In Good Hands

It has been so long since I have been able to sit down and do a scrapbook layout. I was fortunate (and privileged) to be asked to run a class for some customers of mine this weekend at Port Fairy. These gals escaped to a seaside villa to do a spot of creating for the entire weekend. I took some stuff to scrap as well, along with what I was teaching them, but after all the yakking I did, I only got this one layout done. But it is a start and the first I have done for little Bella.

This picture was taken the other night right before she was to have a bath. I wanted to capture the size of Mark's hands in relation to her entire size. It is not the most perfect of photos, but I love it. I printed it out on some canvas paper that I bought at Aldi (of all places) ages ago, and it made the whole thing look quite "arty" in real life!

Five weeks!

How can it already be 5 weeks since little Bella joined us? Here are some more updated pics of the little girl. Little is kinda the operative word, because although she was the heaviest one born of the three kids, she is rapidly becoming the lightest as the weeks pass. I don't think that it is that she is not putting weight on, rather the other two piled it on quickly. Mind you, to look at them today, they are both lightweights compared to others of the same age. Tom was weighed last week and is just 18kg and Biddy was weighed 2 weeks ago and she is 12.8kg.

This is Bella having her very first shower. We have introduced all our kids to the shower from a very early age (around 4 weeks) and we have found that we have never had a problem with them getting under the water as the years go on. I myself, was terrified of the shower right up until I was about 2+ when my aunty (unknowingly) put me in the shower and I held my breath till I almost passed out!

This shot was taken outside Colac Area Health right after we went for a newborn hearing screening. Unfortunately, the machine broke down just before we got there, so it turned out to be a non event, but Bella was so settled and comfy in her capsule, I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of her in the carpark!

Asleep after a hard day! Actually, asleep after awake time of almost 2 hours (which is a long time for her!). It is difficult to sleep when big brother and sister insist on wanting holds and giving continual kisses.

News on other children; Tom and Bid are on the up and up as far as the throat infections go. In fact, you'd never know anything was wrong with either of them. Tom had a follow up session to a speech pathologist today (first one was last week) which came about due to some pre-screening at kinder back in April. Turns out, his results show he is in the upper level of the normal range. So this means his often poor concentration span and borderline listening skills are just that; not concentrating and not listening. Sigh. Something to work on.

On Monday I called in to one of the Catholic primary schools to pick up a pre-register form for school next year. Lucky I did, because they are making a decision tomorrow!! Apparently, because this particular school gets quite a lot of enquiries, they don't have to advertise their enrollment (they have to turn prospective students away). However, I met with the principal and she told me that because we are Catholics and we live in the parish, we will be accepted. Phew! I guess it doesn't hurt that I volunteer at church for readings throughout the year and mum is also on a couple of the committees and is also a special minister. And we have another 2 kids coming through the system in years to come as well. But not to count our chickens.....we will have to wait to officially be told whether we are in or not.

Finally, to sign off with....I actually sat down and pulled out some of my old stash in order to make MIL a birthday card. Cripes, but I have a HEAP of patterned paper tucked away! I am teaching a class in a couple of weeks at a mini retreat and I intend to also use the time to square away a few unfinished layouts that I have here (namely Tom and Biddy's birth layouts!). But here is the card I made.....turned out ok, I think!

Sickies in the house

Oh good grief.

Things didn't turn out all that well for Tom on his birthday. In fact, Biddy started it all on party day (Sunday) when she was simply flat out with a high temp and feeling ordinary and missed the entire party. The fact that 10 other children and equivalent number of adults where all making raucous noise right outside her bedroom door and she DIDN'T STIR, reflects how sick she was. Monday morning she wakes up with no voice and trying to tell me that her throat was sore. A quick peak and I discover lots of pus! Yuk. A trip to the drs and on antibiotics pronto.

Then on Tuesday morning (birthday day), Tom wakes up ok and I bundle him off to holiday programme with Biddy. But at 12pm pickup, I'm informed that he had been a bit out of sorts and prone to bursting into tears and wanting to go home for some of the morning (VERY unlike him). No food touched at La Porchettas but still appearing to be ok. But during his trip to the movies with his dad to see Toy Story 3, he became very upset at one point of the film suggesting he was out of sorts. A check of the temp at home (38 deg) confirmed he was coming down with something.

Wednesday morning, he opens his gob and I see the same pus pattern that Biddy displayed 2 mornings earlier. So another trip to the drs to get him on antibiotics.

The strongest one of the kids so far is the 4 week old! But then she is getting all the good stuff from her mum!!

I have to admit to feeling a little torn about the kids being sick. One part of me simply wants to take their sickness away and make everything all better, and the other (wicked) part of me loves the fact that they are motionless, quiet, sleepy and compliant. In fact, they are angel children! But no, really, I hate it when they are sick. They are just so.......unlike THEM! They are not my kids unless they are tearing up the place, creating havoc and generally getting into trouble!

Fast forward though to today and the antis have done their work and both kids are back to normal. And I am back to yelling at them, pulling my hair out and keeping the Viva paper towel company in business by cleaning up all manner of spills and messes.

The three of them! (Bella @ 4wks)

Where are the years going?

I woke up this morning with the thought that five years ago today I became a mum for the first time. That day held so much for me...emotions, promise, love, excitement, fear, doubts...I could go on. But it was the day that I changed forever. Because from that day onward, no matter what I do in my future, no matter where I am, I will always be a mum. And by our very nature, we put our kids ahead of ourselves (well...for a number of years at least!). And I'm cool with that. It was on that day I became less selfish, more understanding, and discovered that I possessed a love that I never knew existed.

There is a saying that is doing the rounds of the internet at the moment, and I totally agree with it. It goes something along the lines of 'I wanted you the minute I knew you were coming, I loved you the second I saw you, and it was in that second that I knew I would die for you'. And it is true! I rant and rave at my kids at least once a day - usually more - but there is nothing I wouldn't do for them.

And here we are; five years on, and Thomas is now no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, but a small boy who provides us with challenges, tense moments, fun times and laughter. He is our ground breaker. He will forge the way for his two younger siblings and make it easier for them no doubt. He will make me and his father examine how and why we do things and take stock of what is really important to us.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY THOMAS!

We celebrated his birthday on Sunday by having a small party. This will be his last official party for a while - after all, from next year around the same time, we will be celebrating Isabella's birthdays and honestly, I can only cope with one child's festivities every few months! And can you guess the theme? I'll give you a hint............we are getting good use out of certain decorations!

Yes, it was dinosaurs again (always). I'm really not sure that this craze is EVER going to let up (a few weeks back at kinder, a speech pathologist was meeting with the kids and the lady asked Tom was he wanted to be when he grew up. Instantly he replied "a paleontologist" What else?!)

So here are some pics from Sunday and a couple from today (his actual birthday).

the cake

The kids all had a ball belting the hell out of this poor dino pinata. Some had a terrific arm on them! There were about 10 kids who had a go and I think they each got 3 turns of 5 swings each before the poor sucker caved and delivered the treats!

Some of the presents he got. The one on the right is a spaceman thingy that you pump up and then push a button and it shoots up in the air. REALLY high! You just knew that it would come to grief.......

.......and it was Mark's grief! Mark is circled in red and the spaceman is circled in green. Mark is not fond of heights, so he was less than thrilled at having to get the rotten thing out of the tree! After about 30 minutes, the thing fell out of its own accord (much to Mark's disgust!)

Lunch at La Porchettas complete with dino cupcakes.