out in front

5 weeks to go...
many weeks since i've fit on my bike

husband and miss rode to the cafe yesterday
strapped-in feet = wailing miss
but she enjoyed being out in the autumn air
and we enjoyed our coffees immensely

baby, it's cold outside

coat weather returns
a brand-new bathrobe
for the chilly mornings
the heater's first lighting for 2011
goodbye birkenstocks
changing seasons

today

today we had a lovely time babysitting our little friend
missy was very excited to have her visit
(and sobbed when it was time for her to leave)

today dolly became known as "baby"
with no prompting from me
"baby" got a new nappy
and a loving cuddle

today i have surprised myself
i didn't think i was that kind of girl
the kind that puts pictures of her underwear on the internet
but here they are...

i laughed so hard
my neighbours must have wondered
what on earth was happening

daddy!

"daddy!"
she shouts it with such excitement at the end of each working day
it makes me smile every time

here they've traded places
miss on the outside, daddy on the in
but the fun of discovering the one who's been absent
is just as strong

down time

i've needed down time these past few weeks
my energy levels ebb and flow
and i'm still learning how to stop before i go too far

things have changed for missy
no more child care or twice-weekly play-days with our little friend
now we rest at home more, together
reading books, climbing on furniture, riding to the playground

miss gave me an early birthday present today:
a very refreshing afternoon nap
(she climbed onto the couch herself and fell asleep
while i was resting in my bed and hoping she'd ask to join me)

doing the strut

doing the strut in her tutu shorts
our faces grace the blog again

the past two weeks

baas, beautiful roses and a mansion in werribee
our nectarine harvest
new tricks
tantrums in public
lunches with friends
making a banner for a new church
organics from the market
a haircut for miss
homemade icypoles
8:30pm bedtimes for me
stronger movements from no.2
nesting - readying the baby clothes
grateful for our fan
telling school goodbye - too tired to teach
studying the bible with other women
avoiding the computer...

afternoon tea for two

our little friend was back today
she stayed close by while missy ran wild at the park
two 16-month-olds to one (pregnant) parent = a major challenge
utmost respect to parents of twins...

our powers combined

12 coloured crayons
missy's new favourite past-time
together we make beautiful cards
to bless others

so lovely to be in cahoots
with my 16 month old accomplice

more pleasant than i imagined?

new beds
sometimes you sleep in them
sometimes you don't

maybe sleeping on a mat at childcare yesterday was more pleasant than i imagined?
a + 2 and a half hour nap says yes!

(btw, if you zoom in on the photo, you can see missy's morning encounter with a purple whiteboard marker)

shades of blue and green

from colour-sapping white to a brightening teal
thank-you rit...
oh, shades of blue and green
how i love thee
almost as much as missy loves her bike

new year 2011

eating strawberries
chasing nan's cat
swimming
watching butterflies and dragonflies
reading stories
bike-riding
building and destroying sandcastles
time with family
new year 2011

christmas 2010

running
shouting at birds
feasting
patting kitties
surrounded by family
kookaburra's laughing
drawing
sleeping
christmas 2010

playing in the rain...

here's how we've been coping with the rain in the past little while:



take care,
em

cheers God, life is good...

yesterday was the last day that i'll be looking after our little friend this year. the girls will spend friday together before really going their separate ways until school starts again, but they're really going to miss each other. it's been beautiful watching them grow and now play together - many "cheers God, life is good" moments, just like this one:



take care,
em

new ways of dining...

this week i've been able to spend more time with my sewing machine, which has been so lovely. below is another crayon roll, but this time it's a gift for a friend to give to a child from her mum's group:



i enjoyed the process of refining my design (by adding an extra embellishment across the pockets and using a ribbon instead of buttons for tying it up), but got the most blessing from being able to support K in this crafty way.

during the past few days we've started dining in the beautifully communal way husband's family (both here and in friesland) do - with dishes and pots clustered in the centre of the table, for serving straight to plates as everyone sits together:



i want this to become our family way of dining - to practice sharing, serving one another, being generous and gracious and considerate of others. i look forward to seeing the beauty of this approach grow as our family grows.

finally, missy has been making some dining progress of her own - expanding the definition of finger foods to include things that i consider spoon foods, like hommus:



(i am okay about the mess, i am okay about the mess, i am okay about the mess...)

take care,
em

missy's happy day...

while yesterday was my happy day, today seems to be missy's. i've been getting worried that she doesn't like swimming, because all her interactions with her teacher and the other mums involve missy scowling at them, and she usually ends up chucking some kind of minor tanty by the end of the lesson. but not today. today she squealed delightedly and swam enthusiastically throughout the lesson, giving her teacher several smiles (which she seemed to appreciate much!) perhaps it's because missy's finally figured out that she can shut her eyes and her mouth whenever we dunk her, and then it's actually pretty fun...

when we got home, missy settled herself into this cosy nook:



for those of you i haven't seen in a while, i thought i'd include a pre-christmas bump picture - apologies about the hugely attractive outfit (we'd just been swimming...):



take care,
em

a fortnight of growing up...

apologies for my absence during the last 2 weeks - the cup day long weekend kind of threw out my blogging habit by a week, and the past fortnight has seemed quite full.

it also seems like missy has grown up a lot in the past fortnight. she took 11 steps in a row last friday and has been walking in short bursts each day since then. she's become quite a mimic, and now regularly says, "beep beep", whenever i open or close a door (regardless of whether she's in the way and thus deserving of a "beep beep" or not.) she's taken an interest in her spoon, and while she still needs help with scooping, she definitely has no trouble getting the loaded spoon into her mouth.

i think the most beautiful thing that has happened in the past week is that husband, missy and i have been able to have dinner together every night. with husband working on site, he's been home much earlier than whenever he's in the office, and with missy stretching her bed time much later than a few months ago, our family dinners have been a time i've treasured much. next week, or even tomorrow, depending on how things go, husband will be back in the office, so i don't know how much longer our dinner time togetherness will last. but it's been lovely while it's happened.

here are some pics of my ever-growing missy - from our dinnertime togetherness:





getting a proper haircut from beppe:



and to finish, i wanted to share these beautiful roses that my good friend generously gave to me a fortnight ago - her visit was uplifting, even if brief:



take care,
em

springtime life...

this past week has felt quite busy, as we've given our house a spring clean (in preparation for what turned out to be the world's shortest house inspection), baked sausage rolls and apple slice, gone to playgroup and church, played board games with friends we hadn't seen for a long time, made birthday presents and finished school artworks, and taken long walks in the sunshine, among other things.

i gave missy a bucket for toys that have been packed away in her room (rather than out in our living area), and was relieved to see her pleasure at being reunited with old friends:



apologies though to baby no.2 - you're not going to have many toys of your own, little one! we've got plenty already...

monday saw us hanging out with our friend again, eating sausage rolls:



and enjoying springtime life in the backyard:



take care,
em

fake laughter...

yesterday missy was working on her fake laugh. she first tried it in the evening, after discovering she could pull the plug out whilst in the bath (and it quickly stopped when mummy the party-pooper covered the plug hole with the bath mat - i'm still smarter than her! huzzah!) she tried it again when she was supposed to be going to sleep - i thought she'd become delirious at one point! after the laughing finally stopped, i peered into her room to find her pyjama pants on the floor, and a half-awake, bare-legged missy curled up at the wrong end of her bed. how she managed to get her pants off, i do not know...

and here is a pic of where yesterday's crazy antics began - after i took this picture, i let missy keep the bowl in her lap, and she proceeded to put each of the remaining blueberries in her mouth at the same time, one after the other. no table manners...



take care,
em