and off we go again!

what a whirlwind..........

after 10 days in darwin, then 5 nights home with a visit from my dad, we booked and left for Perth to visit my gravely ill Poppy so we could say goodbye.

despite being there for such a sad reason, especially after having to return home 5 months earlier as my uncle died suddenly, we had some amazing family time. all the things i am looking forward to about our return back to perth in december. just hanging out and doing all the good stuff. strolling. playing with the hose. long baths. riding in laundry baskets. op shopping. i even managed to have my first hangover since lottie was conceived! (yuk, its overrated people!).

and now we're home again. as always, lottie travelled amazingly well and just picked us all up when we were feeling down. pretty sure he won't last till our return in december but we love you poppy. you remain a stubborn old bastard right up til the end.

and mum? all i can say is thanks :)

HOUSEWORK: 0 Vs FUN: 1

on the weekend, HOUSEWORK and FUN had a battle. FUN clearly won.......and the whole house is feeling back on their A game.

honey joy making, baby shower, cooking, sleeping, having alone time, crafting, football watching, and even finishing my book *gasp* which i've been reading since march. i used to average about 20 books a year.....not anymore!

picnic

i love 'weather envy' that happens across the hemisphere via blogland. winter here, summer there. quite fitting as we contemplate our move from wintery melbourne back to ever sunny perth!

one thing i'm really looking forward to is picnics for more months of the year! i'm imagining picnics at the beach, bush, river etc to be a pretty good toddler activity for my already bursting-at-the-seams-energy-wise bebe. its the stuff of my own childhood.

wouldn't these 'sangrias to go' be the perfect thing for mama and papa on said picnics? ooooh yes please!

p.s. happy birthday to my dear brother. i love looking at you and knowing no one else on this planet looks and sounds more like me than you. i love our quiet and ever-increasingly open solidarity. i love how intelligent, compassionate, hilarious and bombastic you are. i love it that you aren't willing to forego your principles even if it means causing waves. i love your sense of individuality and your incredible knack of making people think twice about all manner of things xox   

roadtrippin'

we've been on a fair few trips interstate and also a trip to the grampians since Lottie was born however we've always been with family or friends! K had an rdo so we decided to head away for one night just the three of us. its the first time we've been away and had long car rides since we gave the dummy away and since Lottie has learnt to sleep - so we were a little scared - didn't want to upset the apple cart!

she was so amazing! she slept in the car, was dragged around from country op shop to country op shop, endured sleeping in a strange place/cot and absolutely LOVED the spa bath! it was so lovely to have a bath all the three of us. and it suddenly dawned on me - i love my little family more than anything in the whole entire world and there really are few things better than hanging out together.

i even managed a bit of knitting and now we're home, Lottie has popped her third toof! top left. *sigh* they just grow so quickly don't they?

hope everyones weekend was as equally delightful as ours.....

saturday morning

kee has lottie duty this morning and unfortunately her noises awaken my infernal (& internal) mama instincts and i can't sleep in! BUT i can lay in bed and read and drink my morning stovetop coffee and FEEL as though i were relaxing. but tragically, all i can think about is her. how much did she eat for breakfast? is that whimpering i hear because she isn't comfortable? whats happening out there!!!!

mama bear instinct....sometimes i love you. you make decisions, and good ones, without even consulting my brain. but sometimes, just sometimes i wish you'd switch the hell off so i could RELAX!

saturday is our switch up day so i'm quite excited. i get the first half of the day off and then we swap. I just zoom past to boob her when she needs. i think i'm going to perve at paper at Zetta Florence and also pick up my overlocker!

yep. you got me.

okay - our life is FAR from perfect. sometimes it really annoys me how everyone 'assumes' K and I have the perfect little relationship. we've had just as many hard times, if not more and being married is NO picnic, let me assure you.

HOWEVER - there are moments like yesterday when he comes home from work (as an electrician's apprentice) all grubby and tired and he produces a gift such as this.....

a turquoise platignum rollerball pen - with the disclaimer "I know you wanted a ballpoint instead of a rollerball and you wanted black ink rather than blue....but the colour was just perfect!"

thankyou for always listening to my continual dribbling about all manner of things. even if sometimes you don't answer, i know its all filtering through :)

i love you xxx

weekend

my mum visited this weekend all the way from perth. it meant k & i could sneak off for a few of life's luxuries like dinners, climbing, crafting and pubbing!

mum (or Gran) left last night and we miss her so much already. watching her play with Lottie Pearl i saw so much of myself. my mum never had a career as such but i think she did such an amazing job with us 3 kids. i'm proud to see myself as a mama in her. at times, i wish it were like the olden days and she lived just down the street. not to be in this modern world.....

on another note....i've been thinking about how many real friends i have. i heard an article on ABC radio about how many friends a person has. how many do you think you have? i've always been quality over quantity but particularly now with a baby i think my circle of friends has become even smaller. and i know i appreciate so much the friendship i have gained through this here blog.

above are some horses from our collection of horse paintings. one day we'll have that house, with a big fireplace and a wall full of horses......

update: owl binky is officially ACCEPTED!

we're baaaaaaack

okay - so after a really stressful couple of weeks, we had a really beautiful 10 days. first in the grampians and then in tasmania. just what we needed. we decided just to break all the rules in terms of what to do with your baby and we just went with it. sure there were still loads of tears, only the super mini-est catnaps and what has turned into the usual nighttime scream attacks....

but HEY! flying by the seat of our pants just made us feel normal and spontaneous again.....

we enjoyed bushwalks, baths in random sinks, way too much food, art (oh MONA how you are awesome) and got to do some lovely things like have long showers and day time naps whilst the grandparents had bebe.

lottie pearl may not be so good at the whole settled thing but she is super stirling to travel with!!!

now, back at home i feel refreshed, more confident and even though this whole motherhood thing is relentless i'm feeling like things could be on the up! well at the very least, our calendar is jammed with fun things in the immediate and not too distant future!

happy birthday sissy

happy birthday to my darling sissy....love all of our memories like rollerskating to phil collins, singing in the rain, dressing up, colouring in and just generally hanging out like a right royal pair of Bib and Bobs.

so proud of everything you have achieved and the person you have become. you are amazing, caring, compassionate, flippin' hilarious and so, so, so beautiful.

love k, f & lp xoxox

stuff

another lovely family weekend as K had friday off. too busy enjoying it to remember about my camera! had all the good things that constitute a lovely weekend. I even did a morning of WORK for the first time since LP was born and it was great. hope to do a few more little bits and pieces if it works.

also continued to do more de-cluttering, re-organising and taking stuff to the op shop. thinking of imposing some sort of a 'no-buy' pact on myself. not that i spend much money, its just i'm a sucker for op shopping which generally means you bring home stuff you don't really need but just takes up space being beautiful. which has its place, believe me, but i need to get realistic in this new life of ours and its surprising how much space a little baby takes up physically and emotionally!

saved a pip to make a little avocado plant, just like Lotte's pictured above

colours & chats

COLOURS // seen on yesterdays walk with Lottie Pearl...amazing how far and wide we roam in the pram

CHATS // little existential and observational chats with K, late at night, about what it feels like to be a parent (me: concept of not being my own entity anymore and being inextricably linked to another human k: the giant responsibility of taking care of us girls)

party

i love living in melbourne - but i do hate being away from my sister. i wish i could be there to help with parties - amongst many other things.....imagine all the crafting, op shopping, partying and general frippery we could get up to together if we lived in the same state?

she's having a 70's birthday party and here are a few sources of inspiration i'd use if i had to get together a costume.....

(apologies - small baby inhibited crediting these images....hopefully i can do so later on!)

on my mind

beautiful orchids in nakameguro, tokyo

japan, you've been on my mind..........you were there for us and turned a tough time into an amazing time.

yesterday was family day and we went opshopping (found some amazing cookbooks!) and went for a walk at a park along the yarra. it was fun to get out just the three of us but we're still learning the ropes when it comes to messing with Lottie Pearl's routine. She was a very tired and mixed up lil bubba when we got home.

We had a bath together last night - what bliss!!! Froggy kicks and loads of smiles...

don't know what you've got til it's gone....

i've been wanting to take a photograph of this silly little window, a few streets over, for 2 years now. i've walked past it countless times and it always appeals to me. i think "i need to take a photo of it" and somehow it always escapes me. yesterday i finally took the photograph.

my uncle john suddenly died on 2 MAR 2011 after falling, hitting his head and sustaining so much brain damage he would never wake by himself again.

i flew back home to be with family and it was a hard, weird and exhausting time. our first time away from K.

all these things lead to yet another reminder to take that photograph, to love that loved one, to appreciate everything before, during and after you have it. life is way too short not to.

xxx

gingerbread

since being pregnant i must admit to indulging in the occasional gingerbread biscuit....i will also be attempting a double ginger cake for a friends birthday next week.

these gingerbread biscuits by Alicia Rosello found via hello sandwich sure look good!

mum arrives tomorrow morning - that means lots of relaxing, walking, pottering, gardening, crafting and learning how to fold nappies!