A tragic event

A friend of mine lost her husband in a vehicle accident yesterday.  They live in FNQ and he works even further up.  Details are sketchy, but it seems it was a collision between a truck and a car.  As you can imagine, she is devastated.  So my message today is.....hold your loved ones close, tell them you love them and spend some time EACH DAY just being with them.  Because we never know when we will depart this earth and every day may be our last.

My heartfelt condolences to Helen and the boys.

Wanna see Mark's new girlfriend with her top off?

This is what has been getting Mark's juices flowing the past few weeks.  A Ford Cobra Mustang.

A more dignified shot with her top back on!  Note the REAL car in the background...go you good thing, Prado!!!

Mark has wanted a car like this ever since we drove one over in America back in 2004 when we went to World Dairy Expo.  I have to admit to pretty much forgetting about the experience once we got back to everyday life, but clearly, Mark had not.  Life just about stopped for him once he saw this advertised and in a matter of days, it went from being a picture on a piece of paper, to an actual hunk of metal that has now displaced Alan's ute in the garage!

The kids are forbidden to look at it, much less touch it, and even though MY name is on the purchase agreement, MY name is on the insurance and MY name is on the bank loan that is paying it off, I too am viewed as an intruder into this relationship!

However, as our accountant wisely said, it could have been a mistress, and at the end of the day, a car is cheaper.  I'm not sure for who though.........

All I can say is, my time will come and when it does, there will be NO arguments! So there.

Another birthday!

The birthdays seem to be coming thick and fast around here.  This time, it is for Tom.  Yesterday, he celebrated his 6th birthday by having a party at the bowling alley and pizza place with a few of his little school friends.  I felt really bad about having to make him cull his birthday list, but there was just no way that we could have the entire prep class.  We enlisted the help of his teacher to identify the kids that he played with the most and we went from there.

All the kids had a great time and there was not one kid that played up, was naughty, didn't do what they were told.  They were all so very good, it was honestly a pleasure to have them for a few hours.  Some of the kids were drop offs and pick ups and others had their mums stay for the while time.  It was the easiest birthday party I have ever hosted!  [note to self....hold all birthday parties out of the house!!]

Tom's birthday is not until Wednesday, so I will hold off on all the mushy stuff until then (!), but here are some pics of the party that you might like to have a look at.

 This was the FIRST year that Tom did not want a dinosaur cake.  OMG!!  I had no idea what else.  Fortunately he wanted a dragon birthday, so that is not so far removed from dinosaurs!!!  I created a "How to Train Your Dragon" cake which proved very popular with the kids!

 Here are the kids at the bowling alley.  Our good friends Mooka and Alfie have a son the same age as Tom, so they came along to the whole show.  We roped them in to help us at the bowling.  So we had Mark, Mooka, Alfie and myself each on a lane and each of us had 4 kids (well...I had 3!).  This worked really well and we were able to keep the turns moving.  We were finished bowling (10 frames each) with 15 kids in the hour!  Not bad.

The pizza place was popular as it has a indoor playground.  Judging by the way the kids ran screaming into the place, I guess that most had been there before!

Tom and Kyle (Mooka & Alfie's son).  Look at how old Tom looks!  Oh, and that's me in the red jacket behind the boys stuffing my face!!

Blowing out the candles

The birthday boxes we gave out, courtesy of my Stampin' Up! business!!!!  I will load the invite up in the next day or so - I gave them out before I took a photo and the one I kept for us is in pieces on my desk.

Blessed Be...

A few weeks back, a scrapping friend of mine posted a video of the time surrounding the birth of their 5th baby and 1st son.  It was beautiful and made me think that I would like to make one too.  When Tom was born, he was a c-section baby and at the time, you weren't allowed to bring recording devices into surgery (although photos were fine and we got some rippers).  For Biddy's birth, we just didn't think about videoing much of the labour even though we did take the camera in with us.  I think I might have been gripping Mark's hand just a little too tight for him to get away.

But this time round with Bella, I told Mark that I wanted some video footage of the labour AND the birth.  Whilst the birth part is only for us, there was heaps to cobble together with various photos to make a special video that we are willing to share.

So here it is.  I hope you enjoy it.  For the first few times I reviewed it, I cried...but that might just be me!


(if you click on the icon to the left of the word vimeo, it will make the video full screen)

Untitled from Sam Simpson on Vimeo.

Happy 1st birthday baby girl

Oh my God.....how can a year just slip by so quickly?  Today has been one of great joy and a bit of saddness because today at 1.15pm, Bella turned 1yo.  No longer a helpless baby, but a little person forging her way in this world.  Bella seems to be more developed than either of the other two kids and we put it down to the fact that she simply wants to keep up with them (or escape them as it may be!).

at birth.. 7th June 2010

at 1yo...7th June 2011

As I was lying in the hospital this time last year, I told Mark that I wanted him to video the actual birth.  I had to make this clear hours before the actual event, because I knew that when the time came, I would be in no position to be asking anything of anyone!  This video is not for general viewing, but it is one of the most important documentations I possess of all of the 3 kids arrivals. It is for me to look at - albeit rarely - and remember the miracle that occurred on June 7th 2010.  It is made even more special by the fact that, in all likelihood, Bella will be our last baby.  It is so easy to forget the little details and I am glad that we were able to record it.

Bella has not had an easy time of her first 12 months.  In fact, it all started well before she even arrived.  Not being able to get pregnant, Mark and I returned to IVF much to my reluctance.  We had already been down this (expensive and emotional) road a number of times in the past and I wasn't keen to do so again.  However, with my chances of conceiving being quite low, it was our only course of action,  I wasn't prepared for the fact that it would all fail again.  With our prognosis looking grim, we decided to try again.  In the meantime, we just had to wait for my body to get back to a rhythm and while doing this, I fell pregnant naturally.  Of course I did!

Week 13 saw an emergency visit to the dr and the hospital with suspected ruptured membranes.  A flying visit to Geelong showed that everything was ok and no indication of loosing the baby was obvious.  Week 16 (ish) saw me in Melbourne facing an amniocentesis mainly due to my age (39).  This was a true test for me and I have to say that I failed.  I couldn't go through with it.  In my heart of hearts, I knew that there was nothing wrong with the baby and that I was potentially risking a miscarriage to be told this.  I was sent home a blubbering mess and spent the next week second guessing my decision.  I did go through with it and had THE BEST sonographer/doctor performing the procedure.  Everything was fine - no miscarriage and no genetic issues - and the rest of the pregnancy went on normally.

Bella's arrival was joyous, not just for Mark and myself, but also for the other kids.  Tom was now of an age that he understood about babies, and Biddy was a doting 'mum-in-training'.  They have taken to her like bodyguards and even today, can't leave her alone.  She is spoilt by them!

About 3 months of age, I noticed that despite her birth weight being the same as Biddy's, she was falling behind in the growth charts.  At one point she was almost 1kg below Biddy at the same age and my kids are not big kids.  Alarm bells started to ring and this started a chain of events that subjected Bella to blood tests, urine tests, a barium meal, ultrasounds and being placed under a paediatrician.  She was a spewy kid and whilst it was not projectile, it did empty her stomach.  She was slipping in growth, development and potentially health.  A combination of treatments including measured feeds, early solids and different lying/sitting positions helped and once she got up on her knees and started moving, everything fell into place.  She is now firmly in the 25% percentile and is about the same weight as Biddy at the same age.

For the past few months, she has just gone off like a rocket.  She has now cut 4 teeth (the last one just on Sunday) and is on the edge of standing by herself (she is up for seconds at a time now).  It will not be long before I turn around and she is walking and talking.  And then she won't be a baby anymore.  I don't want to keep her the same forever, but I do wish that time would just slow down a bit.  All my babies are growing way too fast for my liking and I feel like in our busy world, that sometimes I miss things.

But today, we celebrate Isabella Mary Simpson Billing's 1st birthday.  We give thanks to Dr Nick Lolatgis who was there to assist the pregnancy to keep going, the midwives Dot, Laura and Pauline who bought her into this world, to Dr Peter Nice who looked after me and has looked after Bella during her first year (and beyond!), to Dr Chris Cooper who got her over the rough patch of weight issues, to Rosemary and Helene the maternal child nurses that have provided encouragement and advice and finally, to our parents who have been there to pick up the pieces and fill the gaps when the wheels fall off everything!

It has been a wonderful year watching you grow darling girl.  From a helpless little bundle to a beautiful baby and now a darling (almost) toddler.  We wish you all the very best for today, tomorrow and the rest of your life.  Always know that you are very much loved and that you will always have family to surround you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLA

xxxx

Listening to "happy birthday"

First try of cake

Obviously....a success!

this was the cake we had for her party on Sunday

The birthday party

We held Bella's 1st birthday party yesterday.  The theme was ladybirds and the marquee was decked out with all things red and black.  A big THANKYOU to family members Bret and Emma who did all the decorating.  We had other family members pitch in to help with food and what not.  The weather wasn't great (well, what do you expect in winter?!) but it held until the last stages when most people had gone home before it bucketed down.  But the marquee provided us with heaps of shelter.

Bella was a delightful baby for the whole day.  I guess it is because there is heaps to see and new people to meet.  She has been our only child that has not cried when having 'Happy Birthday' sung - in fact, she loved it, kicking her legs and laughing.

She got some beautiful gift and again, we thank everyone for these.  A few were ladybird themed and a number of ladybird cards were attached too!

Here are some pics of the day.  We are having just a grandparents dinner tomorrow night to celebrate her actual birthday (sigh...when she really will be one!) which will be a very bittersweet day for me indeed.

The birthday cake (made by me!)

Bret and Emma decorating the marquee.  Tom and Biddy painted the letters of Bella's name red the day before and stuck black spots to them.

No way was she going to leave that party hat on.  She is not a hat person.

Mummy and the birthday girl

Opening her presents

These were the lolly bags I made up.  I used all SU! products - if you  want to make some yourself get the stuff off me!  The bags are mini lunch sacks about 15cm high.  Too cute!

12 months gone in the blink of an eye

We are now preparing for Bella's first birthday party on the weekend.  FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!  OMG.  The year has just flown.  She doesn't actually turn one until Wednesday week, but still.  In the past couple of months, she has just blew us all away with her developments.  Today she cut her third tooth (one of the front top ones).  Funnily enough, yesterday Tom lost his second tooth.  I told him that for every one that Bella gets, he will loose one.  I hope I'm not right!

I should also count today as the day that Bella stood on her own.  It was only for a few seconds, but it was definitely a solo stand.  On the change table.  Hanging onto nothing.  ON THE CHANGE TABLE for Christ's sake!!  We also spied her climbing up one of the kitchen chairs to reach something on Biddy's bumper seat.  This child will be the climber of the family, although it must be said that Biddy is also partial to daring manoeuvres.  Must be a girl thing.  Both Mark and Tom are scared silly by heights.

Bella's party invites

A girl after her mum's heart!

2nd one gone!

Mutual respect.  Bella normally keeps her distance.

Attacking dad.  Their favourite nighttime game!