sisters-in-arms...

:::

these two have something very special

 a unique closeness and affinity

it is magical

and almost tangible

:::

only 4 days till Christm….whaat??

at about the same time every year

i can be heard exclaiming

"..how the heck did that come around so quickly?!"

but it has and as always

there is a frantic, frazzled fug of 

last minute shopping

the shops only close for one day

but i stockpile food

like there is a famine

we try not to go overboard

when planning the menu

but who am i kidding?

paul likes to make an occasion of present wrapping

the kids are put to bed on time

we fix ourselves a pot of tea and a few slices of pannetone

put on some suitably festive muzak

and wrap away

carefully labelling and embellishing each parcel

before laying them under the tree

imagining the anticipation

and look of the children's faces 

on christmas morning

when all the gifts have been opened

when all our bellies are full

we'll sit down to watch a christmas movie together

drift in and out of sleep

cups of tea

fruit mince pies

maybe a splash in the pool

life is good here

and not just at christmas

we try not to forget that

i wish all of you

a restful christmas with everyone you hold dear;

and the gift of time to be still and enjoy being together

Merry Christmas!

turning a corner...

:::

:::

:::

ten weeks on and we've turned a corner

less planking with me

less bouncing, rocking, patting, swaying, shushing and humming

and not a moment too soon

my arm was beginning to fall off

now she gives us cheeky lop-sided grins

chatting away

staring intently at her fist

as she wills it towards her mouth

i've managed to venture back to my beloved group fitness classes

adding to the little walks after dropping the big kids at school

combine that with her voracious appetite for the good stuff

coming from my udders

most of the pregnancy weight has melted away

she feasts during the day

and prefers to sleep at night

i'm starting to feel human again

now that i'm getting a least three hours

of sleep at a stretch

hard to believe that this time last year

she wasn't even a blip on the radar

now we can't imagine what life would have been like without her

our scrumptious poppet

:::

whirligig weeks...

ivy has been with us for five weeks now

in that time we survived the school holidays
kind friends dropped off delicious meals
visitors came for cuddles

the big kids spent lots of time with popo and kung kung

ivy spent lots of time in my arms

lets call her cuddly

as with each of my babies
ivy seems to me the most beautiful creature i have ever seen
she is calm
and appears to survive on lots of quality breastmilk
and about five minutes sleep during the day
thank goodness
she makes up for it at night

life as a family of five
has taken some getting used to
but i think we are all finding our feet now

and now we are FIVE.

after thirty nine weeks of incubation

the dumpling was finally delivered

fresh, plump and scrumptious

after a week of false alarms

the day finally came

the big kids spent the night at their grandparents'

we spent the night feeling nervous and full of anticipation

we made our way to the hospital at 8am

calmly and quietly checked in and nervously waited for our turn

before we knew it
we were in hospital gowns and I was vertical
staring at the huge saucer of light above me in theatre
knowing that my babe was only minutes away from my arms

it was love at first sight

Ivy Tamsin Joyce
3318 grams
52 cms long
Friday 13 September 2013 at 12.23pm


*Ivy's middle name is a feminine form of Thomas, so named to honour Paul's father*

a change is as good as a holiday...

and it was true for us

a little escape to one of my favourite 

seaside towns

we took the kids

booked into a hotel

close to everything

and took a deep b.r.e.a.t.h.

the salty sea air

the freedom from chores

and released all the strains of the past few weeks from our bodies

we managed to squeeze in
retail therapy for me from here
fathers day breakfast with all the dads in our family
kicking the footy around
watching buskers at the markets
a visit to fremantle prison
stopping for lots of chai lattes from gorgeous cafes
a relaxing soak in the hotel spas
too much grazing from the hotel buffet

24 busy but fun hours away from the drudgery
of housework

what we've been up to...

time seems to be speeding up

and i can't seem to keep up

we are nearing the end of our winter school holidays

its been relatively quiet

 we have retreated mainly to the kitchen

they have had cooking classes here

and baking up a storm at home

decorating cake pops. i was secretly relieved this was not my kitchen.

:::

lily loves to cook

and has been working on spaghetti and meatballs

from scratch

yes, even the pasta

although recently she declared she was going to be a vegetarian

like her dad

but the lure of a succulent, flavoursome meatball was too much
to resist

making muffins that will later become cake pops 

:::

we also spent time with my god-daughter mia

a headstrong and sweet 4 year old

this gave lily and sean the chance to experience having a little sister around

they quickly worked out that while she was very cute

they were not sure they could endure watching the wiggles or play la-la-loopsy dolls 

for too long

decorating cookies is quite an art. mia is a natural.

:::

dumpling has not exactly been sentient, either

at 30 weeks 

i am still marvelling at this being inside

its been a journey of learning for all of us

i thought carrying child number three would be much the same

but this time around

i have been able to be fully present and observant

:::

no one is more excited than i
after an early struggle to accept that our newly minted 
travel and life plans were going off the course we'd charted
(and we plan EVERYTHING to within an inch of its life)
i simply can't wait to hold her in my arms

paul has been busy painting and repairing and constructing

it still feels strange
when we look at the freshly painted nursery that used to function as a 
store room filled to the brim with hoarded bits
i guess it will serve a much better purpose soon