photos

Had to share this pic of Billy :) There are some new pics in the photo album

I have my study!

Well, it is that time of week again! Time to update the blog properly.

Erin:
is all better now with the snot monster making only limited appearances. She has mastered the art of saying "May I have some ....... please Mummy?" which makes me melt and give her whatever her heart desires! She is very happy at the moment as Billy is sharing her room. She thinks this is a great treat and I woke up this morning to them giggling at each other. She does have a habit of climbing in there with him, but he is big enough now that this isn't so dangerous. That was the main thing that made me hesitate about putting them in together. I wanted Billy to be big enough to defend himself a bit! But the kids are happy about it and sleep fine and I am completely stoked because I have my study! Back to Erin though. She had Bekah come to visit earlier in the week (who she now calls "Bah-bekah", very cute!) and loved the attention. She wants visitors all the time now. Yesterday she told me that "Nana Julie will be here soon!" then later in the day "Nanny and Poppy are coming to stay!" then still later "Aunty Lisa and Uncle Chris and Bekah and MARCUS are coming for tea tonight!". I think she has the gift of hospitality!

Billy:
is huge and happy. Life is a barrel of laughs at the moment. Yesterday, even when completely sleep deprived after playgroup, he got passed around at the op shop and gave every one of the ladies a big grin and a belly laugh - I was so proud! He is working on this crawling thing and is definitely mobile now. I have to start keeping things up off the floor! He is really into the food. Solids three times a day plus 4 hourly breast feeds day and night! A growing boy. He isn't overly fat either, just the usual covering for a baby his age. That tooth is still edging it's way out oh so slowly and painfully! I had forgotten how long it takes for them to come through.

The house:
is now a 2 bedroom, two study house - YAY! Extravagant? Perhaps. But being able to close the door on my sewing and leave it out without the kids getting into it or it being in the way means I can actually get some done now. And it is fantastic not to have the computer(s) in the lounge room. The set up is still not complete, and I can't wait to have bookshelves in here, but it is great non-the-less! The laundry hamper is not empty - but only because I put all the dedicates and woollens that were on the floor and put them in the hamper. I am on top of the washing still, I just have to tackle the ironing! I also have some food in the freezer, minimal amounts of 'stuff' on the lounge room floor and significantly less boxes in the hallway.

The garden:
is covered in lady bugs - much to Erin's delight! It is almost worth putting up with the aphids seeing as they attracted them (ladybug larvae eat aphids). The tomatoes are needing to be tied up to their stakes a very 2 or 3 day. I have got an infestation of pear slug though, apparently soapy water works on THEM but I am yet to try it (Sunday if not before!). We will also be getting a nice crop of blackberries off the old chook shed, if I can stop Erin eating them all before they are ripe!

Craft:
I am up to the shaping on the front left panel of Erin's jacket. I want to have the knitting on the jacket finished by mid January - ooooohhhh, look at that, a goal! That may motivate me to get off my backside! I have been sewing a bit this week too. What I am sewing may shock, even gross you out, but bear with me! Mum, you may not want to read this out to everyone - please don't, they can read it themselves if they are curious! I am sewing...... menstrual pads. Before you go ewwwwwwwww (OK, after, 'cause you have already done it :P ) the kids use cloth nappies - why should I be in disposables? :P I am sewing them out of old flannel PJ 's and old nappies at the moment and they are seriously the most comfortable thing I have ever used. Not hard to clean either, I just throw them in a nappy bucket with some water and vinegar then throw them in the normal wash - and voila! I am going to get some waterproof fabric to back them with then I will be using them full time. Imagine the money I will be saving! :D

Jess



Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker" border="0" height="80" width="400">

Lilypie 3rd Birthday Ticker" border="0" height="80" width="400">

Damn you're a good mother!

I wish I could justify the cost of one of these t-shirts! We all have days when we need a little pick me up LOL

Interesting website!

http://www.instructables.com/

This is so cool! Where else can you get instructions for making absynthe! LOL

It is too hot to do anything but play online today!

Dedication photos

Billy's dedication cake, chosen by his Poppy and made by his Nanny!

The kids at the start of the day

I will be adding more to the photo album through the day :)

Hello again

Things have slowed down to their usual hectic pace now so I thought I had better update the blog LOL

Erin:
Has a sinus infection and conjunctivitis at the moment and is not well at all :( She had a great time over the weekend though and loved having her Nana Julie to stay. Considering just how awful she feels, she has been SO good! She loved Billy's dedication BBQ too. We have solved the bath phobia with SPACE BUBBLES! Bubble bath with stars and planets on the outside. The bubbles cover up any hairs or specks of dust floating in the bath making for a calm bathtime for all concerned - YAY!

Erin Quote of the Week: Nana Julie (re some food Erin was eating): Is that yummy in your tummy? Erin: Nooooooo, it's yummy in my mouth!!"

Billy:
Tired, cranky, teething and (today) power-chucking!! And still, somehow, managing to be beautiful! That kid does Belly Laughs to die for. Photos of his dedication are on the way. He is up on his hands and knees rocking ready to crawl and progresses in his own way great distance such as halfway across the lounge room. He can also swim the length of the bath LOL

The house:
looks fantastic thanks to the kitchen pantry that my Gran bought us for Christmas!! Finally, I am getting rid of the boxes in the kitchen!!! I need to sew curtains for under the bench and put up a shelf under there, and we have been talking about getting a small set of drawers, but we are making progress :D The laundry hamper is very empty because Mum has been here for a while LOL and we have a Christmas Tree that is about a foot tall growing in a pot. The poor thing is SO loaded down with decorations LOL

The garden:
is growing like nothing else! There is an explosion in the population of ladybugs and a subsequent reduction in the aphid population. I have had to tie the tomato plants up again this week. I have planted some flowers up the side of the driveway and all the other veg is just taking off.

Craft:
is getting organised. I am rearranging my study at the moment and Billy is still sleeping in there all the time so that limits what I can do in there. Once we work out how to get the cot into Erin's room and buy a new matress for it, I will be able to use it more. I have done some more on Erin's little jacket.

Jess

Scrapping

I have done some more scrapbooking, so if you want to have a look at the photobucket album there are new things to see! For example:



So click here and go to the 'crafts' album to look at the digital scrapping

Oh, I forgot to add

Erin is dry all day now in her big girl knickers! Yay!
Now to work on 'the other'.......

And I just had to share this picture!
We went swimming in the river earlier in the week, she loved it.

I'm back

Yes, I know I haven't done this in a while, it kept slipping down the 'to do' list! But here we go.

Erin:
is terrified of the bath and shower here! It all started with that fly that landed in the bath a fortnight ago. She was OK at first, but now if we put her in the bath she stands with the least amount of her body in the water that she can and cries hysterically! In the shower she cries and yells "I'm all wet!!! Erin is getting all wet!!! I'm getting all WET!!!". Thinking she had developed a phobia of the water, we took her down to the river to show her water in a different setting. We were bairly stopped before she was climbing out of the pram and stripping off to get in the water! I had to keep reminding her not to go in over her head! Explain that one if you can! She is also funny about flies. This is a kid who used to play with the wood cockroaches with me. Very strange.

She is very clever though. Last week when we were making muffins she cracked an egg into the mix while I wasn't looking and got it all in the bowl with no shell - ONE HANDED!! How clever is that? She has seen me do it a million times so it mustn't have occurred to her to use two hands. She is just precious at the moment.

Billy:
Rolls both ways as of today and I suspect he is commando crawling while I am not looking from the amount of ground he is covering in the lounge room. He is also on solids after I got sick of him clawing off my arm to get at my food. Erin I had to get laughing to put food in her mouth, this one you count the fingers to make sure you get them all back. Even after a full feed of boobie juice in the mornings he will go on to eat about 1/4 cup of mashed pumpkin or sweet potato. His tooth is finally through and it was a little rough for the last week or so with it comming through. The poor little man was so unsettled and unhappy. He is happy to have his little fang through now though and is enjoying making tooth marks on anything and everything that comes his way.

The house:
is looking much better after Jon bought me a super-duper vacuum cleaner on the weekend. It is a bagless vac that has a suck that is amazingly strong. It does a fantastic job. It was so handy to have the freezer stocked over the last week with Billy being unhappy, although that means I now have to restock it. I am slowly chipping away at things and it is looking much more like a home in here rather than a storage facility. I am feeling a little more prepared for having a crawler!

The garden:
is looking good. Nasturtium seeds have grown, as have the sunflowers, some sweet peas, the veg in the veggie patch and the potatoes. The little black insects (which I have found out are aphids) are still there and I am using white oil periodically to keep on top of the population.

Craft:
is still99% inspiration and 1% persperation at the moment but I have done a little more on Erin and my knitted jackets and tidied up my craft space a bit.

Check out my photo album
I have finally put up some more photos of the kids!

Jess

We had a very full on, very fun weekend. We saw Colin Buchanan in concert on Saturday morning which was great! We don't have any of his CD's yet but Erin really enjoyed it and Jon and I found it hilarious. We then drove through to Port Sorrel to visit friends which was fantastic. On Sunday Billy and I went to cater Ladies Time Out (a church thingy) while Erin had special Daddy time. We had fun!

Erin:
Is just beautiful of course. Still insanely overprotective of Billy and regularly smothering him with love, I am enjoying that until he is on the move and into her toys! She had a fairly huge freak out over a fly landing in the bath Saturday night which isn't like her. She is normally fine with creepy crawlies. She seems to be over it though. She is just growing so quickly. We made pineapple muffins last week and she did a lot of the cooking herself. She loves cooking with me.

Billy:
has a REAL tooth. It isn't the white bump that has been comming and going for 2 months, it is a real pointy little tooth! He had big cuddles with lots of different people over the weekend and just loved it. He won the heart of his Aunty Jen by grabbing her with both hands and hugging her to him. He just loves his cuddles. Laughs and grins are almost constant. He is a real joy at the moment. He loves his reflection in the wardrobe mirrors.

The house:
is lovely. A bit messy, but home :D I rearranged and sorted the main bedroom this week which was a relief. The freezer is sort of slowly filling with cooked stuff. I keep using it all up though! But I am hoping that I will eventually have a full freezer and by the time I am pregnant with our next bub I will be able to use it to fall back on when I am tired and blurgh.

The garden:
hasn't had much done since I last posted. However, things are growing without my attention! Seeds are sprouting, a rose bush is blooming and a tree out the front is blooming with a beautiful scent...I really must find out what it is called. Kester gave us some strawberry plants which are growing with small fruit on them already. It is wonderful that it can still manage to thrive with the neglect it has received this week.

Craft:
Nothing, I've done nothing...yes, I am a lazy bum! I am THINKING very hard about some booties to go with the beenie for Katie and Jeremy's baby.

Jess

Believe it or not I did do a post last week but it seems to have disappeared! Oops.

Erin:
is going through a stage. Everytime anyone who is not Jon or me holds Billy all hell breaks loose! It kind of started mid last week but last Saturday when a friend joked that she was going to take him home....well! Even Nanny and Poppy got yelled at a bit when they held Billy! Strange child. She has been SO settled in comparison to before after a whole weekend of having Daddy home. Tantrums have halved and those that happen have halved in intensity. We all spent the day in the garden on Sunday and I have a brilliant photo of Erin curled up in a kitchen chair asleep after a hard days work. I will post it sometime soon. She is a real little girl now, a skinny mini! She seems to be loosing all her baby chub. She is still eating like a horse though. Her hair is getting thick although it is still very short.

Billy:
is growing hair too. Blond. He is going to be a blond, blue-eyed boy! He still only rolls from his back to his tummy but once on his tummy he is starting to move himself around. I am really not ready for that! I think he is about to go through a growth spurt because he is really hungry at the moment. I am trying to hold off solids, but he is definately looking like wanting them soon.

The house:
is SORT OF in order. We bought a big box of apples from the orchard across the river over the weekend so I am stewing and freezing apples and making apple pie. I am planning to make some apple jam too.

The garden:
is looking great. The white oil has seemed to make a big difference to the insect population on my peach tree (they are peaches, they're furry!) and it is starting to look like I will get some peaches. The potato plants are starting to peek through. Erin's sunflowers have started to sprout, Jon mowed the yard on the weekend, and we built a vege patch. We have planted 3 different tomato plants and 2 chilli plants (blurgh!). We also planted some lettuce seeds. There have been a few freak frosts, one of which has burned the ends off my camelias. I am hoping we have seen the end of those though.

Craft:
is still sadly on the back seat as I have been doing a lot of reading at the moment, but I have done some more of my jumper and thought hard about doing some bootiees for Katie and Jeremy's baby.

Jess

Dearest Daughter - link

Have a look at this link: Dearest Daughter

You will all be relieved to know...

the blue gell in ice packs is non toxic and after a very long soak in a bath your toddler WILL return to their original colour. Thankfully we have dark blue carpet. The jury is still out on her clothes.

We hand in the keys to the old house on Friday.

FINALLY! It is done - well almost. The place is almost completely finished with now. We spent the day out there packing and cleaning yesterday. The kids were so good while we were out there. Wandering around the trees and listening to the birds I felt a little wistfull, but the move is a good one. The thistles and prickles I had to pull out of Erin were testament to that.

Erin:
is growing up so fast! Today she helped me in the garden and was an actual help. Yesterday she did SUCH a good job helping me pack up around the old house. While she is still deffinately a two year old with all the accompanying tanties and boundary pushing behavior, I have been so proud of her lately. The way she is with Billy is just beautiful to watch. Last week she brought out a hat (knitted red hat with ear flaps) and put it on Billy and said "Oooohhhh gorgeous!! Gorgeous boy, gorgeous Billy boy! Gorgeous Billy boy in a gorgeous hat..." She has been hugging him and playing with him so much lately. She mothers him and her toys. One morning last week she ran up to me with her toy monkey and said "Look Mummy, baby monkey!" then pulled up her pyjama top and 'fed' the monkey LOL. She was in shoe heaven when 5 pairs of shoes that I bought on e-bay arrived. She has tried every pair on at least five times. She did stop my heart a few days ago thought when she wandered out the front gate and accross the busy road after the dog. My back was turned for about a minute and they both took off. The gate is now kept closed at ALL TIMES.

Billy:
ROLLS! From his back to his front. He usually has a go at doing this during nappy changes - the troublesome tike! He is just so precious. I am having difficulty trying to get him into a routine even now at four and a half months. He is a shocking catnapper. He also still wakes up at least twice overnight - but can I tell you a secret?? I love getting up to him overnight. In those quiet moments I get to just focus completely on him. He is in his cot now but because he is still waking him overnight so much I have put him in my study rather than putting him in with Erin. Today he was sitting on my knee while I ate and he kept grabbing at my food. he will grab anything now. I have to give him something to play with while I read to him or he tries to eat the book! He belly laughs at Erin heaps now, especially in the bath when he is on his belly laying on my arm. He and Grizzabella spend a lot of time gazing at each other. There are some new photos in the photo album and some of them have Billy with Grizz. Some of my favourites that I have taken recently are of Billy on his belly with Grizz on hers looking into his eyes :) I have some great ones of his grins too - check this out!



His eyes are still so blue. His dedication is going to be on 2nd of December at 4:30pm.

The house:
well, it's a mess - again. I just can't seem to get myself organised without my computer. Hopefully once the keys are handed in for the old house Jon can fix up my computer. Infact, now Jon will be more available I have a great big list of jobs for him - mwahahahaha! But don't tell him that. I am hanging out for my kitchen cupboards now it looks like Billy will be on the move soon. Crawling babies and stuff in boxes just doesn't mix.

The garden:
is starting to look a little overgrown, but once the lawns are cut it should be OK. The mild detergent doesn't do anything. I think the bugs put out a call to their mates to say there were free showers! So I got some white oil today and sprayed the little buggers. Hopefully that does the trick. I also used it on some scale on a few of the camelias. I got a compost bin that I put up this weekend. I filled it within a few minutes putting it up. Hopefully we will get some great compost which we need here. The soil is very sandy here so it needs lots of organic matter. We have planted 3 types of potatoes in tyres. As they grow, I will stack up more tyres and fill them up with mulch. Where the mulch is against the plants they will grow more spuds so we will end up with lots of yummy spuds! We have also planted some sweet peas and sunflowers in boxes outside Erin's window and in the garden. The sweet peas are dwarf variety that don't need to be trained up on trellis or stakes and have big flowers.

Craft:
has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment because I have been doing a bit more work as a moderator for my online Mum's group. I have done a bit more on my lovely jacket though. I am knitting it out of a yarn that is part tencil and is so soft to work with, but still very easy to knit. It is a purple, plummy type colour and is beautiful. Of course, it will take me a year to knit it!!

Jess

Adult world...

Adult World Must Let Girls Be Girls

Please read this article, pass it on, discuss it with your friends and family - especially those with little girls. The content of this article is so important. Just my bit to get this subject into the public arena a bit more.

Oh, and is a music clip along the same lines to lighten the mood if you have broadband!

Date night!

We had our first 'date night' last week. I made a special tea for Jon and I, gave Erin some little party pies in the shape of animals, rice and veg and some apricots and custard for dessert and put her through the bath while I had a shower. Then I put my party dress on and put Erin to bed. After the kids were in bed, we had a romantic dinner just the two of us! We will be doing this regularly from now on and it was just lovely.

Erin:
is doing brilliantly. She did a somersault today. No prompting, nothing. She just did it! Then she walked over to a gardening book that I have and picked it up. She looked at the cover (which had a picture of chillies growing on a bush) and said "Chillies Mummy, look, chillies for Erin, mmmmm yum!" I promptly rang Jon and said "I may have carried her in my womb but she's your child!" I don't know how she even knew what they were! She is nuts about the food at the moment. Yesterday while I was cooking lunch I got a running commentary of "Poor Erin! Erin needs food, oh poor Erin. Some pasta please Mummy? Some Muffins please Mummy? Some peas please Mummy? Some cheese please Mummy? Oh poor Erin, Erin needs food!...." Her language is getting even clearer. She is now very fond of telling me that "It's not quite bed time Mummy, no, not quite bed time". Usually on her way to bed LOL The tantrums have abaited somewhat as she is getting better (although she is still a snot monster!) which is a relief all 'round! She still has the firey temper though, and always will in my opinion.

Billy:
is just precious at the moment. The grins and belly laughs are just awesome! He has moved to his big boy cot because he kept hitting his head on the end of his bassinette. I probably could have (should have!) moved him sooner but that would mean admitting he is getting big *sniff*. His grasp is very confident now and he grabs toys in the bath to chew on. I am going to get a bath seat for him because he is just too heavy for me to hold up in the bath now the great lump! He has a devoted follower in Grizzabella the wonder hound. I have some great photos of her with him which I will share soon. Whenever he is out there she is laying near him or hovering around him. He thinks she is just brilliant (as does Erin, how many other dogs let you draw on them with chalk??!) and she is just besotted. Billy has been spending a fair bit of time outside with the warmer weather and is trying out some of his shorts and short sleeved rompers. He chats VERY LOUDLY a lot of the time to anyone or anything nearby.

The house:
has had an exciting addition! We have end tables to our couch! They match the bookshelves. We bought them from Chickenfeed. They are 4 cubes, 2 with shelves and 2 with cupboard doors. They stack one on top of the other and we have 2 each end, 1 cupboard and 1 shelf. The surround sound speakers are now at ear level and there is somewhere safe(er) to keep the remotes.

The garden:
is going great guns. I gave all the camelias a light haircut to get them back from the driveway and/or encourage bushier growth and more flowers for next season. Erin loved this because she would sit under where I was pruining while the leaves and flowers fell down around her. I have also started rescuing a peach/nectarine tree. It is a wonder the poor thing is even standing! If you ever had one of these, you'd know that they need a bit of TLC, pruining, feeding, pest and disease control. Well, this one has had NONE of that. It had garden rubbish piled up around the base to about half a foot up the trunk and was amongst long grass. I pulled all this back to find about a billion and one slaters infesting the wood in the trunk, I figure the birds will make a bit of a dent in that population now it is all exposed. Then on closer inspection I noticed quite a few pests on the actual tree. I put doublesided tape around the trunk and left it a couple of days to see if I could get and idea of what was going up and down the trunk. The simpler question would have been what ISN'T going up and down the trunk! Slaters, ants, aphids, mites, you name it. Because it is still early spring I didn't want to just kill them all because a small population of these types of things creates a food supply for the preditors. Preditory insects usually emerge later in the season when their prey is plentyful. So I have just sprayed a weak detergent solution to kill off the population a bit to get it to a maniagable level. I will do this a few more times and see if the population slows down a bit. It looks like we will still get a crop. There are small fruits all over the poor tree! It is just a matter of looking after it so it doesn't drop the fruit before it is ripe.

Craft:
I have finished a mock cable beenie for Katie and Jeremy's baby and need to start some matching booties. I have cast on the first few stitches of a jacket for ME! yay!

Jess

Free Hugs

This is awesome, although I wouldn't want a free hug 'cause I like my personal space thankyou! This may not work too well if you don't have broad band, but give it a go.

The story is, there was a guy in Sydney who was giving out free hugs. The 'officials' banned him, but he started a campaign and he's out there giving free hugs again. Very 'fight the man'!

Kids and I have colds

The kids and I have colds today and feel awful so this will be short!

Erin:
is beautiful as usual! She had been so good considering how awful she feels. She loved having her Nanny and Poppy here for the weekend. She didn't have one full blown tanty all weekend! There was one beauty last week after playgroup though! She got a funny rash last night that appeared and spread suddenly then disappeared within a few hours, very weird. She seems fine now though. I am bidding on some megabloks for Erin's Christmas Present on e-bay and she keeps wanting to look at the picture of them so I guess I have chosen the right gift for her!

Billy:
is growing like a weed! He slept for over 6 hours straight last night, even though he is sick. I have parked his bed in the hallway and like having it there. It is out of the way and I can get to it easily. I feed him overnight in the lounge which stops me falling asleep which means we both get a better night's sleep. I'm not too stressed about him still feeding overnight, he is growing at such a rate he needs the extra food I think! He has given up the dummy. He lost interest in it a bit and I figured, why push the issue!

The House:
is a mess, let's not go there.

The garden:
is growing almost as fast as Billy LOL. Having Kester here has been enlightening. She identified most of the plants. The plant that I love the smell of at the front door is called a Daphnie!

Craft:
It's all happening slowly!

I had better keep going.

Jess

We have an entertainment unit!

Erin:
Miss Diva Extrodinare!! She threw the BIGGEST tanty (Diva Moment) the other day when she went to the Moores for a few hours. They haddn't seen that side of her before! Poor people! With those Diva Moments, all you can do is walk away and wait for the storm to pass. She had another one this afternoon when we got home from our walk and she'd fallen asleep in her pram. How DARE I wake her! The thing is with Diva Moments is giving her what she originally wanted doesn't even work as she forgets what she wanted in the midst of the moment. Thankfully, they are not a daily occurrence. As she grows, I pray that this strength of will, will transform into strength of character. At the moment she is sitting beside me on the floor reading her new library books. Some of them are hysterical. There is one, "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type" by Doreen Cronin that you really must read if ever you get the chance! Here is a exerpt:

Farmer Brown got out his own typewriter.

Dear Cows and Hens,
There will be no electric blankets.
You are cows and hens.
I demand milk and eggs.
Sincerely,
Farmer Brown

Duck was a neutral party, so he brought the ultimatum to the cows.

It cracks me up every time. Erin especially loves "Edwina the Emu" by Sheena Knowles and "My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes" by Eve Sutton, out of the books we got this week. We also got a video of 'The Very Hungry Catepiller" and DVD of "Peter Rabbit and Friends". Erin is getting so very big. Her hair is down to her collar at last. She climbs so well at the playground, having a go at everything every time. When I go in to tuck her in every night, I am struck by just how lucky I am to have her. Diva Moments and all!

Billy:
Is growing at an even faster rate! I had to change his nappy fold today because the triangle no longer fits around him. He has gone from the tentative, hit-and-miss grabbing of last week to deliberate grasping! He has also become reluctant to take the dummy so we have ditched it for good. It means he often grizzles himself off to sleep but that doesn't worry us. I gave him a bottle of expressed breast milk last week after he had refused to take my right breast for two days (meaning I had a couple of bottles of expressed milk to give him!) and I thought I would give him a go with the bottle. He took it no problems at all. This means he will be fine if ever I need to leave him with someone else for a few hours. He has gone back to feeding from both sides quite happily so it was just a phase.

The House:
We went to chicken feed on the weekend and got an entertainment unit - Whoo Hooo!!! It is a low line unit with 3 big drawers then three spaces for the DVD players (yes, we have two!), amp and VCR. The TV and two front speakers sit on top with plenty of room to spare. It actually looks pretty neat at that end of the lounge room now. It is quite comfortable in here now - even if we still have a few boxes stacked at one end of the room and we're waiting for some furniture (a couch Jon is rebuilding, a chest to put the board games and puzzles in and to sit on and a piano). I am very happy! We did actually go shopping for a pantry cupboard and book shelf this weekend and got neither - just the entertainment unit (for which we paid a quarter of what we were expecting to) and more books - darn op shops having good books! Jon is getting frustrated trying to sort out the wireless networking for the computers. He wanted to have it so we didn't need cables running from room to room to have computers running on the net with access to each other in several rooms. I think he does love having his study to sort these things out though. We are going to get a little cabinet for the hallway to sit the phone on and put a computer inside so that one will run the internet for all the other computers (which will be in Jon's study, in my study and in the lounge room - yes it is excessive I know! But it is nice to have a computer for myself and it is very handy to have a laptop in the loungeroom. We use it quite a bit to look up things we see on TV on the internet - with 3 bookshelves in here it is a real multi media experience!

The Garden:
looks lovely in spite of the neglect it has been facing of late! I am really looking forward to getting into it properly. The blackberries that cover the old chook shed are looking like blooming so I think we will be picking the berries before we pull them out. The fruit trees are in leaf now. I am hoping the crazy weather we have been having won't ruin the fruit crops this year. After a beautiful Indian Summer it has been raining and windy for the last three or four days.

Craft:
I have finally finished sewing up Billy's jumper - and the neck hole is too small! I am going to wash it and try and stretch the neck hole a bit but seeing as it is knitted from acrylic I don't like my chances. It may have to be put away for his little brother! I have started a beenie for Katrina and Jeremy Bott's baby - due next May. I will put some booties with it as well. It is quite nice to knit for babies, very satisfying how fast it knits up. I am going to start a jacket for myself very soon too. Most of my craft stuff is sorted out, I just have to arrange the tables. There are boxes of books in there that have to be put on shelves, mostly teaching stuff, but I have to get shelves to do that.

Well, I must get tea ready!
Jess

Bet ya didn't know....

The sleep you get in your eyes is actually called "eye poo" and the reason we can't see stars in the daytime is because they are at playgroup.

Source: The Devine Miss Erin

A photo or two by The Devine Miss Bekah!

the fall by ~mis-match on deviantART


erin by ~mis-match on deviantART

Almost totally moved

We're NEARLY done! It just takes forever to get this type of thing done with my family. And if one more person tells me a story of how they moved completely, including unpacking, in 20 minutes or less I will not be held responsible for my actions! Yes, bully for you! Did you do that with a toddler and a 3 month old? Did you do that with two chronic pack rats and only one license? Did you do that with several set backs in the form of people promising things then failing to follow through? I DIDN'T THINK SO! But as I said, we're nearly done now and life can start sorting itself into the rhythm of family.

Erin:
is getting tanned with all the time we are spending outside. She is getting a bit big for her boots at times now, which could be being two, could be play group, could be the move but is likely a combination of all of the above. She does settle down fairly quickly after being reminded of manners etc though and is still generally a great kid to have around. She adores Billy and has taken to calling him "Billy Boy" and "Little Man" like I do which is very cute! We went to the library last week and got some books out. She has fallen in love with a book called "Dear Zoo" by Rod Campbell. She sits down for ages looking through her books at the moment. With the amount of napping she is doing lately, I think we are in for some heavy duty growth spurting sometime soon. She has started wearing dresses and shorts with the sunshine lately which has been wonderful. She just seems so grown up. It strikes me every now and then that she will remember this time in her life, possibly, forever. The responsibility of that is rather frightening and thrilling all at once. I hope she remembers being curled up in bed just before her afternoon nap reading together. I hope she remembers playing "kissy monsters!" and me helping her up on to the slide at the park. I hope she remembers being happy.

Billy:
is grabbing things. When they are held out to him or dangled in front of him he will grab them. The movements look very random still but happen repeatedly so I am pretty sure they are intentional. He is so vocal lately and gets loud and obnoxious (in a cute sort of way) some times - like a small, balding great uncle who has had too much to drink is loudly telling the same story over and over again to whomever will listen, but nobody has the heart to tell him to be quiet! He did a massive chuck all over himself (and me) about an hour ago and complained loudly the whole time I was changing him because he wanted to be asleep. There is nothing quite like his belly laugh though, or the small, warm solidarity of his little person curled up next to me, or the feeling of watching him wriggle with the sheer joy of being alive and without pants! Sometimes I look at my children and wonder whatever I did before I had them. I try and preserve these memories of their babyhood but even now I worry that I will forget that certain smell of a freshly washed baby or the touch of little arms flung around me.


The House:
is slowly becoming a home now. I scrubbed the kitchen floor yesterday which made it look fantastic. I am taking out empty boxes every day now. There are photos of the kids on the mantle piece and toys tucked into their homes. The bookshelves are filling slowly as I sort the books (My inner librarian comming out!) and Jon and my bedroom is turning from a dumping ground to a little love nest.

The Garden:
needs a bit more attention than it has been getting but inside has had to take priority. My tomato plant is looking like blooming already and lawn dasies cover the lawns like little drifts of spring-time snow. Jon mowed some of the back lawn yesterday which made it look great.

Craft:
has been limited to a bit of knitting. I have nearly sewed up a little jumper for Billy. It will look good once it is done! I am feeling very inspired by spring at the moment, I just need to find the time to do something with the inspiration now! I'd love some little shorts to go under Erin's dresses and keep having a little fantasy about doing a quilt themed on the lawn dasies which I love so much and keep reminding me in a strange way of Erin. I have a stack of projects that need finishing before I start another though.

Must go to bed.

Jess

Well, here is the new blog!

I wasn't happy with the other blog, it has been acting up. I will sort out a better system for the photos soon but here are a few pics from Victoria to tide you over ;)

My Granny with Billy

The Kids and Me

Erin talking to Nana Julie's ducks

Billy, Granny Nanny, Erin and me

Granny Nanny and Erin

Erin:
loves the new house. We're going to 2 playgroups a week which she is stoked about. We stop in at the op shop on Mondays and last Monday the ladies gave her a pair of purple rabbit ears because she is so good when she visits :) At the 'big' playgroup (wednesdays with about 30 kids) the older girls kept trying to carry her around which was hysterical to watch. She loved it! Some of the kids find her a little overwhelming but they survive LOL She falls asleep in the pram on the way home which should indicate just how much she does at playgroup!

Billy:
has started a strange habit of grabbing the edge of his play gym, pulling the whole thing over and chewing on it! He is nearly as big as some of the 6 month olds at playgroup. Last weigh in he was over 16 pounds. He is almost entirely in 00 clothing now. He is a real chuckle chops and belly laughs very easily now. We're still getting back in routine but we're getting there.

House:
is great! Still unpacking of course but it is very nice. A lot warmer than the last place. Jon hooked up the dishwasher on the weekend so I am A VERY happy girl now :) I love my dishwasher.

Garden:
is blooming like crazy! Camelias are going crazy, daffodils are nodding, dasies are peppering the lawn. I bought a tomato plant the other day which I am keeping in the patio until it is warm enough to plant out.


Craft:
is a bit stalled at the moment. I am sorting out my craft room which is very exciting. I am hoping it will be sorted soon and I can get stuck in and enjoy having the space. Even knitting is completely stalled as I don't even sit down in the evenings until I am so tired I can't do anything. I hate moving with a passion.

First Entry

Well, I have officially cracked it with MSN Spaces and I am starting an ALL NEW Blog! Please bear with me as I set this up and get it going.