Back to blogging?

Vaguely considering a return to blogging. I see it's been over a year since my last post. I'm a bit inspired by my sister in law who blogs at myquickword and my cousin at aneverydaythought. Lets see what happens...

Meet my wee man

Hugh Thomas arrived at home on 18 September 2011. He's perfect :)

Picasso's Maternity 1905

I love the soft tones of this painting by Pablo Picasso. That little hand holding mummy's breast is so sweet and the way the mum is looking down at her bub reminds me of the early days with Adele when I got sore neck from gazing down adoringly at her too much! I just wish I could look this serene and beautiful!

My big night out

Last night was a big deal for me. I left Adele for the first time in the evening. I am surprised by how at peace I felt to be honest. I had been planning it for a couple of weeks and had been doing a lot of praying.

I went to the playcentre introduction meeting. I fed A to sleep nice and early and put her down to sleep in our bed. The amazing thing was that she was asleep by just after 7pm. Bedtime usually ends up closer to 8pm. I was then able to go out at 7.20, relaxed and unhurried.

I arrived back home at 9.30 and as I drove in I could see my wee poppet in her Daddy's arm through a gap in the curtains. She was awake. But seemed to be happy.

She had woken at 8.30pm (1 1/2 hour sleep - not too bad for her!) and Mike hadn't been able to resettle her so they'd gotten up and read some books, watched a DVD and had a wee party it seems :)

I was stoked. It didn't really matter so much whether she slept, as long as she was happy and ok without me.

A was pretty happy to see me when I got home so we snuggled up in bed together, and I gave her some more mama milky and she quite quickly drifted off to sleep. I managed to sneak back out of bed and have a hot chocolate with Mike before going to bed.

Yep. It was a good night. I reckon I could do it again.

My two fav people watching Love to sing one morning last week.
I imagine last night was a bit like this!

Creation a week # 18 & 19

Here are a couple of creations I've been working on in the last few weeks...

A nappy pouch for me. Lined and with a drawstring. It fits the Huggies travel wipe pack a few nappies an old fashioned flat nappy (I use these as change mats) and nappy cream etc. Great to have it all in one pouch that I can just throw in whatever bag we're taking. Although to be honest, Adele rarely needs to be changed when we're out these days.

And a shopping tote for my mother-in-law's birthday. I love this fabric. I got it at the op shop. It was an old cushion cover :) It looks like birds sitting on telephone wires. My MIL loves birds so it seemed appropriate for her. Hopefully she'll get good use out of it - getting groceries or as a library book bag perhaps?

Madonna with the Green Cushion

Thought I might start a new series! Breastfeeding art! And what better place to start than with Mary and Jesus.

Madonna with the Green Cushion is an oil painting by Italian painter Andrea Solario from about 1500. It now lives in the Louvre.

I love the way Mary is intently looking down at her nursling - almost like she's sharing a joke with him. But then again, on second glance, she looks quite serious too. Solario was strongly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. So perhaps it's a Mona Lisa smile?

Ooh, and the way Jesus is holding his foot - just like a real bubba would. And I really like how he is a chubby bubby. 

Nice to know they used pillows for breastfeeding back then too! Although, it does look like she's standing behind that marble bench...

Oompa loompa overalls

We went to the lake today for coffee group. For most of the time all Adele wanted to do was play with my wallet (obsessed). And then when it was time to leave all she wanted to do was stay.

She looked so oompa loompa-ish today in her overalls and beanie. The outfit really showed off her 'toddleriness'. She has now completely given up crawling in favour of walking. She's even started running. And it seems that since she started walking she's become a toddler in temperament too. She certainly knows how to express herself!

Wordless Wednesday: Cupboard mischief

I know, I know, it's Thursday. But I meant to get this up yesterday but it just didn't happen. Adele loves the herb and spices packets.

A little milk atop a mountain

What a gorgeous place to breastfeed. These were taken during the holidays during our walk on Maungatautari (it's taken me ages to get round to posting them). We did the short walk through the northern enclosure. (Maungatautari is a fenced inland 'island' where native wildlife is flourishing because rats, stoats, possums etc can't get in.)

Creation a week #17

I made this wee purse for my niece Jacinda who turned 7 this week. (It's in the mail... or will be in the next day or so...)

I used this tutorial but put some stuffing in the tail instead of quilting it like she suggested.

I hope J likes it! Might have to pop some goodies inside it as well :)

Creation a week #16

Oh dear, it's been so long since I posted anything let alone a creation. I have been making stuff just need to remember to photograph them.

I'm in love with this one though. I never thought I'd need a pincushion. It seems like an old-lady type thing to have but boy! it's useful.

This is made from an old baby food jar. I used this tutorial. I wish I had a pile of buttons to go inside but my collection is nil at the moment! But I found some paua pieces, the colours go well with the fabric I think.

Walking in Waitomo

During the school holidays we went down to Waitomo for the day. We skipped the caves etc cause they're too expensive and went on a couple of walks instead.

Adele rode in style on Mike's back in the Mei Tai carrier where she had a great view of everything. Lots of pointing!

The day was lots of fun. I'd really like to go back and do some more walks - there are so many down there and it's a great way to get some 'family time' in. Mike and I enjoy the chance to talk without distractions too!

Adele's first birthday party

Finally a quiet moment to do some blogging.

We had Adele's first birthday party last weekend. She had a blast. She really does love having people over to play at her house.

She was so spoiled with all her gifts, I'd love to say what her favourite is but to be honest she's been playing with pretty much all of them.

As for the cake. Ahhh, butter cream icing you still elude me... And the cake itself ended up a bit dry cause Adele and I went outside to play while it was cooking and I forgot to take it out of the oven. Ooops! Totally still edible though and didn't look too bad after all.

Creation a week #15

Can you believe that my little girl is one?

Her party is coming up this weekend so I thought I'd better have a practice run at baking a cake & icing it. The baking part went fine. But the icing... why does my butter cream icing always split? Noone I've talked to seems to have this problem. They just look at me like I'm a freak. Apparently butter cream icing is easy. Sigh.

For the actual party I'll be attempting a teddy bear!

So anyway, I forgot to photograph it before coffee group - here are the remains.

Creation a week #14

And here's another creation. I made these pocket tissue holders to give as a wee gift to the facilitators of the SPACE programme Adele and I have been attending over the past year.

Really simple and quick to make - 5 minutes? I even used a pair of my old jeans :) I think I'll make a few more to pop into my box of 'emergency gifts'. There are tonnes of tutorials online but I used this one.

Creation a week #13

Finally made use of the two formula tins my friend gave me. Adele loves these drums. I put uncooked popcorn in one and chickpeas in the other so they double as shakers.

Adele sits up on her knees and rocks side to side while I beat on the drums and sing a Mainly Music song,  'I can beat on my drum, on my drum..." Love it!

Creation a week # 12

I know, I know, it's been ages since I did a creation a week post (May 10th!). That's cause I stopped creating. And then I started again but kept forgetting to photograph them before I gave them away as gifts! But now I've started again in a flurry... might even have enough to catch up! So I'll eek them out over a few days :)

I've been making these crayon rolls for 1st birthday gifts (we've had a few of them lately). This is the 4th or 5th that I've made. Finally remembered to photograph one. I used this tutorial.

Such a little trooper

You know, one of the good things about having a baby who isn't so keen on sleep, is that she can stay up happily for hours!

This morning she woke at 5.30 (arrghh, too early little lady!) played in the lounge with mummy and daddy for a good few hours (Mike and I took shifts) then went to church at 10.30 not getting home to nap until 12.30. That's 7 hours awake.

Now, you'd expect that she'd be a mess by the end of that, and yup she was definitely tired (evidenced by the fact that she lay still as I changed her nappy before her nap!). But she didn't throw a wobbly at church, no crying in the car or even really excessive clingyness.

She's just a little trooper.

My three roses - part 1 of Adele's birth story

I've started writing Adele's birth story. I need to do it as part of my La Leche League leadership application. It's something I've been meaning to do for the past year but have been putting it off cause it's going to be hard. I've promised myself I'll finish it by her birthday - 9 days to go! I'm not sure I'll share all of it with you but here is the beginning...

My three roses

Sitting on my porch are three roses. They are my babies. Adele has the smallest rose which was planted just a few months ago. Her whenua (placenta) is buried beneath the apricot-coloured blooms. I hope that this will be a special plant for her in the future.

The white rose belongs to Taran, my special baby who grew inside me for only 13 weeks. We hadn’t planned to get pregnant but we were over the moon at the idea of starting a family. Those first 12 weeks were so hard, my morning sickness was unbearable. But then the sickness eventually faded and the excitement of seeing our baby at a scan took over. But Taran’s heart had stopped beating. The screen showed a perfectly formed little body, but no heartbeat.  The devastation of losing our first baby was overwhelming. I despaired and wished I could join that precious life in heaven. But time heals. Taran’s remains are buried beneath the white rose.

And the pink rose is Jay. Poor wee Jay who didn’t have a chance at all. Jay was a blighted ovum. The shock of Taran’s loss was not present  with Jay. From the very beginning I knew that we would not meet this baby. I never felt pregnant, there was no morning sickness and the pregnancy tests weren’t promising. But I certainly did grieve. I grieved for the loss of that life, and especially the loss of my innocence and the feeling that my body had let me down.

When I got pregnant for the third time, I felt much more confident that this time, things would work out. The morning sickness was even worse than the first time. Not just nausea but also daily vomiting. The awfulness of those first three months is still so clear in my mind. I was so ill I quit my job and Mike and I moved to Hamilton.

Cousins are the best-est ever!

Adele's cousins came over the other day. She ADORES them. 

They all sat up at her little table and ate cheese on toast. She looked so proud of herself up there with her big cuzzies. And then she started shaking her sippy cup up and down so water spilt out the top - that got lots of laughs so she kept going!

We're so going to miss these guys when they head to Thailand later this year!

And here they are a few weeks ago. Can you see how chuffed Adele is?