We made it through Christmas and there was a tree and turkey and presents and everything! It was great!

Erin:
loves her new hippo craft caddy which has crayons, textas, pencils and paints in it. Today she painted pictures for Nanny and Poppy and Mummy and Daddy.

Erin (to herself): "First there is a capital M then.........Mum, is there an 'o' in Mum??

Me: No honey, it is 'u' M-u-m

Erin: Oh, well, I've made a CIRCULAR 'u'

When I had a look, Mum ended up being spelt "Moum" LOL

She also got a few books and a CD called "The Singing Bible" which I think is fantastic. It's put together like a radio show with talking between the songs and it links up songs to tell Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation. I actually managed to get her hair into a plait at the back today (two pigtails at the front still!) and she is getting so grown up. She is wearing her overalls and the cuffs aren't turned up at all! I am planning our home schooling for next year and I just can't wait to get into it all with her. Things just look more exciting through her eyes!

Billy:
got his own foam fold out couch because Erin's was being a bit trashed with all the use so he got his own, and a Colin Buchanan DVD which he LOVES. He has been spending a fair bit of time using both of them at once! He also got a few books and a CD of Jay Laga'ia which I personally love! He has had a few unauthorised visits next door while my back was turned hanging out the washing so I need to keep better track of him outside - he is off like a shot! He is very affectionate with everyone but he is the BEST at making Christopher laugh and smile. Almost every day I look at him, a hard little rock of pure muscle with big blue eyes and a grin so big you could get lost in it forever, and wonder where on earth he came from - but gosh I am glad he's come!

Christopher:
is even bigger and happier! Although he did have a bout of weeping eczema over his head after I put some massage oil on there to get rid of the cradle cap! I usually use olive oil but just grabbed the massage oil because it was closer. It was a gift from someone and I haddn't used it before. It is going in the bin now. I keep forgetting he is so young and thinking he should have better head control or be thinking about rolling over by now - then remembering he is still only weeks old! Speaking of Christopher, he's awake so I had better get going. I will check in again soon and do a proper entry!

Jess

Hi all!

Well Christmas is looming and I haven't even put up the tree!! How slack am I? Things have been a little busy and in the course of running around I have let myself get a little run down! I woke up with laryngitis this morning. Actually, I think that is God having a brilliant sense of humor. I was praying yesterday and asked that I would become more thoughtful about the words I speak and more soft in the tones that I speak them - and I woke up with laryngitis! I can just imagine Him saying "oh, she will get this one, she'll think it is funny!" Yet more evidence that it was God who created my sense of humor! And yes, I did think it was funny. I've been chuckling about it most of the day. I have been enjoying Christmas shopping even if I haven't done much else. In my opinion, it doesn't do to start the Christmas excitement too early with little ones. We have done our annual pre-Christmas toy purge though. Before every Christmas or birthday I put out a bag or a box and we go through the toys and the kids can choose some to give away. This promotes a giving spirit in the kids and keeps down the clutter - and I admit I do steer them toward toys I'm not particularly fond of!

Erin:
is thoroughly ruthless during a toy cull. She was tossing things in right, left and centre! I had to rescue a few of her brother's toys and there were a couple that I had to restrain myself from keeping just because I like them! We gave about half to the Unterberger family and half to charity (the ones that leave little bits everywhere or make noise went to charity - I like Katrina's friendship too much to do that to her! LOL). That night she told Jon that she gave some toys the the Unterberger kids and some to "the other kids, not the Unterberger kids, ordinary kids" LOL I guess that makes the Unterberger kids EXTRAordinary. She also thanked Jesus that she was "generous to the other kids" in her prayers which I thought was cute. She is getting MUCH better with the phobias she started having (it went from the bath filling, to pretty much all taps, the noise of the kettle and the noise of the microwave and a few other random things!). It was Jon that turned the tide. He spent a lot of time with her over the weekend and taught her that it is Mummy and Daddy that control those things and we won't hurt her. SHE isn't in control and she needs to trust Mummy and Daddy and relax a bit! She still gets a bit nervous and she asked to go jump into her bed tonight when I filled her bath - but that is light years from wetting herself in terror about it which she was doing last week!

Billy:
weighed in at 13.4 kg and measured 89cm tall yesterday - what a whopper!! He is off the charts in height - not in weight though the string bean. "Please Mama" is very much part of the vocabulary now. He has been getting away with yelling and whinging a bit too much lately though and I do need to bring that under control before he does my head in! I really don't know why I always melt with him! He is very cuddly at the moment. I told him he could wake Erin up the other day and he went over and patted her head and said "Hello!". She responded by wrapping a sleepy arm around him and kissing him on the forehead. I nearly called Jon right there and then and demanded he came home to make more babies because ours are so cute! Today we were over at the Unterbergers having morning tea and he was either cuddling and playing SO nicely or standing hollering at the top of his lungs for me or (once) whacking chooks with a stick! (I think he was trying to pat them) That's my boy, storm clouds or rainbows, nothing in between!

Christopher:
is 7.36Kg and 66cm long - so he's HUGE! I have moved him to the cot in Erin's room as he is sleeping through the night now and it won't be long and he won't fit in the bassinet anymore. He is cooking and laughing and smiling and still throwing up his on body weight daily - yes, that IS a lot!

The house:
Oh dear, guess who has fallen off the wagon? It is CLEAN washing on the loungeroom floor and the dishes are stacked neatly ready for me to take out to the dishwasher and I only swept the floor and changed the sheets last night so it isn't TOO bad - but I need to get on top again before it gets too bad. I have a piece of paper stuck in front of my sink with "It isn't finished until you clean it up. Shiny things will keep!" I have been easily distracted lately and going to bed FAR too late as well which throws the routine out which makes for a deterioration in quality of life for all! I need to go pull it all in line again.

Garden:
is growing fantastically! Flowers everywhere. I moved a ladybug larve off a flower that I picked on to another rose bush today and it was eating aphids before it had all it's little legs on the new rose bush! I love those little guys! The veg is doing well, although I need to get in to some cooch that is starting to come up - again! I have harvested cherries off our cherry tree and they were very yummy!

Craft:
I knitted Katrina a kerchief to wear on her head for her birthday. It is snuggly warm - just right for Dunorlan winters!

Jess

I'm back.....again

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog for a week or so. Jon was VERY ill with a nasty tummy bug which chewed up a lot of time plus there have been a few disruptions this end. We are back on track though.

Erin:
has developed a phobia of running taps. She is worried that I will flood the house for some reason. She has full hysterics about it. I am slowly talking her down out of it. I have to remind her that if I overflow the basin all that will happen will be me saying "Oh bother, oh dear!" then we will have to work together as a team to clean it up. Her absolute terror of things is almost frightening to watch! We are reading Charlotte's Web at the moment and we are both really enjoying it! Her conversation is getting more and more grown up and articulate. Tonight she was able to tell me the happiest, saddest, most exciting and cleverest thing she did today! Happiest - bouncing on the trampoline, Saddest - getting in trouble for being naughty, most exciting - going to visit the Unterbergers and playing with their toys, cleverest - counting to ten on my toes!

Billy:
got his chickenpox jab the other day and didn't even squeak! I was expecting him to howl the place down but he didn't even blink. His vocab has gone through the roof and he is a real conversationalist now. He is speaking more clearly too. Tonight "Milk please Mama" sounded like "Mik peas Mama" which is leaps and bounds on what he was attempting two weeks ago. We have a game where I ask him "Have I told you today that I love you?" and he says "Nooooooo" and I say "Oh but I do I do I do!!" and give him cuddles and kisses then ask "Have I told you today that I think you're special?" and he says "Noooooooo" and so we go on for ages. We both love it! As always he is my full on little boy and he has emptied two handsoap pumps all over the basin in the last few days! There are moments when he gets very frustrated at not being able to make himself understood now he has started getting the speech going too. But as always with Billy this is soon followed by giggles, grins and great big hugs!

Christopher:
does NOT like needles! The poor love cried more than he has in his whole life. It took at least five or ten minutes to get him settled again! He is still sleeping all night and happily throwing up liters per day. He grins, laughs and has a go at babbling some times. He can now suck his own hand and sits there noisily slurping at it. He is so laid back and in no hurry to do anything much other than drink and gaze adoringly into my eyes. It is hard to think that in a few months he will be rolling over and giving crawling a go! I am finding it hard enough to come to terms with him sucking his hand already.


The house:
is still looking great after the Unterbergers. The kitchen is being thoroughly cleaned every night and I am well on the way to making that a proper habit! Erin is learning to dry the dishes those times when we only have a couple of bowls and it isn't worth taking them out to the dishwasher. And I have actually been using my craft room for *shock* CRAFT!

Garden:
is going great! Seedlings are planted all over the place, flowers are blooming. I am pulling up a lot of weeds, especially cooch in the green house, but so far I'd say I am on top of it. I planted a lavender plant the other day next to a rose near the trampoline behind the garden shed. I am picking armloads of flowers for inside all the time.

Craft:
I finished Erin's pillowcase to go with her doona cover - then Christopher threw up on them both before she had a chance to use them, or even take a photo! You gotta love little brothers.

Jess

The house is so empty!

And CLEAN! It's had the Unterberger treatment inside and out and I am trying to maintain it My biggest thing is trying to finish (and clean up)one thing before moving on to the next - scary concept for a bubble head who is distracted by shiny things! We have skipped a week because things have been a little full on around here. Jon has had a nasty tummy bug which has laid him out for a bit. I have had to keep my priorities straight and concentrate on the real world rather than spending time on here!

Erin:
is doing great. She is really on the 'helping mummy' band wagon at the moment. We have semi-regular "apron time" where we don our aprons and clean or cook together. She is also learning to dry and put away dishes. We've been given a DVD of Charlotte's Web and I just started reading the book to her last night. We are reading chapter three tonight after tea. She was a bit terrified last night when thunder hit just after the lights went out while she was in the bath. She can now tell you though, that thunder is just a hot cloud and a cold cloud bumping together. She is still afraid of smoke coming out of the smoke alarm and coming into her room at night and hurting her. This is from an add that she saw about six months ago where smoky hands came into a little girls room - it was a reminder to check the battery in the smoke alarm. To this day, however, she sleeps under the sheet or doona and just the other day she mentioned the whole thing in a prayer again. This has just firmed our decision to be VERY careful about what our kids watch on TV!

Billy:
got his 18 month jab yesterday and didn't even flinch! The Dr looked at his bandy legs and pigeon toes and told me they are nothing to worry about (of course, they didn't look HALF as bad when we were there!) and the nurse complemented me on my well behaved children who sat on the floor with their hands folded when not being seen :) It is great when we can fake it in public! LOL We have decided to teach Billy to actually talk because he CAN talk, he's just in such a rush to say things nobody can understand what he is saying. So before getting a drink he is encouraged to say "Dink peass Mama" (Drink please Mama) etc. The other day we knelt down for prayer and lo and behold a little voice pipes up "Deeer Desus"! With some encouragement he said "Deeer Desus, Peasss bess Daeeee Amen" (Dear Jesus Please bless Daddy Amen). He now blesses the whole family, including Christopher! I look forward to this new-found verbosity cutting down on the frustration of not being able to make himself understood.

Christopher:
DID squeek when he got his jabs yesterday! He was not happy and it is the most upset I have ever seen him in his short life! It was heart breaking to see actually. But he is growing well, eating well and is generally the happiest baby ever to exist! He's still sleeping 7-10 hours a night. His eyes are brown now and we are getting even more grins and giggles. He has had a bit of a rash on his face and torso but that is fading at the moment. Nothing to worry about, just a bit red and rough and blotchy but disappeared as fast as it appeared.

House:
Is surprisingly good at the moment! I did something I don't normally do today and employed the square babysitter for a couple of hours while I got the kitchen sorted (with going out and Jon being sick yesterday I didn't get my usual evening clean up done). But I was then able to sit and play with the kids without worrying about the state of the house. My study is actually usable at the moment - now to find a moment to use it!

The garden:
is beautiful! The roses are out and the scent fills the garden as I peg out the washing. Our vegetable seedlings are doing well and we have even had a few BBQ's on the front verandah. The green house has seedlings growing in it instead of weeds! Although something is eating them a bit at the moment, not sure what. The cooch grass needs to be weeded out constantly and we need to get some more of our seedlings planted, but other than that we are doing great!


Jess

The Unterbergers have the house! YAY! They will be moving in early December and I know they are hanging out to have their own home with their own habits and lifestyle, but they are stellar house guests and I will miss sitting down in the evenings to talk Faith and Babies (although I will get more sleep perhaps!) and having their beautiful children around me all the time.

Erin:
has some how grown up while I wasn't looking! Her drawings are now very recognisable as people and she put together her "Dora the Explorer" jigsaw this afternoon with NO HELP! It is probably about 25 pieces. I have gleaned many great ideas on teaching Erin how to show respect and manners etc. from the Unterbergers and she is thriving - still a bit of a cheeky streak that came out of nowhere a few months ago, but we're getting there. She loves wearing her apron and helping me, and she is getting to the age where she really is a help now too. I have started putting her in dresses with shorts on underneath lately because I have found that many pants end up showing her bottom. Why on earth would you make hipsters for a 3 year old?? The dresses don't seem to be slowing her down too much and she looks like a real little lady (until she is covered in muck that is!

Billy:
has learned to sit on a mat! This may not seem a big deal to all of you, but it does to me. I now put a blanket on the floor, give him a toy or book and tell him to sit on there and he STAYS there for quite some time with minimal reminders! This will make outings and making tea in the evenings a whole lot easier. He learned so quickly! He hangs over my shoulder as he goes to bed and yells "Byyyeeeeeeee!!" and gets a huge chorus of "BYYYEEEEEEEE!!" back at the moment which he thinks is hilarious. We will have to hang out the window and shout it to next door in a few weeks.

Christopher:
slept 10 hours last night, 7 hours the night before and 10 hours the night before that. He is still just sleeping and eating and eating and sleeping! Oh, and grinning and laughing and pooing and chucking (alot!). He has adorable little fat rolls and the cheeriest disposition. The other morning I got up early and he was my prayer partner. He lay on the rug next to me and cooed and giggled to God!

The house:
is lovely and tidy. Thanks to the Unterberger family doing my dishes, cooking, tidying etc. I have been able to get in and organise the pantry, clean off all my 'hot spots' and find homes for things. It has been fantastic!

The garden:
is fill of flowers and almost empty of weeds! The boys have just started in on the greenhouse.

Jess

We are having a fantastic time here.

The joy of a big old farm house is 14 people doesn't really seem that many! Best news is, we were outside and our neighbors started chatting to us. The neighbors are selling their house but the latest contract negotiations aren't going well, so our neighbors want to rent their house to the Unterbergers if the latest contract doesn't go through! This means we will have our own playgroup between us, and we only have to work out which lounge room we want to use LOL

The big kids have given my garden the 'backyard blitz' treatment (it got a bit out of hand when I was heavily pregnant as I mentioned before) and it is all mowed and weeded and lovely and tea is being cooked for me tonight :D My house is spic and span and all my laundry up to date. As I sit here the little ones are asleep, the big ones are reading or working on something quietly and the house is peaceful. The kids are getting on really well and Erin has referred to the girls as her sisters and Paul and Katrina as Mummy and Daddy Unterberger! I have also had to explain to her that I am not Mrs. Guest to HER! The most difficult thing about the Unterbergers being here is trying to get to bed early as we get chatting and time flies.

As much as I love having the family here and want them to stay FOREVER! I know how they need a household of their own so they can set thing in their own order rather than shaping themselves around our lives. I don't like treating God like Santa and putting a 'wish list' in, but I do ask that you pray that if it is the Lord's Will they will move in next door. Please pray also that there will be peace and contentment with whatever plans God has for our lives!

Jess

The Unterbergers are here!

The Unterbergers used to be the tenants in the house we live in now. When we took over the lease we became friends and have remained in contact (apparently they are the biggest fans of this blog!) and we were thrilled to find out they were moving back to Tassie! We have invited them to stay for a while as they house hunt so we currently have 10 children (7 of whom are under the age of 6) and 4 adults living here....and it doesn't feel crowded! The place is neater and cleaner than it has ever been, the older boys and Jon and Paul did a backyard blitz on Sunday and the garden is looking fantastic! They are still going actually. I have been thrown out of my kitchen for tonight and tea is being cooked for me. The children just have to squeak and there is someone to cuddle or play with at their side. There have been minimal arguments between any of the kids and lots of affection (Erin calls the girls her sisters) and us grown ups sit up far to late chatting.

But the best news, our next door neighbours have offered to look into renting THEIR house to the Unterbergers!! How fantastic is THAT!

Anyway, updates:

Erin:
is sharing her room with two girls at the moment, one her own age and another who is 10 and Erin is conning into doing everything for her. She is thriving on the social atmosphere. Her manners and behaviour has been picking up around the other children. She wanted to do school work yesterday (Sunday) even though it isn't normally something we do on a weekend. She is still doing a brilliant job at that.

Billy:
is insisting on everyone picking him up and reading to him and getting his way more often than not! He keeps climbing into random laps and cuddling. He is thrilled with having two babies in the house (Jemima is almost 5 months old). I am also getting more time to spend with him as someone else has been doing my dishes, laundry, cleaning and gardening for the last couple of days! It is wonderful. He is also spending more time outside as there is always someone willing to take him out to the trampoline or to visit the chooks.

Christopher:
had his head sucked on yesterday by Jemima LOL. He is almost the same size as her! Still my contented little bub. He slept 8 hours the other night! He is still mostly doing 6-7 at least. Having the two babies in the house is just lovely! It is so bizarre to hear him wake up and go to get him only to find someone bringing him to me before I could get there! He is having baths with his brother now and Erin is helping me bath the babies most nights. Billy enjoys poking in Chris' umbilical hernia. I should go and get him weighed and checked etc but the fat rolls tell me that in spite of chucking a third of each feed he is doing just fine!

The house and garden:
have been Unterberger blitzed! Spring means lots of flowers, picnics out on the lawn and watching the birds in the trees. Extra hands means a tidy house and more time for me to sort things that have been on the to-do list for MONTHS!

Jess

Update on Granny

She is doing really well now. She apparently regained consciousness late last week and has now been moved to a respite centre for a ten day stay before going home!! Thanks for the prayers. Please continue to pray that her recovery is complete and those around her have patience and wisdom

Update

You know that 'down time' I was talking about a few weeks ago? Times when you can't maintain regular routines etc. because of special circumstances? Well, I'm hoping ours will stop soon! It feels like I have been going 10000km per hour for the past five weeks since Christopher was born! The house is a bomb site, the laundry hamper overflowing and the freezer looking decidedly bare. I'll work backwards and tell you what has been going on in the last fortnight. Yesterday we were out all day at the Delorane Craft fair all day (from about 10:30am through to 6pm) and the kids were fantastic! The previous day was Sabbath and rather than stay in a messy house, we all went for a lovely Sabbath drive. Friday and Thursday were spent going flat out trying to get stuff done around the house. Wednesday we had a rental inspection (the agent arrived 45 minutes early so there was still coffee spilt on the floor and dishes everywhere in the kitchen!) Tuesday was a flat out around the house day and recovery from being away. Monday, Sunday, Saturday, Friday and Thursday night were on the mainland. Thursday was getting ready to go... and then my mind goes blank because it is so full of what has been going on recently! I am sure there were a few more things in there. I will let you know how the kids are then I will get back to it.

Erin:
has been coping brilliantly. She is very affectionate toward the babies still and is not shy about getting her needs met! She went on an old, steam powered merry-go-'round yesterday (she rode a horse named 'Rupert') at the craft fair and walked AGES. She didn't go in the pram once all day. She was polite and charming and got herself a free candle from one stall. I realised I had been letting things slide and not applying consequences and boundaries as well as I should have during late pregnancy (I was just too tired!) and once this was corrected she became a MUCH happier girl and stopped testing me as often. I have my delightful little flower back! Her conversation is brilliant and her compassion for the little boys is amazing (unless Billy has one of her toys of course!). Giving her small moments like the merry-go-'round just lights ME up for weeks afterwards and becomes a treasure we share together. She has decided that when she grows up, she is going to have triplets. I have no doubt she will rise to ANYTHING life gives her!

Billy:
is getting over a cold at the moment, just a quick head cold thankfully. His vocabulary is really expanding I realised when be brought me a book, handed it to me and yelled "READ!". Yes, we are working on asking NICELY now LOL I will have the image of him and Lilli in Melbourne in my mind forever. Lilli (6 weeks older than Billy) was sitting on a kick along trike in the back yard with a stunned look on her face as my kids played in the yard around her. Billy, it seemed, was especially daunting. He was running in circles yelling "AAAAAAHHHHHHAAAHHHH" at the top of his lungs. Every now and then he would stop, toot the horn on Lilli's kick along car, yell "OY", laugh then continue to run in circles. The poor girl looked very befuddled by the whole affair! I probably should have been using this time to calmly and patiently teach him about playing quietly and respectfully at other people's houses, but I was nearly in tears laughing! Billy is Billy. I have to work hard at not spoiling him because his smile just melts my heart, and I have to work hard at not breaking that wonderful, strong spirit of his because it will go on to great things if nurtured. Hopefully, with a whole lot of prayer, we will get the balance right and he will channel that powerful energy and enthusiasm for good!

Christopher:
is AMAZING! As I told Jon while we were away, we need to keep that recipe! He sleeps and eats and sleeps and eats - smiles and laughs - then sleeps and eats! He is so HUGGABLE I need to be careful not to waste whole days (weeks even!) just sitting on the couch holding him. The smell of a newborn baby is just as I remember - nothing on this earth smells as good! He got his own crowd of admirers yesterday tucked into his hug-a-bub all day. How he is so good natured and adaptable at his age is beyond me - but I am glad that he is! I have started bathing the boys together and big bro Billy gets smiles and giggles. Erin helps me and gets her own fair share too. She was kneeling down next to him saying (in that sing-song voice everyone seems to naturally use with babies) "are you YAWNING? Can you give me a yawn little Christopher?" ever the obliging one, he did LOL I can have another ten if they are all like him!

Anyway, we are slowly making our way back to the flight plan. We will get there soon I hope!

Things this time has reiterated for me:

Mess begets mess!! - if the house is messy, it gets messier quicker. It is harder to pick things left freshly out of place amongst the mass of disorder, things get broken or misused because they are not safely put away or cleaned promptly. It is harder to clean a messy house than to maintain a tidy one.

A cluttered, untidy house makes it harder to raise kids - They don't turn into instant demons, but things slowly slip as the structure of routine isn't there anymore and lessons long learned are forgotten. Items usually safely out of reach find their way into little fingers too.

Helpful kids are a lifesaver! - it is worth training children for first time obedience! If I hadn't it'd be a riot 24 hours a day here. My kids consider it a treat to "work together as a team" and using this can occupy those little hands productively rather than leaving them unattended for mischief and yet MORE mess. Yes, they are naughty and they get into thing they shouldn't (they are kids!) but without the discipline, it would be 10 times worse!

You need to allow down time to be just that - I have exhausted myself a little over the last few weeks trying to keep thing to the usual standard. It just ain't gonna happen! I have to remind myself that this is temporary. It doesn't have to all be fixed in one day (baby steps!!). I have my flight plan, I just have to edge towards it slowly, keeping priorities in focus.

You need to put on your own oxygen mask first - during the safety talk before take off on a plane, they state that you need to put your OWN oxygen mask on in the event of an emergency BEFORE helping others, including children. This makes sense, because if I pass out, who is going to take care of my kids? I need to start having more time with God's word. I need to start taking care of my body more by eating right, getting a little more exercise and getting to bed before midnight. I need to realise I am not superwoman and sit down for a rest every now and then. I need to remember to drink more - or at least have A drink before midday! If I do this, I will be able to cope with life better and take care of my kids better and during times of stress or celebration, I will be able to join in whole heartedly and do what needs to be done. Now I just need to do that!

There is no new news on Granny, please keep her and my family in your prayers.
Jess

Prayer request

My grandmother is in a "stable but serious" condition after having a seizure last night and is heavily sedated on a ventilator. Please pray for her, the family and the doctors and nurses caring for her.

We're back!

We are back from our trip to the mainland. We are in recovery mode though with one suitcase exploded on the lounge room floor and piles of washing all over the place so time and energy is going there this week rather than on the computer! Kids are doing great and did brilliantly while we were away (especially as there were hours of plane delays and I forgot to pack Billy's Red Bear for him to sleep with!). Will write lots soon.

Jess

Transitions

Short one this week! We have had several 'transitions' hit us all at once - transitioning from 2 kids to three, Billy transitioning from two sleeps a day to one and Erin transitioning to being a big school kid doing some phonics work every day. So at the moment the routines are in constant 'tweaking' mode trying to work out what still works and what doesn't. Add to this a trip to the mainland to see my Granny before she goes in for surgery next Monday and it makes for one rather flat out mama!! I really need to get everything done before I sit down at the end of the day too because once I sit down, Jon usually has to wake me up to send me to bed!

Erin:
is now a big school girl!! She started writing 'letters' and has been showing an interest in reading herself so we have started doing a page a day of 'school work'. We combine it with lots of good books and conversation ("what does Billy start with Mummy?") and she seems to be thriving on the one on one. Of all of my kids, she seems to want the most attention and sometimes resorts to very "look at me, I'm 3!!" behaviour. I don't like to reward that behaviour, even when it is particularly funny (i.e. removing all her clothes during nap time and then jumping out and yelling "surprise!!") so her 'school work' is a great way for her to have the attention she seems to crave. Her hair is needing to be tied back every day now or she looks like an Old English Sheepdog with the hair flopping over her eyes. She looks very cute in pigtails though! As always she is my bright, bubbly little girl and she is trying so hard to be good and obedient and soaking up anything and everything like a sponge at the moment it is a pleasure to see.

Erin quotes:

Erin: can I talk to you Mummy?
Mummy: Yes sweetheart, what do you want to talk about
Erin: Me.
(She's honest I guess!)

(on finding her naked in bed at nap time)
Erin: I'm naked!!
Mummy: Yes, I see that, why are you naked??
Erin: Because I took all my clothes off!!
(You just can't argue with that logic!)

Billy:
is turning into a couch potato. We rarely have TV on, but I have been making use of it recently because things have been so topsy turvey. It helps entertain short people until tea is ready when tea is running late and Mummy is frazzled!! Anyway, if I look like I may be turning on the TV, he runs and gets Erin's little fold out foam couch and sits down with his eyes glued to the screen!
He seems to be skipping words and going straight to sentences. When he had finished his tea the other night he turned to me and said "Mmmmeeee ahhh finniii" which translates to "Mummy, I'm finished!".
Billy is actually the least adaptable of my kids at the moment and he really gets emotional when there are changes to the routine or environment, so he hasn't been coping well with Mummy being out of routine. He gets very tired and emotional by the end of the day and if tea is late we often get a series of tantrums which I am not sure how to manage - other than applying the usual consequences at the time and trying to get tea ready on time in future! It will be interesting to see how he copes with the trip to the mainland.

Christopher:
smiles and LAUGHS!! Still sleeping and eating like a champ. He has finally gotten rid of most of the baby acne so his bum is now REALLY as smooth as a baby's bottom!! He has a slight strawberry birth mark on the back of his head, but nothing huge. He is a bright, happy little baby. We spent some time outside on the lawn today in the sun getting some fresh air and then he fell asleep in the sling while I hung out the washing.


The house:
the kitchen has always been my hot spot. I love cooking in it, hate cleaning it! I also find it hard to make a good time to empty and fill the dishwasher as I need to go too and fro from the laundry and kitchen which involved going through the garage. When Billy helps, he often gets distracted and tries to play with Daddy's tools! So the kitchen is a bit of a bomb site and I have been flat out because of that. I can't quite seem to get completely on top of it. Jon is out tonight though, so I will use this time to tackle it properly!

Jess

And now we're TWO weeks!!

Gosh time flies! Jon goes back to work this week and I think we may actually get out of 'holiday mode' and get into some type of routine when that happens. Mum is here visiting at the moment and has taken Erin out for a girlie day shopping, Jon has also gone out to do a few things in town and the boys are asleep so I am enjoying a few minutes on here before I get into the things that I want to get done around the house.

Last week I had one of those "super-mum" moments. We'd gone to Devonport to put in Christopher's paper work (birth registration etc) and Erin had been carsick on the way in. I changed Erin's clothes in the back of the car while Jon took some papers into medicare then we drove to Service Tas to put in Christopher's birth registration. I left Jon in the car filling out some papers with Billy strapped in the back, I took Erin to the toilet and put the paperwork in while feeding Chris under a shawl. As we were walking back to the car I was feeling pretty good about juggling everything and Erin said "Let's run Mummy!" I replied "I can't now honey, I'm feeding Billy." She looked at me side ways and said very slowly (as if to someone who had a little trouble understanding English!) "Mum, that's Chris" Doh! So much for super-mum!

Erin:
is adoring having Nana Julie here! This morning she climbed into our bed for a little cuddle before we got up and asked me to say the ten commandments with her. We then went through a few other memory verses and had a big cuddle session which always leaves me with a warm, fuzzy feeling for the day! She is right into her letters at the moment and I am starting her off on a pre-reading work book that I have. It is a little lazy on my behalf as I know perfectly well how to teach her without using a work book, but there are only so many hours in the day! So we have the work book and our usual diet of varied and much loved books. I won't be surprised if she is starting to read independently by her fourth birthday at the rate she is going. She is besotted with Christopher, even if he is a boy! She has ordered twin girls for next year because "I wanted a girl like me!!" and I have a feeling she is trying to tip the numbers in her own favour LOL The other day I walked in to the kitchen to see her sitting on a chair next to Christopher's bed singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him though so the love is still there!

Billy:
has had his first proper big boy hair cut - he has had one trim before but I attacked it with the clippers and gave him a number 4 on Friday night. I will take a photo soon and put it up but it makes him look much older and brings out his big baby-blues beautifully. He is turning on the usual charm with Nana Julie. It was quite funny yesterday when he wanted to get out of bed. He started off with "Muuuum......Mamaaaa.....Muuuuuum" and when that wasn't fast enough with results he moved to "Naaaaannnnaaaa! Nana....Naaaaanaa!" Then "Daaaadaaaa!!!" (we did get him out, I was just occupied for a bit!) He had a bath at midday today because he found the ash bucket when we were hanging out the washing!

Christopher:
is getting even bigger! He has put on 330 grams in the last two weeks. He's still feeding like a pro and sleeping beautifully. During the day he is parked next to the fridge in the kitchen so I can make sure no other short people try and climb into bed with him and he sleeps through all the usual kitchen noise (pots and pans banging, tantrums because bikkies are denied, etc!). He has shocking baby acne and great big "chesticles" (swollen chest) because of his big dose of third trimester hormones but you have never met a more content baby. If they're all like him from now on I want another ten at least! He is just precious.


The house:
looks a little like a cyclone has hit. We've all been in holiday mode the last two weeks with Jon home. We even missed church because everyone slept in until 10:30am!! We'll get back on track this week. I am very ths=ankful for the cooking I did when I was pregnant and my big washing machine!

Jess

He's a week old ALREADY!

Can you believe it? It is already going too fast for me!

Erin:
is still enthralled with the new arrival. She is loving the extra visitors having a new baby in the house brings, the little social butterfly that she is. She is telling great stories about how SHE is going to have a baby one day and has ordered a baby sister "just like me" for next year.

Billy:
generally wants to pick Christopher's nose or poke him or cuddle him and love him to bits. Billy is being a little moody and excitable - also I think because of the extra visitors but adjusting to being a big brother. He is still Mummy's little baby though and we have some great cuddle times! As with everything that Billy does, he is sunshine one minute, thunder clouds the next!

Christopher:
Sleeps, Eats, Sleeps and eats simultaneously, then sleeps and eats!! Brightens up after his bath and gazes around. Gets a little unsettled in the evenings - typical baby stuff - but just little grizzles every now and then. He's a "Chirpy Chucker" and happily chucks more than any baby I have ever met before. He chucked about 15 times between midnight and 3am the other night and I am hoping we don't repeat that one. Loves his dummy and puts himself off to sleep reasonably well. A great, squishy, baby to cuddle! Lots of washing with the chucking, but no acid reflux like his older brother so I am happy!

The house:
WHO CARES! I have a new baby :D Actually, it isn't too bad. Jon has been hands on when he can so things haven't gotten out of control and with such an easy going bubba I've just been pottering along myself.

I'm going to cuddle my new baby before his siblings wake up and want to join in!
Jess

Christopher Shane

Preparing for the down time

In the count down to this baby being born, I am probably better prepared than I ever was for my other two! This is partially because I have had to be. You just can't fly by the seat of your pants as much when you have two other little ones! There are other times in life when you need to prepare for the down time too - like when you are getting ready for Christmas, visitors coming, weddings, holidays etc. General life! So I thought I'd put down what I have done so far to get ready.

* maintain the routine. This is something that I did struggle with initially. I'd get all excited about preparing for the baby, cook up a storm on cooking day (Friday) and make so many dishes and wear myself out so much I'd just get it cleaned up the next Thursday! When I learned to slow it down a bit and maintain the status quo FIRST it made the rest a lot easier. Also, because the cleaning was maintained, I haven't needed to do a great big spring clean.

* never cook just one meal! At the moment I have a sausage and bean casserole in one crockpot and brown rice in the other. This will be tea, but there is also enough for at least one serving to go in the freezer - probably enough rice to defrost to make a whole meal of fried rice one night.
It took no more effort to cook than if I made just enough for tonight but stocked up the freezer. I also make bulk veg when I cook - especially mashed potato - then every few days I smush it all together with eggs, cheese, milk and flour and then fry it into fritters for lunch. Yummy and healthier than it sounds!


* Each cooking day, cook a couple of things just for the freezer. Casseroles are great, so are soups - especially those where you can just throw everything in the slow cooker in the morning and dish it out at the end of the day. I tend to do quite a few pies and pasties to stick in the freezer too - good for lunches or a quick tea. We always have a stock of frozen muffins which are great for afternoon tea, breakfast or unexpected guests. Desserts during down time often consist of ice cream or custard with fruit (very easy for me!) but I do have a few baked items that I have made up to the point of putting in the oven and in the freezer. I just take them out, allow them to defrost and put them in the oven. Yeast stuff like Pizza dough and challah bread (a special Jewish Sabbath bread I make) also work well if you do this with them so I always make at least a double lot.

* "Value add" as you put raw meats in the freezer. Put chops and chicken breasts in a marinade before you freeze them, make mince into meatloaf ready to be defrosted and stuck into the crock pot or oven, make a giant batch of spag bol which can then be used for lasagne, spaghetti, pasta bake and about a million other things.

* Streamline your housework. I moved one of our couches so I can now vacuum the whole lounge without unplugging the vacuum cleaner. Probably saves me 50 seconds of effort but believe me it adds up! I also gradually organised the kitchen so things are in a logical place and I don't have to wander all over the kitchen while I am cooking.

* Declutter! I have removed all our knick knacks that don't earn their keep - to earn the effort of me dusting them they have to have great sentimental value and make me smile every time I notice them. Items that people gave me because they thought were funny and cute - well, the joke wears off about the tenth time I dust it! I can appreciate the kind thoughts while passing the item on to charity where it will do FAR more good than sitting on my shelf being resented! I know some people who remove even the items they love and put them away for safekeeping during a big down time. Bringing them out again is just like Christmas! Prevention is also a great thing. Only buy things practical that you will use and love or consumable items, don't burden yourself with stuff!

* Tame the toy monster. Cull any kids toys that are broken, items that are not age appropriate need to be packed away. Items that you hate because they are noisy or otherwise annoying need to go, or at least be put away for special occasions. Soft toys breed - they also breed dust mites! They also hold limited play prospects and kids get bored with them if they have too many. Each of my kids have two or three "special" soft toys - their first teddy (which Daddy buys them) and another one or two given by grandparents that are very special. The rest go into a baby's bath that slides under the bed. If we get a new soft toy given to us, one of the old ones have to go to make room or it finds its way straight into a charity bag. Again, we can appreciate the thought without burdening ourselves with items that won't be cherished or cared for. Someone else will love them more! Teach your kids to only access the toys put out for them, to put them away each day and to care for their toys. Too many kids are overwhelmed by the amount of STUFF well meaning friends and relations give them. It leads them to be careless with their toys and does not teach good stewardship. If anyone has any tips for me on how to ask people nicely to give the kids one good quality item for Christmas and birthdays rather than bags and bags of stuff please do! But it is possible to be very thankful for the time and effort put in then quietly, discretely, pass on the blessing to someone else. Kids can do much more with a rock and a stick than with most things that need batteries!

* Finish projects. Make a hit list of projects and jobs that need finishing and stick it to the fridge. Don't start anything new until everything is crossed off and your down time is over! The feeling of accomplishment is fantastic. It also gives other members of the family an opportunity to see what needs to be done and jump on board. Older children may be offered an incentive for helping out with the list! We still haven't anywhere near finished my list on the fridge, but the highest priorities are done and I am happy with that.


These are the major things I have done to prepare for this time. I have actually found it so helpful that I am planning on doing many of them in the normal course of the week. That way, when unexpected down time hits, such as illness or unexpected guests, we are already prepared!

Incubating happily still, waiting for our down time to arrive!
Jess

Still here.....

and still in one piece!

Erin:
is reading her 80th anniversary special edition Winnie-the-pooh book that Uncle Andrew gave her with me in the afternoons at the moment. We are both loving it! The illustrations are fantastic and I had almost forgotten how great the stories are. Her prayers really crack me up. Yesterday at the table she said grace and as well as asking for the food to be blessed, she also blessed the computers, including Daddy's computer at work on his work desk!! Last night she told God a big story about the new baby and how the tablets (my raspberry leaf tablets) work and how the baby will be coming out soon!

Billy:
has discovered books in a big way! He's always been read to, but now he brings them out by the armload and sits for each of them being read (yes, you read right, SITS!). Just in time for the new baby so he will (hopefully) sit and read with me while I feed bubba. Unfortunately he has also discovered moving the dining chairs around and using them as ladders! Oh well, you can't have it all good! He is an incorrigible flirt. We went to King Solomon's Caves on the weekend and walked through with a tour group to see the formations. The whole time we were there he was either exclaiming at the top of his lungs ("OoOoooohhhh, Ahhhhhh!!! OOOoooohhh!!") or leaning over grinning at the older ladies on the tour ("'ello there, what's a nice girl like you doing in a dark place like this??"). He does it during church too. He has quite the little fan club there!

The new baby:
has no plans to move out before University. It has decided that it is quite roomy and comfortable in there and the outside is decidedly LOUD so inside is good. My guess is this will be a BIG baby. People keep saying "but you haven't even dropped yet!"......I have, the only way this kid is getting any lower is to come OUT! It is just big. The ultrasound actually put my due date at the 17th so today I am technically 1 week overdue. I prefer to go by the dates I set!

The Garden:
is looking quite good at the moment. Jon mowed all the lawns yesterday and I did heaps of weeding (in an effort to convince bubba to get out!). Erin picked the pink tulip that had grown in the round garden, but when I was weeding I found two other plants, so hopefully we will get some more!

The house:
isn't too bad at the moment. It slipped over the weekend, but Jon helped me stack the dishwasher last night and I finished off any other dishes this morning. The kitchen is clan (including a mopped floor!), tea is in the crock pot (meatloaf! yum!), the lounge is vacuumed - it is just the washing that needs addressing but I swapped office and washing day this week because it has been pouring rain today.

Jess

For those who think I have it all together....

Sometimes I feel like a little bit of a fraud, spouting on about routines and home management books etc. The truth is, there are days when my house looks like a bomb has hit it, my children can wreck havoc in the five minutes that I am not watching (as evidenced by the wall mural and the indoor pond in the bathroom just in the past week!) and I have had visitors arrive after lunch and spring me still in my PJ's! So I thought I would do a run down of a typical evening. A comparison of what is planned and what actually happens.

This is actually what is planned for a typical afternoon

4pm: Bring in the washing/fold

4:30pm: put away clothes, lay out tomorrow's clothes, quick lounge room cleanup

5pm: Put music on, Make tea

5:30pm Bath kids/make self presentable

6pm Finish making tea, set table

Sounds great doesn't it?? Here is what actually happened one afternoon last week:

4pm we headed outside to bring in the washing. The kid's mooed at the cows over the fence and I finished up with an extra 15 minutes to spare! We took a walk to the end of the drive to check the mail and enjoy the sunshine together. On the way back, Erin gets a bout of the runs which coats her thoroughly from waist to ankle!

4:25pm I clean up Erin in the laundry. While I am doing so Billy goes walk about. When I notice this, I leave Erin half naked in the laundry while I bolt around the backyard calling for Billy in a panic (visions of him going to check the mail on his own and going out on the road!). I find him around the front trying to climb on the trampoline.

4:30pm We go inside and I check that I am not in labor or dying (DON'T run in a panic when you are 39.5 weeks pregnant). We run a bath and I pop both kids in while I sit and fold the clothes.

4:40pm Billy poos in the bath. Do we see a running theme here? Anyway, I 'rescue' the panic stricken Erin and fish Billy out before he starts playing with it. I hose both children off in the shower and clean out the bath. We head out to the kitchen where the children are dried and dressed in their PJ's.

5:15 pm We then put the folded clothes away and get out new ones for the next day. I start tea and instruct Erin to pick up her toys in the lounge room.

5:30 pm The kids are getting fairly rowdy now as they are used to just getting into the bath at this time and expect that once they are in their PJ's tea will be fairly soon! I put a Christian music kid's video on for them, which quells things enough for me to get tea well underway, set the table and finish folding the clothes.

6pm Jon is still not home, but this is not unusual (one of the reasons I moved tea time to 6:30). I put the last of the laundry away as the video finishes then I put some "grown up" music on (evenings are usually for grown up music, plus I like to have something a little more appealing than "Five Little Ladybugs" greet Jon as he opens the door!). I sit the kids up at the table and give them some sultanas to snack on. Tea is still not ready as Jon opens the door but I pop the kettle on and we sit and have a cuppa before I dish up.

Please note - this is a GOOD day!! Everything got done, everyone got fed, there was relative calm when Jon walked in the door and everybody ended the day in one piece!! Perhaps I will give a run down of a BAD day one day, we will see!

So what is the point of having a routine if it all gets shuffled about? Well, in Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, one habit he talks about is "beginning with the end in mind". He uses the analogy of a pilot in a plane. Apparently, during a flight the plane will spend the vast majority of time OFF the flight plan! This is due to weather, other air traffic and other factors. Now, when a plane leaves, say, New York for Moscow, if their navagation is off by 1 degree, they can land in a TOTALLY different country!!! Hang on, didn't I just say that they spend the vast majority of their time OFF the flight plan? Yes, they do, but they are constantly returning to the original plan, readjusting, altering course to meet their intended final destination.

My intended destination - short term - in the evenings is a calm, soft place for my husband to fall after a long day at work, a warm, loving environment for my children and a restful period for myself to enjoy after a long day. My flight plan is my routine as put in my home management book. Because I am constantly readjusting and altering back to the original plan, more often than not, we make it. The LONG term intended destination is a family which can communicate, can show love, support and affection for one another and, most importantly, can fellowship together. Even when the whole evening collapses and I end up shoving baked beans down the children before sending them to bed and defrosting something for Jon and I (or asking him to!) I know that the next day we will start again. Why? Because we have a final destination in mind.

So, no, I am not perfect. We have our days. There are moments when I finish the day with a Scarlet O'Hara like, tear-stricken "After all, tomorrow is another day!" (best pictured with a southern belle accent and wide hoop skirts al la 'Gone With The Wind') But I shudder to think of trying to make it through my day with no flight plan. I may leave for Paris and end up in Timbuktu!

This week at Jess' house....

The daffodils are finishing and the leaves are starting to come out on the blossom trees, so spring is well and truly here and poor Erin didn't get to make a snow man! It is a wonderful time of year to have a baby though.

Erin:
has had a slight destructive streak in the last week. On Saturday morning I found a mural on her bedroom wall!! Both the kids know they must stay quietly in bed until Mum or Dad tells them otherwise in the morning. She had put her handbag (which has pencils and crayons in it for drawing during church) near her bed and, while sitting quietly in bed in the morning, decorated the wall!! After opening the bathroom door to find her and Billy "making a pond" the night before (about 15 litres of water, maybe more, bailed out of the bath onto the bathroom CARPET!!) I can safely say I was unimpressed!! It hasn't been malicious or wantonly evil, just normal 3 year old not being supervised properly and getting into mischief. Lessons were learned on both sides I think.

Billy:
has a welt on his forehead where he was running into the house with a saucepan (helping me unload the dishwasher, yes, a 15 month old CAN unload the dishwasher!) and slipped, smacking his head on the edge of the saucepan! Poor waif was rather displeased! He soon got over it though and finished the job. He is also in pig heaven outside as there are cows very close by to moo at and a big pile of wood to be stacked! Although, Mummy finds it hard to keep up with stacking the wood these days! He is very affectionate at the moment, grabbing my face in both hands and planting big, wet kisses on me at a moments notice. Still being Billy, he has been in the thick of any mischief Erin has been into and had a few solo escapades of his own. He did sit quietly through 95% if the sermon at church this week though, so I am hoping that he is learning to do that regularly!

The new bub:
All stations are go.....still :) Still feeling quite good and I'd love it if things held off until next Friday night at least, but bub will come when bub is ready. Erin has decided that the baby is a girl and will arrive on Friday.

The garden:
was freshly mowed last week and you wouldn't be able to tell that now! Of course, it rained this weekend so Jon couldn't mow it again. Spring has sprung!!

The house:
is reeling under a massive outburst of nesting. The freezers are groaning, the kitchen bench was clean on Friday night (unknown in this house!!) and will be again by tonight. In fact, I even saw the bench tops OVER THE WEEKEND!! Wonders will never cease. I am making a concious effort to curb things a bit, because this energy boost is not intended for rearranging things and cleaning, it is intended for getting bubba out!!

Another Erin Quote

I was reviewing Erin's current memory verse with her after Lunch and asked "do you think you can do it by yourself??" I then prompted her by saying "A...." She turned to me and said "I can do it myself thanks Sweetie!" shot me a grin, then did it herself!

Answer to prayer!

Kim of Large Family Logistics (check out a link to her site under "homemaking sites" on the right hand side of my blog) is taking baby Matthew home!! If you have followed the story at all with my calls for prayer requests, Kim was due to have baby Matthew at around the same time as me. She had him over 12 weeks ago! He is her ninth child.

The new, improved Blog!

I have memories of sitting up cooking Apple and Passionfruit Jam the week before Billy was born. Tonight I am sitting up baking muffins! The last half a dozen are due to come out in about five minutes. I did some renovations and added some links last week. I quite like the new format!

Erin:
has clicked with the idea of being a BIG girl now! Everything is "I can do this BY MYSELF because I am a BIG girl!". She is thriving on any positive attention I can give her at the moment, which is great because mid last week I was about to tear my hair out over her behavior! For some reason, my lovely, helpful little girl turned into a demon child of destruction! Including destroying books and trashing her room. I am not entirely sure what turned her around, but I am sure me looking for things to praise her about and keeping firm boundaries helped. Also, spending some quality time all four of us as a family this weekend makes a WORLD of difference to her. She is definately a different little girl now. This morning she was helping me unload the dishwasher and do some other jobs and she said "We're working together as a TEAM aren't we Mummy?" then sang one of her memory verses "Work together as a team" Philippians 1:27

Billy:
has worker's hands at the moment because he scratched them up a fair bit yesterday running around the paddock and "helping" Daddy build the new chook run. He is growing up so fast! After tea I get him out of his high chair and tell him to kiss Daddy and Erin good night. He gives each of them a cuddle and kiss then runs off to the bathroom where he collects his toothbrush and stands on the stool and brushes his teeth. He continues to brush his teeth while I change his nappy then he puts his toothbrush away and runs to his room. Often, he has to press the funnel of his toy train before he gets into bed so that it makes music, but then he does his best to climb into bed (I have to lift him still) and snuggles down to sleep, waves at me and says "eee ya!!!" (see ya) before I turn off the light. He is not my little baby anymore!

The Newest Baby:
People have started to ring just to check how I am doing (translation: see if I've had the baby and kept it secret! LOL) so the end must be nigh. To tell the truth, having people ringing to check up on me is a little like having kids in the back seat calling out "Are we there yet?!?!" ha ha. I have only just come to terms with the idea that bub can arrive any time now. Up until today I would daily say to bub "please don't come yet, mama has to do (xyz) first!" Now, I'd like to get to the end of that list stuck on the fridge, but if it doesn't happen that's OK. Bub floated up again today and started kicking the life out of my ribs, however, so I am not expecting any movement down south in the next day or two at least.

The garden/farm:
Jon built me a new chook run yesterday so the chooks have a courtyard instead of free run of the whole yard. This means I will be able to plant out the gardens without fear of them scratching them up and we will have less chook poo around the place! I will miss them sitting under the kitchen window and comming to talk to me while I hang out the washing. I picked up Audrey today and she definately has some meat on her! Hopefully, now they are a bit more restricted, they'll start laying! Jon had to buy me 24 eggs today because I am going through them at such a rate.

The house:
is OK, kind of. I am cooking like a mad woman, I woke up (WIDE awake) at 6am this morning with an urge to do laundry and clean the house, but I keep letting the basics slip. It is all very well to have 20+ muffins to put in the freezer, to have cooked a huge breakfast for the family, to have a crock pot full of soup bubbling away and mounds of laundry clean, but unless you clean up the kitchen after the cooking and fold the washing and put it away, it is just a series of half finished jobs! I need to stick with the routine of dishwasher full and on before bed and kitchen tidied fully every morning or it will just start to breed. I also need to pace myself so I get the whole job done rather than try and take on the whole world at once!

Jess

Let us all give thanks for my washing machine

8am - night nappy malfunction meant full single bedsheets, full PJ's AND our queen size bedsheets needed to be washed.

8:45am Billy needs his pants and socks changed after a self-feeding, porridge incident.

8:55am Mummy needs her OWN PJ's changed after spilling her own porridge

9am Erin needs her pants changed

9:05am While I was busy with Erin Billy bathed himself in Apple juice

And the day sort of just followed on like that with Erin washing Billy's hair with the hand soap (while he was fully clothed of course!) and various other adventures!! I had, of course, just changed all the sheets the day before, but why should a thing like that make a difference? Thanks to my fabulous washing machine though, I do NOT have piles of dirty laundry everywhere - even though there were a few days of rain last week!!

Erin:
is still rather thrilled with her new room! I think she likes being more in the middle of things rather than right up the front of the house. We had another trip to Launceston on Saturday and stopped in at the church to catch up with everyone. She was in her element with lots of people to be adored by!

Billy:
has finally got all his eye teeth through (I think) and that should do us until the 2 year old molars. He is just BESOTTED with Erin at the moment and is throwing his arms around her any chance he gets. It makes for very cute viewing! Today when we were outside, he climbed up on the fence that faces out over the road toward the railway line and started "mooing" at the top of his lungs at the cows in the paddocks the other side of the railway line. Also, very cute!

The new baby:
is going to be a big 'un! I am still getting kicks in the ribs even though the head is well down. I had someone ring to see how I was going today and they made a comment to the tune of "you must be so sick of it by now!" To tell the truth - no! Yes, I am tired sometimes (I will be when I am getting up to a newborn, chasing around after a toddler, staying up finishing costumes for parties, worrying about teenagers etc. It's just part of being a Mum!) Yes, I won't miss the heartburn or the stabbing pains I've been getting in my ribs. Yes, I am looking forward to sleeping on my belly and being able to move faster than a hippo with a gland problem. BUT I will miss these little movements, the priveledge of being the complete caretaker of this little life, laying quietly 'talking' to the baby as I drift off to sleep (after visiting the loo at 3am AGAIN). I will have to share this little person with everyone else, pass him or her around to be held and loved by others rather than just holding him or her close to my heart. I won't be able to protect them as well once they're out. So no, I am not sick of it yet.

The garden:
is keeping us in full supply of daffodils and jonquills and snowflakes. We also have an arrangement of blossom from the ornamental cherry near the clothes line that I made on Friday to grace our Sabbath table. I love this time of year, I just wish I could get more done around the garden to take advantage of the spring!

The house:
suffered today with the continual interruptions, but I have been setting my standards low. I have been restraining myself from the big cook ups, knowing I won't have the energy for the clean up afterwards. I have been doing little bits often rather than large onslaughts. Overall, it has been staying live-able in spite of regular baths of apple juice on the kitchen floor!

Jess

Just to let you know there are some new photos in my photo album. Look in the Erin and Billy albums for recent pics of them. There are even two photos of Erin's work in the craft album!

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m216/MummyTasJess/

And here's proof that I am, in fact, HUGE!



Erin took the photo and Billy thought he'd get his noggin in too hehe

Oh it's HUGE!!

Seriously, I need my own post code at the moment. The children are starting to be drawn toward me because I am creating a gravitational field!!

Erin:
'Bought' and wrapped a present for the new baby's birthday today. It is a children's atlas that she got from the book shelf and it is wrapped in a bandanna. Apparently, we are going to read it to the new baby on it's birthday and the new baby will LOVE IT!
We switched the kids rooms over yesterday so she is now in her 'new room' and thinks it's rather swish. She spends a fair bit of time in there and I have taken the opportunity to implement afternoon rest time again in preparation for the baby being born. Erin has taken to it quite well and enjoys reading to herself. Although, I highly suspect she is actually asleep at the moment!
We have had the odd late night lately, what with Mummy moving so slow.
I had promised her that we would go and see some snow on Sabbath, and wouldn't you know Friday night was exceptionally mild and there wasn't a flake to be found!! She took it quite well and we just went on one of the short walks up in the highlands. She loved running along the board walk and looking at all the plants etc. It wasn't quite the same as finding some snow to "make a ball out of the snow and throw it at DADDY and it will be FUNNY!!" but it sufficed this time. I am hoping it snows before the baby is born so we can take her up again.

Billy:
is still battling with the eye teeth, almost all through the poor love! He is being loved to bits by Erin at the moment (or "EEEEEE" as he calls her) and the feeling is mutual. He goes up to her often just to throw his arms around her. It is very cute!
His newest word is "down" which he says whilst collapsing on the floor at the end of the song "Only A Boy Named David" (play-acting that he is Goliath).
We washed his bear on Sunday which was a traumatic experience when he spotted Red Bear on the clothes line!! He got over it though and the smelly old bear is, at least temporarily, the -not-quite-so-smelly old bear.
His other new party trick is folding his hands for grace, which just melts my heart!

The new baby:
is LOW down now. No more kicks to the ribs, funny nerve feelings in my leg when a head rests on a major nerve too long and a general feeling of impending exit.

The house:
if you ignore the kitchen, is great! Nesting kicking in even more. The kitchen, however, suffers because it is being used so consistently and not cleaned QUITE as consistently as it should be. Last night Jon made 1kg of mince into spag bol to freeze and another kilo into rissoles to freeze. Last Friday I made 5 meatloaves to freeze, 24 muffins for the church luncheon, lentil patties for the church luncheon, Challah bread for opening Sabbath (tastes fantastic, I also made 3 loves for the freezer!) and the usual Friday night roast. Thursday night Jon did Pumpkin soup for the church luncheon (enough to feed everyone at church plus us for another two or three meals!!) - so you can see that the kitchen has been fairly well in use lately! I just need a maid to clean it!

The garden:
I have to come to terms with the fact that there are limits to what I can achieve. I needed a rest after digging 1/2 a square meter on Sunday, much to my frustration, and Jon had to remind me that I AM over 8 months pregnant and those women who had their babies in the field did it all day every day AND quite a few died of post partum bleeding etc. so perhaps I am not a wuss if I slow down a bit. I still hope to get it a bit better, but fully turned and planted out before the baby comes is a little unrealistic *sigh*

A couple of pics, I will get around to putting more up soon!

Yay!! I'm 3!!!
Talking to the chooks through the window.

Jess

Update

When I first worked out my due date, I remember thinking "This baby will be born when the daffodils finish blooming!". Well, the house is filled with the scent of Jonquills that Erin and I picked from the garden and the daffodils nod at me from beside the tank when I go outside, so I guess that means it will be soon!

Erin:
has been a little clingy today and I think the impending arrival of the baby has something to do with it. We talked this morning about how Mummy will be tired after the new baby is born and she may go and visit with someone else while the baby is being born (She is determined that she is going to help get the baby out and will not be dissuaded from the idea!). It will be good for her once we are all settled in, but I am expecting an adjustment period. She has spent most of today in pigtails which makes her look like a grown up girl! She is becoming more and more articulate. I get big long stories about all sorts of things. She got a piggy bank from her Grandad for her birthday and earned her first 20 cents to put in it on Sunday doing some extra work for me in the garden (hauling a big pile of chickweed into the compost bin). She also spent some of her money out of the piggy bank on some flowers to plant in her garden. She was very grown up and takes after her Daddy, having to inspect EVERY plant in the place before deciding on a red flowering polyanthus and a polyanthus that somehow had a purple and a yellow flower on it. We planted them on Sunday afternoon near the birthday flowers her Daddy bought her and they get lovingly watered while I hang out the washing. Yesterday we went to Launceston, which is apparently the most exciting thing ever! She dressed up in her tights, plaid skirt and duffel coat that Nanna Julie bought for her and got complements from all on how pretty she is (of course!). We saw Anna (the midwife) and went shopping then had tea at Hungry Jacks before headding home. She was very well behaved for pretty much the whole trip, much of which involved just standing around for her. I think a large part of that is that she isn't constantly entertained at home therefore doesn't expect it when we are out. She has completed her Ruby doll now, including a spectacular embroidered jacket for her, and has started making Victor, Ruby's husband. There are photos, I just have to wait for the batteries to the camera to recharge so I can upload them!

Billy:
has sprung one of his eye teeth and the other three are starting to poke through. He isn't very happy with it in general, but is coping as well as can be expected. He is more and more talkative with the vocabulary extending almost daily. He had a wonderful time on the weekend when a visitor held him, threw a balloon in the air and made Billy head-butt the balloon soccer player style. He was belly laughing right from the boots! The mischief part of him has been in full swing. Earlier today he came in chewing on one of the baby's dummies! Luckily it still had the hard cover on it so he didn't maul the actual dummy, but he hasn't had one since he was four months old! He seems to be growing as I look at him nowdays. Although he is still a baby in a lot of ways, and loves a good mummy snuggle, he shows his little boy side more and more often. He plays real games now, pretending to eat or feed a stuffed animal (or me!), making animal noises and holding conversations (sometimes with the couch!). Today he spent a fair bit of time standing at the window yelling "Chookie, chookie, chookie!!" for the chooks (who were blissfully ignorant of all the commotion). He generally calls them chooks, but my call for them sounds a bit like "Chooookie, chookie, chookie!" so that is what he copies. He spends time looking at books too, which is great (keeps him still for a few minutes!).

The New Baby:
is waiting at the exit so to speak with the head well down and all systems ready. The end has kind of snuck up on me after all the anticipation!

The House:
isn't too bad at the moment! Keeping to a routine (kind of) works wonders! And I LOVE my new washing machine. At the moment I only do more than one or two loads on Monday (laundry day).

The Garden:
Erin's garden is blooming nicely, if anyone gets the urge to buy her a present some flowers for her garden will always be a big hit! I have the green house 2/3 dug over now and have vague hopes of getting it finished and planted out before the baby arrives.

Jess