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

the little people...

as the little one grows within me

i am increasingly aware of how Lily and Sean are turning out as people

more often than not

i notice that as we look forward to welcoming a brand-new human to love and guide

i also notice at the same time

that the other two are already very much

who they will probably be for the rest of their lives

you can get so bogged down worrying about the future

that you forget whats happening right in front of you

we've done alright, i think

these two are wondrous

and i am in awe

our mothers day...

usually starts early. 

the kids are so excited to give me their presents they can barely wait till the sun rises.

blurry-eyed, i summon up all the cheer i can muster

(i am NOT a morning person)

and we all open my gifts and read their hand-made cards

together

my eyes welled up

they had written such beautiful words

brimming with so much heartfelt love

that the room was almost aglow with it

they scamper off to make me a cup of tea in my favourite

china cup

and a slice of delicious, buttery pannetone...

the day is full of promise

paul has been charged with the task of making
beetroot gnocchi with kale pesto for our lunch

the beetroot gnocchi with kale pesto was a ripper

lily flipping out her wobbly and perfectly luscious lemon pannacotta

all the girls..my impossibly youthful mum, who
lives to dote on us all.
she is truly inspiring and selfless
i hope to be much like her someday.
i love you mum.

robots or unicorns....?

today has been marked on our calendar for weeks

the day we find out if we get a unicorn or a robot

ha

as we all got into the car

bets were placed

guesses made

two votes for a girl

the other two, a boy

our sonographer is THE most delightful lady

she coos and sighs

at our baby as if it were her own 

perfect fingers and toes

perfect spine

perfect everything

that's all I wanted to hear
and then she asked

"do you want to know?"

think she already knew the answer
before we said it

and there it was

a clear view 

little miss dumpling