Update

We are all still here!

Erin:
is spinning out a bit with the excitement of anticipating the new baby's arrival after a string of visitors and Christmas. It must be over a month since we were 'in routine' properly. It is unlikely that this will change very soon with the imminent arrival of bub! Her whole being is crying out for attention with various small trespasses simply to seek out some time from Mum and Dad. Providing this time in abundance only feeds the monster with this one! So she will get the same regular time she always gets, with a little more to reward her when she is behaving well, and the rest of the time it will be close boundaries and training. Something that does take energy and time but isn't rewarding poor behaviour. We discipline because we love! It is paying dividends already though and she is showing some signs of calming down.

Billy:
is feeling much better after his bout of gastro, but he has lost a bit of weight and his stamina isn't what it should be. He also broke out in hives when we gave him some icy poles to keep him hydrated. We usually have only fruit juice ones but for some reason we had some artificial everything ones. It took me about 48 hours to work out the source too so the poor kid was COVERED in them. He has also developed a bit of a cough and a wheeze which I am watching closely with the family history of asthma. In himself he is mostly chirpy and happy and he loves having Nana Julie here to read to him and work in the garden with.

Christopher:
is also feeling much, much better. In fact, there were no southern explosions today at all and he hasn't vomited in over a week. He is teetering on the edge of walking, standing on his own and taking the odd step. We are all watching him eagerly. It is lovely to have the twin expectations of Christopher's walking and bub's arrival! So much to celebrate. His conversation grows ever more animated and broad - still with few words but meaning is made very clear! He makes me giggle. If ever he is grumpy, I just pass him to Beloved and they watch 4WD videos on you-tube together. He is a true rev-head just like his Daddy and loves anything with wheels.

New Bub:
cannot get any lower without coming out! Happy, healthy and huge is my guess, just like the older siblings. I cleared a space for the bassinet next to the kitchen bench today. I like to have a spot for new ones to sleep out in the living areas, it makes it much easier to check on them and the noise rarely bothers them when they are so little. It is only when they are bigger and want to join in that it becomes an issue! Billy and Erin ask a thousand times a day when the baby is coming! I am finding the heat difficult to deal with. It makes me tired and short tempered and I know I have given my family cause to exercise patience with me! I am still walking most days, I jumped on the trampoline with the kids on Friday evening (Mum has the photographs as proof!) and I try and keep moving through the day in effort to keep things mobile and perhaps get things moving. I would like bub to come now or hold off until after the weekend so Beloved can go to a big car thing on the weekend and I would like to spend some time at the church camp over the weekend as well. We will see how we go though, I think this is DEFINITELY one time that Bub can take center stage!

The house:
is looking great under the hands of Mum! The amazing feeling of getting up to clean the kitchen, walking in and finding it CLEAN! Not just clean, but CLEAN! As only my Mum can :) This has freed up my time so I have got all the outgrown and out of season clothes sorted, consolidated and packed away in boxes. All the boxes are now safely stashed in Beloved's workshop. All the laundry is sorted and up to date (have I mentioned I love my Mum?). I am cleaning in a nesting kind of way. There is very little plaster dust now and I have new sheets for the bassinet. So we are ready to go!

The garden:
has also benefited from Mum's presence with her and Billy doing some weed pulling. There has also been the odd strawberry from the wild strawberries.

Jess