Lately...

I was going through my iPhone this morning and it's always a good reminder of what we have been upto for the past few weeks....through the blurriness of iPhone quality photos!!

Macie's love for William has escalated to a new high.  William couldn't possibly have a big sister who is more loving and attentive.  She will make such a beautiful mummy when she is older.

I packed the kids in the car and did a flying visit to Toowoomba for ANZAC Day.  It was mayhem with all the grandkids together!

My sister managed to save these beauties from my cousin's garage!  The rocking horse was my sister's when she was a baby and the trike was actually my mums.  Photography Props Galore!!  I am planning a lick of paint and a bit of TLC on both!

Last week I declared (after many many tears of my own) that I was no longer going to fight with Macie for hours on end for her to have a daysleep.  Instead we hired 7 DVDs for $7 and each day all she needs to do is lie on her couch and watch her special movie.  Each day has resulted into this.....Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!  But don't tell Moo that!!

14 days after getting the nasty Gastro bug, this little guy is smiling again.  It knocked his poor little body around and made him so sad and unsettled.  But we are on the other side and enjoying all the smiles and coos coming from this delightful little boy!  Can you believe he is 9 weeks old already?

Macie's Potty Chart has gone from this.....

to this.  Something just clicked for our Big Sis.  We are so totally over the moon about this!

Macie now goes to Daycare every Friday.  She loves it so much that I literally have to drag her out kicking and screaming in the afternoons.  I now spend the day in town....enjoying a quiet coffee....

...and a day fully devoted to my little man. 

Now the weather is much more pleasant, we are now going for walks around the farm with our 'babies'.  Macie seriously loves this.

This is my attempt at my sister's AMAZEBALLS chocolate slice....FAIL!

Behind the Scenes....

Have you ever wondered what a photoshoot looks like behind the camera?  Before I started taking photos, I totally underestimated the time that goes into something like this.  The research, the organising and the planning....

Late nights madly painting props and praying that they dry in time....

Please ignore the state of my laundry.  The washing, folding and any other kind of domestic duties were neglected! 

I changed locations at the last minute and all my little models coped with the long grass and open paddocks perfectly fine.....thanks to their trusty gumboots and their beautiful mums! 

This mum here....she is amazeballs.  She is seriously such a fantastic friend and has officially been hired as my right-hand man (she likes to have a title!) when I make it big.  Along with bringing her two children, she also bought camping chairs, bubbles, toys, food and most importantly, CHAMPAGNE!  I think she deserves a big fat raise! ;)

There were prams, babies, bubbles, popcorn, toys and most importantly, the Mums keeping these delightful kids entertained!!  They most certainly earnt their drink....and I feel like my friendship glass is seriously overflowing.  I am so lucky to have these wonderful women in my life who I call friends.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  X

Photoshoot #1

Last week, I was contacted by a fantastic non-for-profit organisation wanting some Dalli goodness for their new imaging for their new website.  What an honour and to say that I was excited - well that was an understatement....and then it turned to panic when they wanted the photos in 9 days!

So a quick call-out for models on my facebook page and next thing I have six gorgeous toddlers in front of my camera creating the magic.....

Preparing for the unexpected....

In the early hours of Saturday morning in a cold hospital room cradling Will against my chest, I found myself pondering what a Parenting Manual would look like.  Would it be a huge book with thousands of tips, tricks and secrets? Or would it just be a little pocket book with one simple sentence "Prepare for the unexpected."  It would be pocket sized so you could carry it around with you at all times, to remind yourself of the secret of parenting...the secret that we all want to know. 

On Friday afternoon, Will came down with vomiting (that was blamed on his 6 week vaccinations) and by the night, we were in the Emergency department at the hospital with our darling boy.  It was scary to see the doctors concerned and even scarier when they were telling us what would happen if he wasn't to respond to treatment. 

Thankfully after a night of constant fluids, kisses and cuddles - Will gave us smiles at 6am and we were finally discharged and able to come home to our Big Girl who was having a great time with her grandparents (thank god for Family!) and didn't even notice us missing! 

It was one of those moments as a parent where I felt my heart in my mouth.  Where I realised that my babies are my world and I would do anything to protect them....anything.  A mothers love is such a potent emotion....and never ceases to amaze me of it's strength. 

The theory of the 6 week vaccination reaction was thrown out the window (so easy to blame!)  once Macie, Heath & I dropped like flies on Sunday night.  Another "Prepare for the Unexpected" moment.....or perhaps Tip #1876 of the Huge Book of Parenting - "It doesn't matter if you are vomiting and your husband is gagging cleaning up your child's vomit - you will always put your child's health before your own". 

So we are now fully prepared to prepare for the unexpected.....but we are really hoping that unexpected gives us a break just for a little while.  My nerves are shot! 

Have you ever had a moment like this? 

Four years....

It has been ten years since I first set eyes on Heath - the man in a black cowboy hat. 

It has been four years since I married that man, the very man who is my best friend.

We have shared so much together.  The most euphoric highs and the lowest of lows...and have always shared these moments hand in hand - never loosing grip. 

We have the most beautiful children and the most blessed life.  We laugh, we cry, we play and we fight. 

We dance in the kitchen, play waterfights in the yard and have an understanding on just how good a rum & coke is after both babies are tucked in bed for the night. 

I know we will be together for as long as life allows us...

And I know that I will love him with all my heart forever and for always. 

Happy Anniversary Babe!

I have....

Today is the first day we have had at home in seven days. 

I have...

: folded over three baskets of washing - how can one family generate so much washing?

: Put on another three loads of washing - seriously, do mothers with more than 2 children live in their laundry?

: Fallen in love with this....because some of my best shots come out of the cheapest lens and oldest camera...

: Painted, coloured in, stamped and crafted with the Big Sis....since she had been asking to do so since 6.15am this morning. 

:  Dreamt of all the amazing antique store we found over Easter filled with photography props.  Oh to be ridiculously rich with an endless cheque book!

: Cuddled, fed, admired and sang to the Lil Bro....all while asking the Big Sis to please try and give him a little bit of space.  How do you explain "Personal Space" to a two year old? 

: Made a "Macie's Potty Chart" and declared it "Undies Day"....it lasted an hour.  Try again tomorrow.  Note to self that bribery of stickers is not enough. 

: Drank cold coffee that was over two hours old.

: Declared hatred for ABC Kids for putting Babar on instead of their Peppa Pig marathon at lunch time.

: Cursed myself when the photo shop called with the quote to fix my new camera....the cost to fix it is more than what it was to purchase it.  Mammoth fail on my part for dropping it in the first place. 

: Cursed myself again when I realised it's our wedding anniversary tomorrow and I haven't organised anything special. 

: Dreamt about the Antique Store again....i could have taken all of the chairs AND yes, that's a mini wicker pram there people.  Sigh!

: Made three vegemite sandwiches, in triangles without the crust.

: Declared tomorrow the starting day of my post-baby diet after caving into the easter eggs sitting in the fridge. 

: Realised all the ridiculous photos I have on my iPhone....

All in a mornings work of the desperate housewife.....is it 5pm yet?

William James - 6 weeks old

I can't believe that 6 weeks has nearly passed since Will entered our lives.

Even though I talk about how hard the last 6 weeks have been, they have also been glorious too.  Watching him grow and learn to love us as a family (a very loud one at that) and settling into our lives.  He is our little snuggly one who would love to be held and cuddled all day which is absolutely fine by me! 

He is loosing his blonde locks and his eyes become a deeper shade of blue as each day passes.  He snores like his Daddy and is finally deciding that we were right when we told him how glorious sleep really is...thank god. 

He smiles at his Daddy and looks around the room for him whenever he hears his voice.  He is learning to not get upset with Macie - for she is just loving him in her own way and that is more and more every day.  He be upset one moment and then in a deep deep sleep the next.  It's a tough life for Master William.

The most bittersweet experience of being a mum is watching my children grow, learn and explore.  I love watching them blossom and I wish the time away....and then I find myself saying "Where did that time go."

Thanks for the past 6 weeks my darling Willy J - I can't wait to share the next 60 years with you.  X

Failure vs Success

This morning I declared that today was going to be a fabulous day.  I felt it in my bones.  William slept until 5.30am (with his usual nightly feeds) instead of his usual 3.30am "wake-up & don't go back to bed" ritual and I felt like I had won the lottery.  I even texted my sister and mum to share the good news.  Yep - today was going to be a good one. 

So, when I realised that I needed to do a few jobs in town, I jumped at the chance to get the kids in the car and get out of the house!  For all I knew, I had 5 1/2 magical hours of uninterrupted sleep - I could climb mountains today!  I needed a few things from the grocery store, a few Easter presents, some new colouring in books for Macie (and maybe me), a little birthday present for her friend and the dreaded trip to Centrelink with two kids in tow (every Mum can relate with me here).  We were driving out of the driveway by 8.15am with the kitchen clean, laundry done and 2 happy babies in the back.  Imagine me doing power fists in the air - I rock!

Get to town and put the kids in the pram.  On our last trip to town William had declared his hatred for the pram so I had been trialling it out at home and managed to convince him that it's not all that bad with two walks around the farm without any dramas.  WRONG!  Master William decided to scream the town down....literally. 

Imagine me walking down the street, one hand on the pram trying to steer, the other arm holding Will - all while trying to do "the smile"....you know that smile that Mums do when we want everyone to think that we have our lives in control but really we just want the ground to swallow us up?? 

And to make things worse, I didn't have Heath sign the form that I needed to drop into Centrelink.  That's right folks....I have to do it all again tomorrow.

While feeding William in the car as Macie watched her DVDs on the portable player, I rang Heath in tears.  I was brutally honest and declared I felt like a failure.  I couldn't even do a trip to town without drama...and to make it even worse, I didn't even get one job done.  Like any good husband, Heath reassured me and told me to come home and try again tomorrow. 

Then I get a text message from my beautiful friends - "Coffee at hers, everyone invited".  Have I ever told you how much I seriously love unplanned coffee dates...especially when I am in town?  It is like she had a premonition that we all needed to fuel up on friendship and support.  William finished his bottle and was passed out from his "I hate Town" antics (like any man really) and proceeded to sleep for an hour while we laughed, confided and cried over hot coffee.  Who would have thought that this Mummy thing could be the hardest yet most rewarding job in the world?

Can you believe that after a refuel of coffee and friendship, I was able to do the grocery shop with two happy babies?  I promise I am not lying when I say that Macie and I even had fun doing the shopping while Will slept in the trolley. 

It is so easy to doubt myself as a Mother and declare I am a failure.  Even though I have two kids who are happy and healthy. 

It is so easy to apologise to Heath when he comes home and the house is a mess.  Even though it's messy because I have been playing or cuddling my babies for the afternoon.

It is TOO easy to curse myself for being a complete scatter brain (I sent my brother-in-law a "Happy Fathers Day" card for his birthday!).  Even though I am only getting 4 hours sleep a night. 

It was that lightbulb moment as I was driving home that I am simply too hard on myself....and I know a lot of mums that are too.  We blame the pressures from society to fit the "Perfect Mum" mould but secretly we are the only ones that put the pressure on ourselves.  We are all successful, beautiful, loving mothers who love their children unconditionally.  Failure shouldn't even be in our vocabulary....

So next time my town trip turns to shit like it did this morning, I know what I will be doing.  I will be sending out an "SOS" to my friends - for it's them that pulled me up today, dusted me off, cuddled me warmly....and most importantly, made me feel comfortable enough to be honest with how I was feeling.  Being honest is extremely liberating for me. 

Never underestimate the power of friendship.  It truly is a magical thing. 

Glorious Weekends!

I have declared my love for weekends.  It's the weekends where I let loose on keeping the house clean and just soak up my family.  It is where I can share the load with Heath and get an untimed shower and an extra 5 minutes on the couch to enjoy my hot coffee.  It is what I look forward to all week and this weekend did not disappoint.

With a surprise visit from my Mum on Thursday and then a visit from Heath's sister on Saturday - it was so fantastic catching up with both sides of the family and watching them love on my babies.  Heath & I finally hit the wall of exhaustion (Will thinks that his day starts at 3.30am.....) so it was so nice to be able to be surrounded by our families, relax and laugh.   

We stretched our time between doing Easter Craft with Macie as she had been such a good girl all weekend (give and take a few tanties)....with Master William supervising in his little seat.  Watching him smile at us and take it all in just made me realise how quickly my babies grow. 

Can you tell who designed what!? 

If you are looking at doing some Easter Craft - this was a fantastic gift from Heath's sister.  Absolutely loved it minus the ceramic egg flying through the air and landing on William in his swing....another Macie moment!

Speaking of growing up....we are getting smiles out of William.  He only smiles for Heath....a daddy's boy already!