Merry Christmas 2008!

Well, Christmas is over for another year. I hope you all had a great one.

We hope you all had a lovely time, and that you might have remembered the reason that we celebrate this special holiday - the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God come to the Earth in humble and meek form of a baby -to live among us, and eventually to die for us.

We all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus while at church, and reflected on the wonderful things He has done in our life this year.

Christmas this year was a little different for us. Instead of having Christmas Day with my family as we do most years, we were very blessed to have Greg's parents visiting this year, and so we had a Mardon Christmas. Jeremy came and my sister Shanyn also slept over and spent Christmas with the Mardons, as Mum and Dad were in Townsville this year. Shanny and I had fun watching and singing to the Carols and wrapping presents Christmas Eve while Greg was downstairs setting up one of the kids presents. I think Shanny enjoyed having all the fun of opening and playing with new toys with the kids - except maybe being jumped on at 5.30am coz she was sleeping in front of the Christmas tree!! It was really special to have her with us - love you Shan.

The day started with the kids looking at the Christmas tree, and being allowed to play with a few things that were unwrapped. They were then allowed to open one present before church. At church I was singing, and we had a birthday cake for Jesus. After church we came home and I prepared most of the lunch (a new thing for me!) while the kids played, and while Sandy & Chris were picking up Jeremy from the other side of town. When they came back, we got out some nibblies, and sat around the tree opening presents together.

Then came lunch - nothing too fancy, but we certainly didn't go without - we enjoyed cold turkey and Christmas ham, crunchy noodle salad, potato salad and roast pumpkin & feta salad. And a little bubbly too - well for the adults! For dessert, Sandy and I decided to take the easy way when the Home Icecream van came by on Christmas Eve - perfect! Icecream! and Sandy made a beautiful Christmas cake too.

Then we did it all again on Boxing Day at my parents house, after they'd just returned from Townsville (poor Mum was pretty tired!). We feasted on BBQed steaks & sausages and a few gourmet salads, plus I made banoffie pie for dessert, and my sister made cupcakes.

The kids gathered around the tree, this time with my gorgeous neice Emmeson too. We did a Secret Santa with my family this year - for adults - so it made it easier to just buy for one person. I ended up wanting to make something for my sister and Mum too, so spent most of the day beading them bracelets and earrings!! Was fun though. :)

I bought Lani and Emmeson matching dresses and hair-clips to wear for Christmas, and oh they looked so beautiful together! Pity Lani was having a patty when I was trying to take photos!

The children received some lovely gifts (but not too many). Greg managed to get a big play kitchen on clearance when he worked at Toys R Us, and its been sitting in a box downstairs for about a year, but as my BIL was living with us last year we couldn't set it up. It turned out to be great this year because Lani is now old enough to enjoy it.

Jaidyn received just about everything I think they possibly make in Wall.E merchandise. Well, maybe not all, but a lot! I will have to take a 'group shot' of all his Wall.E stuff today! He was very happy :) He also got some books and clothes.

Eli received various things - some duplo, and various books, puzzles, toys from In the Night Garden figurines, The Wiggles and Tigger & Pooh. He loves all these shows/characters so he was happy too. And some clothes & shoes too.

Lani received lots of doll things - much to my delight! Now, I know I bought these for Lani, but after 8 years of boys toys, I am going to LOVE playing and dressing dolls!! Woohoo! Mum bought her Cabbage Patch newborn twins - so cute! Rory and Caroline. Takes me back to when I had CPK when I was younger... I want one again! Greg's mum is going to make Lani some dolls clothes, so we can have more fun! I might copy the pattern from her so I can make some too if the urge and time present themselves!

Greg and I didn't fare too badly either. We bought each other perfume/cologne - I got Ralph Lauren Romance, and I bought Greg Hugo Boss Energize. We also received 2 'How to Hose a Murder' games, which we LOVE, and can't wait to play with our friends again - hopefully they will oblige again. Some clothes and PJs too, and a bottle of chivas Regal for Greg and Baileys for me - nice!

We have a busy few days ahead too! We're off to Greg's Aunts for a swim and BBQ tea this afternoon, and then my gorgeous neice Emmeson's 1st birthday party tomorrow!! Its her b'day today, Happy Birthday beautiful girl!! Phew, we'll be busy!!

Hope you had a great one, and a big hello and 'we missed you' to my SIL Andrea in England!!

Jaidyn...

So I've just been reading a friend's blog, and realised I need to adopt her method of posting...

Short and sweet. One kid at a time. Then I might actually get some posts actually posted (instead of sitting in my draft box half done coz I don't have time to finish them!) So here goes...

JAIDYN...

Jaidyn turned 8 in November. At times I find it really hard to believe I have an 8-yr old! And at times I realise that the teenage years are not too far away... now that will be scary!! We didn't have a big party this year, just a little BBQ lunch at my parents house and an awesome b'day cake of course! One of Jaidyn's interests this year has been dragons, so I searched the net for the perfect dragon cake to make. We iced her blue so she could be a 'frost dragon'. And her name is Sapphira, named after his frost dragon toy, who is named after the dragon from the movie 'Eragon'...

For the last few months, Jai has been OBSESSED with anything to do with the movie Wall.E, which came out a few months ago (I think even last school holidays it would have been that he saw it). His obsession has not paled yet!! I don't know what it is about Wall.E that he loves, but he's completely hooked. He never tires of drawing Wall.E and the other various characters, he got a Playstation game for his b'day which he almost finished, then accidentally wiped, so he's going through it all again. He's also got a couple of figurines, if which he pretty much always has in hand, or making play-worlds for (usually out of my cups, placemats, books etc!). He has the novel, and the 'Intergalactic Guide' to everything Wall.E. Oh and we watch the movie from time to time too! He's hooked, and has asked for more Wall.E stuff for Christmas. He even turns into a Wall.E robot each night when he sets and clears the table. Its a bit strange... but cute... lol.

Jai did well at school this year. He's particularly good at his English (just like his Mumma was) and he acheived well above average in the English parts of his National Testing earlier this year, and still average or above on his Maths aswell. He got mainly Bs and As (effort), and Sounds and a High (academic) for his report this semester, and he was VERY proud of himself. And so are we. Wow, grade 4 next year, he's growing up so fast.

Having a little brother has it trials for Jai. They are at the stage now where they fight ALL the time. Poor Jai gets quite frustrated at Eli for wrecking his things sometimes, and Eli just wants to play most of the time. And they wrestle (play!) a lot.. but that's boys huh. Then there's those beautiful moments when Jai sets up a train set for Eli and they play nicely for a bit... before Lani comes and destroys it... lol.. never a dull moment in our house!

Jai has been a part of Boys Brigade this year and is enjoying it a lot. I think its really good for him to have that thing 'just for him', and the Christian program is great too. He's been away on 2 camps this year. A 'parent and son' camp earlier in the year with Greg, and more recently the State Camp... was his first time at a camp by himself. And he had a ball. His award ceremony was a few weeks ago, and we went along, as well as his grandparents and aunty Shanny, and he was so proud to receive some badges for his uniform. They performed their figure march that they did in a competition earlier in the year, and it was really good! I had a huge 'proud Mummy' moment watching them!!

I will need to get some new pics of Jaidyn. As he doesn't grow as fast as the other two, photos are scarcer around here... but I WILL get some over Christmas.

Love him xx

Hair clips and Boys Brigade

Not much to report from me. Life is really really busy, but really really normal too. Work, sewing, cleaning, washing, feeding kids, changing kids, having fun with kids. Same old same old.

I've put the kids in daycare one extra day so I can catch up on my nappy orders. I'm swamped and it really wasn't going anywhere... so an extra 5-6 hours - depending how diligent I am - will help. That's an extra 2 nappies a week roughly. So I'm hoping I can get back up to 5/6 a week, and get through these orders again.... I'm very sorry to any of you who are still waiting!!

School holidays are now upon us. To be honest, I don't really like holidays, the two little drive me nuts enough!! lol... Jaidyn is going with my Mum up to Hervey Bay to stay with my sister and neice for 2 nights, while I'm at work this week. She might even take him whale watching - lucky boy!! There won't be much room for much stuff to do with Jai, but he's going to get stuck into some craft on Thursday while I'm working from home and the kids are in care. Hopefully I can help him a little too.

Jai had a figure marching competition for Boys Brigade last weekend. We couldn't really go coz it was right over dinner and bed time (almost impossible with two littlies) but his grandparents took him and they did a good job. Jai really enjoys BB... they have a State Camp coming up, which he'll be going to. I'm looking forward to it for him, some time just for him and doing something he likes, and hopefully will help instill a bit of responsibility... or he'll only come back with half his belongings...

We have a couple of big weekends coming up - in fact, the last few months of the year are already looking busy. Next weekend I'm meeting a group of the girls from the Maternal forum, should be fun. Sunday I'm off to a baby shower.

My school friend Louise is getting married in a few weeks time too!! That's on the 18th Oct. Her hen's night is on Friday 10th, but I'm not sure if I'll go yet.... its dinner and a show, a bit on the exxy side, and the dress code is dress-up - 'naughty girls'... oh dear... little conservative Christian me can't dress up like that!! Not to mention how hideous I'd look... to me 'naughty girl' requires showing lots of leg... ewwwww..... we'll see... I wouldn't be very comfortable I can tell you now. But also don't want to let Lou down by not going. Will have to see if we can afford it - its getting to the expensive time of year for us - Christmas coming and a few family birthdays to add to that - my sister in Oct, Dad and Jai in Nov, and Greg and Emmeson in Dec!! Phew!!

The SOF retreat is getting closer - yay!! 2 nights just for ME, with NO KIDS!!! BLISS!! Can't wait... I think I might have to start prepping Greg for a weekend with the kids on his own though...? Hmm, yeah, maybe I should go out on my own a few times over the weekends in the lead-up... purely for him of course!!

Oh, and Lani seems to be getting closer to mastering this walking thing. In the last few days, she's actually been walking around more and more, rather than dropping to her knees (even tho its a lot quicker!)... yay!! So proud of my little girl!! I really want her to walk so she doesn't dirty the knees of her clothes and babylegs anymore!! Oh, and we have bindis everywhere in the backyard, so it will be better if she can walk!

Anyway, found this little quiz on Mel Goodsell's blog, thought since you've not really heard from me in a while, you might like to see this....

1) LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATRE? KungFu Panda with the kids last school holidays... might go and see 'Wall-e' today though...

2) WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?None, don't have any time!!

3) FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? Cluedo or Pictionary

4) FAVOURITE MAGAZINE? I don't really buy any, but I like Spotlight's 'Get Creative' coz it has bits of everything in it.

5) FAVOURITE SMELLS? Rain... coffee when you first open the jar...

6) FAVOURITE SOUNDS? My children's laughter... worship music...

7) WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Fear

8 ) WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE? Usually, why are the kids awake SO EARLY!!

9) FAVOURITE FAST FOOD PLACE? Fasta Pasta or Subway

10) FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? I have always wanted to call a daughter Esther but Greg won't have a bar of it... I also like Ashton for a boy, but it sounds kinda funny with our last name.

11) FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I’D……hire a cleaner!! And someone to help me sew nappies...

12) DO YOU DRIVE FAST? Not much.

13) DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No.

14) STORMS–COOL OR SCARY? I LOVE storms.

15) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? A white 1990 Holden Apollo

16) FAVOURITE DRINK? A large hot cup of coffee

17) FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD… do a lot of things!! Sew myself the skirts I bought the patterns for for Spring... sew Lani some dresses... sew gifts for Christmas.... make Xmas cards this year... do more for other ppl.

18) DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?Yes

19) IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? I love red, but moreso highlights I think. I'd do a few more red highlights than I have, if I had the money!!

20) NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN? West, North and South Brisbane... lol... adventurous aren't I!!

21) FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH? None, don't really like any.

22) WHATS UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing because our bed goes all the way to the floor - its a waterbed frame (with a crappy foam mattress that needs replacing, in it)

24) WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN? Strange question...

25) MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?I used to be a morning person, but nowadays that usually means the children are awake too... so I prefer some time to myself at night these days, and I've become a night owl, don't usually get to bed untill 11pm at the earliest.

26) OVER EASY OR SUNNY SIDE UP? Sunny side up please :)

27) FAVOURITE PLACE TO RELAX? In bed, sitting on our front verandah with a cuppa (prefereably watching the rain) or on holidays somewhere without the kids (lol, like that every happens!)

28) FAVOURITE PIE? Hmmm... don't eat a lot of pie really... I had pumpkin pie once and it was to die for!

29) FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Choc-mint, but closely followed by Cookies N Cream.

Oh, that's the end!! I was on a roll there!!

Just a couple of pics to end the post.... not much really... and I never seem to get many of Jai, but then being older, he doesn't change much in a month or two...

I have another new obsession - gorgeous hair clips for Lani... add that to MCNs and BabyLegs.... oh dear... anyway, these are the first of my collection... cute huh!!! I will take some pics of her in them soon - possibly today...
... the cupcakes and cherry ones I bought for the purpose of motivating me to make the matching nappies for Lani - I have some gorgeous cupcakes and cherry fabrics.... so far I've cut them out!! lol...

My gorgeous boy looking like a model I reckon!!

Miss Lani with her new outfit all ready for church :) I love black right now!!

And another of Princess wearing a pair of Babylegs...

And just pretend there's a pic of Jaiyn here... isn't he handsome!!

Well I guess for 'not much to report' that was kinda longish....

Quick update

Not really much to report - life is pretty much same old same old.

Greg is enjoying his new job. Has finished training and is now on the phone all by himself - what a big boy! LOL


Lani is still not walking much. She's lazy! Only does it when she feels like it. I guess she doesn't see the need for it. Not like Eli and Jai, they were off and going as soon as they worked it out... maybe a difference between girls and boys...?


My job is getting better. I am now working with a girl who knows childcare and what we need to do, so its helping me to gain confidence in myself and my teaching and most importantly, to get organised.


Still way behind on nappies... ggrrr..... I'm finding it hard to get motivated to sew right now. But just gotta keep plugging along.


Am going to have my nails done tomorrow... nice!! Greg and the kids gave me a voucher for Mothers Day, which expires next week, so thought I better use it... I've been growing my nails nice and long.... but of course one would have to break wouldn't it!! I accidentally 'grated/peeled' it when I was peeling an apple the other day, how annoying.....


Have been a little obsessed with BabyLegs or leg warmers for Lani lately... I know, its spring now, but they are sooo cute with a MCN.... I picked up a few pairs from BigW on clearance yesterday, and some knee-high socks that I'm going to make into leg warmers... I also bought some off an etsy store last night (and some gorgeous hair clips for Lani), but some for gifts too.... well she's just going to have to wear them while its still a touch cool... and then next year too I guess.... here's some pics of her in one pair from Wed...

Too cute!!

New do..

I finally got my hair done yesterday, after saying I need to for about, uh, 6 months... lol.... maybe not quite that long, but its been since the start of the year that I had it done I think!!

A local salon has a great special for the month of August, where a regular could bring along a friend (new customer) and both receive 50% off your services. That was too good a deal to pass up!! So I went all out and had a cut, 1/2 head foils and my eyebrows shapes.. I NEVER get colour coz its too much more than we can afford for a hairdresser, so its such a lovely treat!! Got 3 colours too - voilet, red and blonde... nice!! I decided to keep the length this time (I usually cut it much shorter), and just get heaps of layers... well that I did, lol...

Here's what I look like now:

We've had the flu pass through the family quite badly the last week. Well, I've had it bad anyway.... Got hit on the Ekka Wednesday holiday, and I'm still coughing a lot... it gave me a bit of asthma too, which I don't normally get, so I think that's why the nasty cough is still around. The kids have been on-off for most of the week and a half too... and I think we got a small dose of the vomiting bug in there too - fun!! Needless to say, I think I'll be getting the flu shot next year, esp as I now work in childcare...

Being sick has put me behind even further with my nappies though. I usually sew at nights, but there's been a good number of nights when I've been in bed by 8pm... it seems like such a waste of time, but I just have no energy!! So I'm hoping I can stay up tonight, after having a little nana nap this arvo while the babies slept.... I have so much to do!!!

Am going to a low-key hens party tomorrow night - just a nice dinner out in the city... still trying to figure out how I'm getting in there, but it will be nice to have a break! We aren't able to attend the wedding unfortunately, as its the same weekend as our church camp, which we missed out on last year due to me being very heavily pregnant, so we are looking forward to that time to spend together and with our church family.

Anyway, I think that's about it.... oh, if you would pray for my little neice, I would appreciate it... the poor little pet spilt hot tea on herself on Wednesday, and has 3rd degree burns to her leg and foot... apparently she's doing so very well, but I'd love some prayers for quick healing and no scars.. and also for my sister who you can imagine would also be feeling terrible about it.

Cya, N xx

AWOL blogger

I haven't blogged in a while, but life is crazy busy atm...

Don't really have much to report, just thought I should update 'something'...

If you asked me last week how my new job was I would have said I'm not really enjoying it.. but I think something has 'clicked' this week. I had a great week last week, things actually *worked* and I felt much more confident (and competent) as a teacher... its all baby steps though and getting better all the time...

but it doesn't help when my mind is consumed with MCN thoughts right now...

I have orders left, right and centre, and about 7 women wanting some when I'm taking orders again!! I was hoping to get some spare time to design and make some cute sets for Christmas time, but I forsee I'll just be swamped with my regular orders, and that will probably have to wait till next Christmas... oh well, I'm not complaining about the business at all, coz its ALL GOOD!!

I've probably made my time management harder for myself by joining the 'Maternal' forum too, but am really loving chatting to this group of mums and fellow MCN addicts... but just another thing keeping me away from the sewing machine right now... soooo gotta get my time better organised...

Greg is really enjoying his new job... and I'm loving that he's loving it... he comes home from work (at a reasonable hour, when its still light out, yay!)a happy man with energy to play with the kids, not like a zombie... so that's a good thing! There seems to be so many perks with working with Council too, we look forward to it all!

We went to a 1st b'day party last weekend, for my friend's little twins, Evie and Jett. There was a Noah's Ark theme, and the kids came home with cute fur tails that we'll add to the dress-up box - fun!! I might have to make some ears or something to go with them at some stage... OMGoodness, the cake was SENSATIONAL!! Easily the most gorgeous looking cake I've EVER seen.... a friend of Bec's is a chef and she made an ark cake complete with 2 of so many sorts of animals all over - all fondant... sooo gorgeous!! Was a shame to cut it up and eat it.. check this out - As Bec uses MCNs with the twins, I made them each a yummy scrummy soft minky nappy (and bought a pair of pants each too)

In other big news (almost forgot I hadn't mentioned it yet!), Lani took her first few steps (2 weeks ago now)! So exciting... she's not in a hurry to master it though, and walks a little bit here and there when she feels like it... about 3-4 steps at a time.

And here's a couple of random pics from the last week or so.. I've been so slack with taking pics lately...

Just quickly...

Things are very busy but good in the Mardon household. So in dot-point...

* I am trying to juggle this working part-time / running a business / and a family / and a home - thing... on many occasions its proving a little overwhelming for me and I wonder if I should have gone into working... but I'm sure its just all in the 'getting used to it' phase.

* Greg finished up at Toys R Us last week, woohoo. He's having a week off - mind you, he's been sick as a dog the last 2 days - and then starts at his new job next Monday.

* I have been totally blown away by the amount of interest and orders that Patooties has received in the last 2 weeks.... so much so that I've had to stop processing new orders for a little while while I catch up! I hate having to do this, but its a little stressful have 3 months of orders waiting for me, and getting more quicker than I can fill the ones I have - and telling customers they have to wait 3 months for their product....

* We have a busy few weeks with b'day celebrations and other events on the weekends. We're going to an 80s party this Saturday night, so hoping we can get our costumes coming together. A couple of 1st b'day parties too. Should be fun, but busy!

Well, I've had a big day at work, so I'm off to bed, that's us in a nutshell for now.
N xx

Blessings and changes

It's been a very busy couple of weeks around here - a time of wonderful blessings and new things in the Mardon household, and we are praising our God for His awesome provision. Looking back, it seems He has always given us new things in multiples. Makes it a little harder to adjust to all at once, but He knows our hearts, and I beleive that He is rewarding us for our faith in Him and His provisions in our life.

Firstly, I started my new job on Monday! I am working Mon/Tues as a group leader for a brand new Christian childcare centre. I feel very blessed to be able to work in such a wonderful, spiritaul and encouraging workplace, and just knowing that we are all sisters of the Kingdom of God makes it all a little easier. We started with small numbers (of kids) - I had 2 on Monday, but 8 on Tuesday - but this is good as it allows us all to find our feet, get to know each other, and for myself and my teaching partner, who have both not been in this role before, to get our head around it too! Its a change for me working full days too, so I'll have to get used to that aspect too! Had a great first week though, and am excited to get into planning for next week.

My home-based business, Patooties has had a real blessing this week, with a new influx of orders (praise God), keeping me very busy. I just thought I would get on top of the orders, and I've had more come in, putting me back to a longer wait time than I would like, but who am I to complain about God's blessings for me and my family? Its still super exciting to get each new order too, and thankfully I still love doing this, even if it does take up a lot (if not all) of my 'me' time...

So life for me right now is about finding the perfect balance between it all - work & programming, making nappies, time with my husband, time with my kids, house-work, and time with God - which I really need to work on a bit more... my life is about as full as it can be I think!

In other super exciting news in our house, Greg has got a new job!! We are so over the moon about it too, and thanking God for His Awesome provision and answer to our prayers. He knows the desires of our heart, and has a plan for us.
Work in Toys R Us has been really difficult for him lately. He's been continually denied a promotion that he deserves, the hours are long, and he's just not been happy as a result. We have long-term plans for him to do an electrical apprenticeship, but the companies are not really hiring at the moment, so we looked for something else for now. He has found a job working with the Brisbane City Council, in their call-centre. Mon-Fri, 38 hours/week, a rostered day every f/n, and only $1k less than he was earning for being a manager (responsibility) and working up to 53 hours a week! A 'sacrifice', that with my new employment subsidising the loss, we are willing to take!! I am very much looking forward to having him home on Saturdays!! (esp as I'm now working Mon which is his current day off, so we can't even have it together anymore)... And as an added bonus, Greg's best mate Mark also landed the same job... I swear those two are the same person sometimes... they worked together in Aldi a couple of years ago, and now will be working together again! It's all good here!! He starts on the 28th of this month. We will be counting down the days.

Greg's actually been home this week, and we're thoroughly enjoying it. Yesterday we ventured into the city and went to see Kung Fu Panda all together. We had written off the movies as a family activity for a while, with the 2 babes at ages that wouldn't work with movies, but we decided to see how it went again, and I think its definitely do-able!! Lani slept through most of the movie, and Eli only got a bit restless towards the end, when he wanted to walk up and down the aisles... it was a cute movie though, and we were all practicing our Kung Fu afterwards. We had a little walk around SouthBank and then headed to Maccas for lunch... it was so nice to have a day out together, as its something that we hardly ever get to do - with church things on Sundays, and Jai at school on Mondays (Greg's other day off currently)... so you can imagine how much we look forward to having Saturdays for 'family stuff' again!!

So that's life in the Mardon household right now. Very busy and full, but all good! Our God is a good God.

Just want to also send my love to Jac and family - a terrible accident happened to little Miss Emily this week. My thoughts and prayers are with you all Jac, as you take this journey to healing for Miss Em.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week.
Nat xx

5 things I'm thankful for today (its easy to make this list today):
1. God's awesome provision in every little way for our family!
2. Greg's new job!!
3. My new job, and the wonderful working environment I have, and the friendships I'm going to make with the girls there.
4. New orders for Patooties (even if I can't keep up with them!)
5. A wonderful day together as a family yesterday

If you go out in the woods today...

For Lani's 1st birthday we celebrated with a 'Teddy Bears Picnic' party on Sunday.

Was a busy but fun afternoon, everyone enjoyed the food and teddy games, the kids were well and truly exhausted by the end of the day (and in bed early, yay!) and we have toys and b'day presents sitting in every possible place around the house.... a success!!

Here's some piccies:

Happy Birthday baby girl :)

This time one year ago, Greg and I would have been bonding for the first time (after a rather crazy delivery in the car!) with our beautiful baby daughter. We had so very much hoped and prayed for a little girl, and God answered that prayer with our beautiful little Lani Faith.

It's hard to believe that it was all a year ago now. I still remember it so vividly, remember the beautiful little thing she was, and then I think about the last year, and how fast it has gone - my baby has grown up in a blur!

Here's how she's grown in the last 12 months:

Happy Birthday my beautiful baby girl :):) Love you forever. xxx