope you've had an infinitely better week than we have

Mx

Following is mostly whinging, only read on if you want to feel better about the week you had. Though I suppose this could all be considered first world problems, I'm not starving to death.

* Ian off sick with Gastro all week and by Saturday being worse not better - me out with the gastro on Thursday and Friday - Charlie spewing in the bed on Friday night and all the extra washing that entails on top of all the washing I hadn't done since we got back from Perth last weekend - missing Ian's office Christmas party - missing the chance to say goodbye at our last playgroup - the house being a mess - Sickness and tiredness wasting my last week at home before moving to Perth for Christmas and New year and to wait for baby. Arghhh!! Talk about overwhelm!

**iPad is on pillow at head of bead, I'm sitting cross legged facing back towards the pillow.

My two sick boys

At least someone was happy having us home in bed all week, cats that just want to be close and snuggle!

Another Trip

Another 4 weeks of growth. Thirty four weeks now.

Charlie in the car window, wondering what's going on. One week and one day left at home, before heading to Perth to wait for baby.

A fun but hectic trip to Perth. Friday night hotdogs and uni mates. Saturday appointments, the Jacaranda Festival in Applecross, and an evening stroll down the Vic Park strip and Indian dinner* to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary this week. Sunday breakfast and lunch dates and a 4th birthday party in the afternoon before heading home. Charlie and I both have some catch up sleeping to do.

Hope you had a fun filled weekend full of friends too.

Mx

*If you like butter chicken, Ian reckons it was the best he's ever had and I always like the malai kofta. Jewel of the Park, Albany Hwy.

Quiet 2 Year Olds...

Fixing the keyboard on my laptop was not on my list of things to do this morning!

I couldn't relax or focus on anything else until in was fixed though. Thank goodness for youtube.
I hope your morning has only had pleasant surprises pull you off course.

Mx

August + September + October

Wow, look at that, lump three months together and I'm all caught up!!

The last three months...

We celebrated Ian's birthday

Charlie turned 2!

Many trips to Perth

Too many funerals

A big change of plans

A belly that keeps getting bigger and bigger :)

Mx

Yarn Along

Playing along with Ginny again this week.

Reading Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn. Love it (love him, and his other book Punished by Rewards). Reminds me of why I try and parent the way I do. I had a lovely internal affirmation the other day at playgroup when the kids were all painting old nappy boxes to make in to cars. I sat back a watched Charlie without guiding or controlling his work and he continued his painting long after the other kids had lost interest. It was so nice to feel like I'm doing something right.

Knitting a light lacy scarf for my bestie. Using this free pattern on Ravelry (though this is the image on Pinterest that caught my attention). I think it will turn out nice and warm despite its airiness. This is my first go at lace knitting, and though it is probably the simplest of patterns, I am at a complete loss if I drop a stitch or somehow need to go back, there is no frogging to be done because I'd have to rip it out to the start again (like I did a few times). How do you fix mistakes in lace knitting? Is it even possible??

Mx

Oh, and here is a link to the first chapter of the book. And that pink floral up there is the back of my latest baby quilt that I'm hoping to show you soon! (still not a quilt for either of our babies yet though...)

Belly and the Driving Dress

Another belly shot. Taken at the same place in the same dress as last time. Basically the same photo with an extra 4 weeks of growth.

Photo was taken last week (at 30 weeks) on my way to Perth for appointments and my Dad's beloved brother's funeral. I love this dress and wear it for no reason, but I always wear it for my long haul drives because it's so comfy. Nothing cutting in to my belly!

Mx

The Weekend

My awesome Mum came up for three days to help me get on top of our massive garden (we're on a double block). The Mr is not into gardening, and just can't muster up the motivation to help maintain a rental garden, and I just can't keep up by myself. Mum weeded (and much more, thanks Mum :) and I finally finished the rose's winter prune... in October!!

We got some cheap straw bales from the hardware and mulched the front garden beds to finish off, hopefully giving them a better time of it this summer.

We've also had to put up the mosquito nets this week. The mosquitoes are out in full force, and as of today so are the blowies. There are so many they sound like a swarm of bees!

We had a hot and windy 37'C today, feels like we've skipped spring and headed straight in to summer on days like this. I'm all caught up with the laundry - and putting it away (the part I struggle with), my garden looks a whole heck of a lot better, and I'm dead tired. I was going to say 'buggered' or 'knackered' but neither of those are nice words really, are they? Maybe I should just type and not censor myself?

Anyway, I should go tidy the kitchen before putting Charlie to bed, because no doubt that will be the end of me tonight. We're at the 29 week mark today, and only have six more weeks at home. I better get on to those projects I'd liked finished before no.2 arrives!

Hope you had a lovely and productive weekend too.

Mx

KCWC update

Even though I didn't get it finished I am happy with the results of my KCWC efforts.

This little shirt just needs the neck binding and sleeve hems.

I've tried it on the little man and it fits great (it's the 2T size of the Flashback Skinny Tee).

I'm sure I would have finished it but I also had to sew our angel costumes for a party on Friday night.

Perhaps after I get the house back in order and finish the baby girl quilt I thought I still had two weeks to finish (baby arrived today - not ours) I'll get it finished.

Meanwhile, it was my birthday yesterday (36) and I really should update my profile picture. My age began with a 2 when that photo was taken...

Mx