I got them!!

Some piccies of my girl's smile that is :) They aren't super ones (I'll try to snap some more this week) but that's my beautiful girl smiling away at her Mumma all the same!! I get the best ones when changing her nappy just after a feed so these were taken on the change table...
Just check out this cuteness:



And these two just coz she's so delicious:
Hope you all have a great week!!

This week...

Well blow me down, its been almost another week since I last posted. Boy, the time goes fast!

This week has seen a considerable move in the right direction for Lani's sleeping... she is now sleeping through most of the night (at 6 weeks), yay!! I give her her last feed usually about 10pm, then she usually goes almost straight down and sleep through until 4 or 5am.. this has happened for the last 3 nights now - woohoo!

We had a horrendous time with Eli at bed-time last night... he just started screaming and screaming and screaming... I assumed it was his teeth coming in again, but he wa sjust so distressed, screaming and kicking at us and didn't want cuddles or anything.. I was preparing for a long night.... after a little while (probbaly an hour) I decided to change his nappy to see if it was burning or something.... no probs there... then I checked his clothes and when I pulled off his booty - there the problem lay!! He must have had a hair or a thread or something caught around his little toe, it was all red and sore looking.... but thankfully just pulling it off was the solution, and he calmed down straight away and went to sleep. And praise God he slept well through the night too, it didn't bother him again and he's woken back to normal!

**Edited to add: OH! How could I forget!! Eli also had his first 'real' haircut this week.... bye bye baby... he looks more grown up for sure, but still as gorgeous as ever, and he *really* needed it... I didn't bother taking the camera though (too much effort with the two babies alone!) so will have to take some nice shots of him this week to show...

Had a special visit with a special girl Rozzie yesterday arvo... boy, I can't believe it had been close to a year (Oct last year) since I saw her last.. boy time flies... we had a nice chat together, with coffee/hot milo and muffins (thanks for those Rozzie!)... and she even stayed through the witching hour (baths, cooking etc) and ate dinner with us before heading off to the airport to pick up her friend... was soooo good to see you honey.. let's not leave it so long between visits again hey!

Had a big long chat with my girl Lus during the week too... we are just sooo excited about her coming up for a visit in... let me see... 48 days time!! (Gee that makes it seem ages away still doesn't it!?) We are trying to organise a lovely get-together for the Brissy SOF girls and some of Lusi's other scrappin buds up here, so hopefully that will work for everyone and they will all be about to come... I'm also really excited because Lusi is going to lead worship with me at church on the Sunday... oh this girl is such a WONDERFUL TALENTED musician and singer... and although she'll put my voice to shame, its all good coz we'll be singing together to our God!! Wow, what an experience that will be, can't wait to worship our King with you honey! Also planning on having an SOF crop at my house that weekend too (maybe) so stay tuned SOF girls...

Have really had a lovely social week! Was out shopping on Wed and Thurs... had coffee with Michelle and Karen while out on Wed.. and went shopping with Hayley and her new bubby Caitlyn on Thursday.... both days I seemed to be there forever and not get a great deal done!! And poor Eli, being strapped in his pram for 5 hours for 2 days in a row.... oh well, a girl's gotta shop right!? Will have to head back next week too as I have 2 engagement parties to buy gifts for, and need to exchange some clothes too...

Well, that's all... no pics this week. Hope you're all having a great weekend. We don't have a lot planned this weekend... were thinking of going to the Sons of Korah concert at Brisbane City Church tonight, but then decided against it as we'd have to take Lani and I don't think there will be room for her (or I'd be confined to the parents room all night) PLUS its free so it will be PACKED! They are such a wonderful band to see though (they played at our old church a few years ago)... but I'll have to just listen to my CDs today I guess!

It's our 3rd wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Don't know what we're going to do... it seems to come around so quickly and then we never plan anything or buy eachother anything... shocking huh... oh well.. might try to find some time to make Greg a card today...

Have a good weekend all xx

Snap Happy and some Praise for my God!!

Have been really snap-happy lately, as you can see by my recent posts. :)

Had a lovely morning visiting Hayley and her new little princess Caitlyn on Friday. Her and Grant just make the best parents... and although Caitlyn slept or fed the whole time it was ok! We'll have *plenty* of shopping/coffee dates in the future... can't wait to be taking our little girls shopping together, might have to get them little matching outfits huh.. heehee... anyway, here's some snaps:

Caitlyn with her Mummy:

With Mummy and Daddy:

And of course with her Aunty Nat:

Yesterday, the kids and I trekked over to Mum and Dad's for lunch. My Gran and Pop came down from Toowoomba to get their first cuddles with Miss Lani. It was a really nice day - yummy lunch, great to just chill out with my family... pity Greg works on a Sat though :( We were out the back snapping some pics, and I'm so happy that we decided to attempt some of me with the three kids too... although not fabbo pics with everyone looking the right way or anything, still special and still scrappable I think!! (and they are good ones of me at least!)... So here's some of those, plus with Gran and Pop and my sister Liss (who's 19 weeks pregnant but I didn't actually get around to snapping her little bump) :

A little Praise point now... a reflection of the power of prayer and our Mighty God... my beautiful bestie Lus was in hospital recently with the flu (mainly precautionary)... and she had a heap of SOF girls and her church family all praying for her.... well God gave her the rest and rejuvenation she needed and she's home again and on the mend... things can so quickly get so much worse with Lus getting sick, so its so praiseworthy for her quick recovery! Thankyou awesome Father!! I continue to pray for complete healing for you honey, and will call you soon xxx

Thought I'd also do a little plug for something happening at Scrap of Faith soon... why not come along to the Charity Crop we're holding to contribute to the charity Mercy Ministries... what a great way to spend a Saturday!! Its happening on November 10 at the Gaythorne RSL.... it will be $20 which includes venue hire, tea and coffee, a goody bag, demo or class plus an awesome day having fun and doing what we love with other like-minded women!! Hope you can come!! Click here for more details and to book your place!!

And here's just a couple more pics of little Princess... just because she's so adorable!!

Happy Sunday!!

A few things to mention...

Got lots to say, and need to do it quickly...

* Sooo excited!! My bestie Lusi is COMING TO VISIT ME!! Yaaaaayyyyy!! I *think* she has booked the flights today - oh I sooo can't wait to finally give you a BIG HUG babe!! Also honey - thinking of you and yours with the nasty flu. Praying that you especially recover soon - can't have you in hospital now.... xx


* There are so many babies around me its not funny!! From myself to a friend Hayley, I knew 6 women having a baby in the space of about 5 weeks (me included) There was: Me with Lani Faith (27 June), Megan with baby Joel Callan (2 July?), Anthea with baby Zachary Tyler (3 or 4 July?), Melinda with her little boy James Martin (21 July), Hayley with Miette Grace (22 July), and my uni mate Hayley who had a little girl, Caitlyn Madison on Saturday (28 July)!!! Babies EVERYWHERE!!! How super exciting!!! I love babies :)


* Had my SOF buddies Sal and Amy around on Saturday to scrap..... well Amy did some scrapping anyway... Sal and I talk too much and between feeding our bubbas and ourselves (yumm!) we got nothing done - I didn't even get anything OUT! But the fun is in the company and chit-chat... have to do it more often.


* Finally got to meet Sue and 2 of her gorgeous little men last week when I went out to Chrissy's for a play :) Great to meet you Sue, great to see you again and your gorgeous house Chrissy and next time we'll have to scrap hey!


* Took some random pics yesterday of my babies and myself, and me with my babies! Here's some:

Poor Eli *really* needs a haircut!! Its on my 'to-do- list for next week!!

And so do I for that matter!!

Even managed to get some of the three of them together, although not good... but not easy to get three kids (two of which are babies!) to look at the camera :)

Oh I just love my kids!!! I think I was going to add some more, but this has taken long enough so I'll have to later....

Have been doing some scrapping, but not actually managed to FINISH anything - I'm the queen of UFOs I think... I endeavour to do some journalling on them soon and get them up!

Lots of love xxx

Update...

Got SO SO SO much to update - too much!! So gonna start with Miss Lani and will post about Eli and the rest of us in the next couple of days, when I get a chance :)

Miss Lani -
My Miss Lani will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. Crazy! Doesn't really seem that long ago I was having her in the car, heehee... And I haven't really taken anywhere near enough photos for a mad keep photographer/scrapper... but I guess you get that with 2 babes at home!

She has settled into a fairly good routine already. I'm blessed to only be up once most nights, depending if I stay until her last feed about 10pm... she's up pretty much every night at 2am or thereabouts.... sometimes I get a nice sleep-in till 7 or even later and I must say I've been enjoying that lately (the boys just play in their room) as I've never really been much of a 'sleeper-in-er-er'... its good in colder weather though hey!

The boys are great with her - Eli loves to look at her and doesn't poke her or sit on her too much!! Jai likes his little cuddles and kisses her face and talks to her about how cute she is etc.

We've been totally blessed with gifts for her from various friends. Sal and Amy came over to scrap on Saturday and Sal brought with her a huge basket of clothes for her for from my gorgeous friends from Scrap of Faith - it pretty much doubled her wardrobe, which is huge anyway!! This girl has soooo many gorgeous things to wear over the coming months - she's pretty much all fitted out for the rest of winter and into summer too... can't wait till she can fit into 000 as she doesn't have too many 0000... so a HUGE thanks to my girls from SOF - gosh I love you girls!! I am so blessed to have you all in my life :)

Here's some pics:

Daddy and his girl (she was about a week or so old here I think):
My Mum recently brought over some of the special outfits she had kept from me and my sisters. Mainly woollens made by my Gran and a couple of very pretty dresses made by my Nana... so I just *had* to dress her up in this little outfit.... she looks SO CUTE in bonnets, but she only has this green one and a cream - and they don't really match any of her (mainly) pink and white clothes. So I might just have to go and try and find a pink and a white one at markets or something? Anyway, here's my little doll...

At 4 weeks old: with Mummy (she looks a bit funny in this one, hehe)

This one I just took of her a couple of hours ago (and she's still in there like this!):

Back soon with more xxx

I'll be back...

Just wanted to touch base for anyone who may think I've fallen off the face ofthe planet...

I'm here! We're all good... I just have SO MUCH to catch up with on the blog - that its a huge job and I haven't had time for it yet!!

So I'll be back to tell you:

* about Lani's first month - yep she's a month old already! (with some pics too of course)
* my letter to Eli for 14 months (think I'll still try to keep up with these although I'll now have to to do TWO a month!!
* and just what's been happening in general :)

WIll try to do bits and pieces over the next few days!! Will be a long post I think....

As I type...

I have TWO friends who are in labour!!! How exciting!! Can't wait to hear the news.....

I'm rooting for: Hayley (in Melb) to have a GIRL... and Melinda (friend from church) to have a boy....

Should hopefully hear something about both of them tonight!!

It's TOTALLY baby season right now.... I know of 6 ladies who will have had babies from me (July 27) to my friend Hayley (August 4) - just over a month!!! Crazy!!! But I love it!

Will be updating this post when I hear xxx

ETA: Well I was RIGHT!!! Melinda gave birth to a baby BOY last night at about 7pm... and Hayley gave birth to a little GIRL this morning at about 7am! So far I have not heard any other details yet... can't wait to hear what they've named their precious babies, and to see photos too of course!!

Yummy!

The baby bonus hasn't come in yet, but already we've done a good job of starting to spend some of it... (well actually we also had our first full pay since Greg started his new job so that would explain some of it too!)...

Lookie what I have!! The NEW Phil & Teds E3 sports double buggy... droooolllll....
After doing it tough for a couple of weeks by restricting myself to only going out when I can leave Eli home with Greg on a Monday, we finally got to go shopping for a very much needed double pram! Secretly we had always wanted this one, but its quite $$ and we hoped we could find one that was a fair bit cheaper but that I was still happy with... well I will tell you know there is NOTHING on the market for those who need a double, that comes at all close to this little beauty... everything else I looked at (tandems and those with a detachable toddler seat) was big, bukly, heavy and just plain awkward!! I could not see myself ever using them or leaving the house again so we decided we'd just bite the bullet and buy the E3... and besides, they do have a good re-sale value on them too... so this is our new toy... lol, I went to KMart yesterday for a couple of things (OK, it was just so I could use my new pram!)... and had a terrible time working out how to use it... lol... even after Greg showing me the night before... No, its not hard to use, I'm just a bit of an unco I think!! So I'll have to get used to it a bit more and then I'll be happy as Larry!

More 'Yummy' is this:

I've never bought this much in one go before and oh it was so great to see it all together, so I just had to take a pic.... some new Love Elsie stuff, a few (ok, there's 140 altogether!) Bella flowers, and some more bazzill in pinks and purples for my girl! Lots of yummy girly papers too... drooollll......

This stash is lucky to be alive though (and so is Jaidyn really!) as Jaidyn managed to knock my coffee all over it as I was having a little drool.... gggrrr.... I was sooooooo devastated/mad/upset etc!! WEll wouldn't you be!! But thankfully only one of the bazzills was completely ruined (and ggrrrr it happens to be the pink that matches my Love Elsie stuff, bummer), and most of the other stuff only has a little on the corner or edge. I had the dryer out though fixing what I could! Good thing I scrap in 8.5 x 11 I say so I can cut the yucky bits off and you won't know...

Can't wait to use some though - now, where to start!!

I couldn't wait for my order to start scrapping though (well I had to wait almost 2 weeks - was not really happy!)... so I managed to scrounge together some girly colours to put this together. The title is gorgeous laser-cut chipboard that my SOF pal Tracey had made for me... yumm... loved using that!!

The Little Miss is 3 weeks old today. Sorry, haven't had a chance to take any more pics of her! Was hoping I might find some time to today - being her 3 week birthday lol... she's as gorgeous as ever and is starting to sleep much better at night. She has her last feed about 10/10.30pm and then only wakes once at about 2am... and then I'm usually up with the boys before she wakes again... this I can handle! Thankyou for being such a good girl for Mummy sweetie!!

She's having lots of wakey time and we just swoon over her! She likes to look around with her big gorgeous eyes and make a litte 'o' with her mouth - so cute...

Had a couple of rough nights with Eli this week. Am pretty sure those nasty 12-month-old molars are rearing their heads... but he won't let me close enough in his mouth to get a good look or feel.... he's had all the classic symptoms though - fever, red cheeks, even some runny poos (can't spell the D word, lol) and just rather whingy.... he's not much liking taking panadol anymore either but once he has it (after sreaming and turning and spitting it on Mummy!) he settles down almost straight away... hopefully they will properly cut soon!

Well, the Little Miss is waking and Eli is getting into mischeif - better attend to these kids hey!!

Lots to update

Been flat out the last week! It's busy with 3 kids I tell ya (many of you probably know, or even have more kids!), but I'm still absolutely loving it, and its actually easier than I thought having two babies would be.... that's probably because Lani is still very new and newborns don't do much but feed and sleep, but I'm surprised how well I'm handling things, most of the time.

She is now two weeks old - wow, that time has gone fast! I took some more piccies of my darling yesterday. Some of them were ok... this girl looks so good in pink!! hehe

Today I was very excited to have some special time with my new friend Chrissy. This darling I met through the Scrap of Faith site and blogging (can't remember in which I came across her now though!) and she is jsut the *sweetest soul*!! We have really hit it off. We had a lovely girly day today together. She came over and we just hung out together and played with my babies! (and took pics too!) Love you Chrissy and can't wait to see your gorgeous house and hang out again soon (and get some *better* pics - silly wall huh ;)) Here's us:

And here's Chrissy with my gorgeous little Miss:

And one that Chrissy took of me and my princess too, thanks hun:

And after Chrissy left, I sat down wit ha quiet cuppa and just *had* to have some more of the yummy goodies we ate for morning tea - my blueberry muffins and Chrissy's oh-so-scrumptious chocolate fudge brownies (forgot to get the recipe off you Chrissy!)

We have been SO BLESSED and received so many gorgeous gifts for Lani. It's been so exciting receiving things in the mail from my beautiful scrapping buddies and family abroad. So I thought I'd photograph the things we've received and say thanks again to the lovelies that sent them!
(still have a few gifts that haven't been photographed yet coz they may be in the wash!!)

This *stunning* brush and comb set is from Lani's grandmother - Greg's mum. Oh its so precious! I can't wait to get her a dresser one day to put it on. Her name engraved and all. So beautiful isn't it!

We've got some beautiful little spring/summer outfits that I can't wait to get her into when the weather gets warmer - she's going to be the cutest little girl around!!

This *gorgeous* pink gingham set from Chrissy (and her daughter Emmy!) - so cute. Thankyou so much sweetie:

This adorable set from Katie Toland (and a gorgeous handmade card to go with it!). Thanks Katie :)

And this beautiful bring dress from Ally, love it too. Thanks hun xx

This one from Rozzy she'll get to wear a bit sooner - yay. It's so cute with that little butterfly and the stripes, so scrappable! Thanks Roz and Clint!

This ULTRA girly, frilly one is from a girlfriend Roxy... and it comes with a headband too. We may put her in this one for her dedication I think. Thanks Roxy, if you ever read here...

This special bowl and spoon is from Greg's Gran, so Lani's great-Gran. My Dad and his brother had these bowls and we still use them (well my kids do now!) when we go to Gran and Pop's house to visit. How special :) Thanks Gran.

Today I also received a little parcel from Tracey from SOF. She had someone (a business) lasercut Lani's full name into chipboard!! Its so great, I can't wait to scrap with it, so you'll have to wait till then to see it :) Thanks so much Trace!

I will try to photograph other gifts another time. We have received a few other pretty outfits and a few things from my Mum too which I'll pop together and photo. Will be nice to have pics of them all anyway - maybe can even scrap em!

Oh, I have not blogged in so long that I haven't been able to publicly CONGRATULATE Anthea and Shane on the arrival of little Zachary Tyler, last Wednesday. He's such a cutie too!

Looks like this week I'm flat-out busy too! Had Chrissy here today, my Mum is coming for a visit tomorrow, and I have to go pram shopping on Friday. An old family friend is coming to visit on Saturday. Well, at least the house will stay clean this week! I've had a MAD couple of days cleaning I tell you. Its nice to have visitors though, but I hope to get a few *quieter* days next week just to chill out.

I've been working on canvases for Lani's walls too. Am doing 3 butterflies in pinks and greens. So far they look great, but I still have to do the black outlines, so hoping I don't stuff it up! Her room is coming together nicely. A few more touches needed though, bit by bit. Can't wait till its all done... :)

Well, that's about it for now. No doubt I have more things I wanted to say, so I'll have to update more regularly.

Think I'll go to bed now (after waking that precious babe for some booby first!) xxx

SAHM to Three

Looking forward to today. Greg's back at work and I'm on my own with the kids. I love it when Greg's here, but also love my days to myself. Will be interesting to see how we go today with Lani a new addition to our routine! I think more challenging will be rush hour tonight, as Greg probably won't be home till 7pm.

The boys are LOVING playing outside at the moment. In between Eli's sleeps and meals, they are out there all the time! Its great. I can lock them in (shut gate) and don't actually have to be down there with them. Can watch from the balcony every so often, go down to push them on the swings (well Eli) but can still potter around upstairs too. Its great!! So much better with 2 kids!! Even though Eli is only one, he LOVES being out there, zooming around on his trike (and he's FAST!), digging in the garden with Jai, catching bugs, rearranging my pegs (in the bucket, out of the bucket) and playing on the swings. We've decided for Christmas this year, we'll buy big things for outside for the kids... a slide to go on the side of the swingset maybe, a sandpit for the younger two maybe, a swing for Lani (there's a great spot in the tree near the swings!)... maybe a trampoline the year after...

Speaking of toys etc, the Toy Sales start at KMart and Big W today... I was *considering* braving the crowds (hate crowds!) but then I thought about the layby lines!! That's whats the worst!! But there isn't too many things I want anyway, so I might duck in and just BUY some of the Wiggles DVDs that are on special and then get Greg to get the other stuff (with his discount) a bit closer to Christmas. But I need to get Jaidyn some tracksuits and shoes for school next week, so we might just have to go anyway!!

Well, better get onto this housework and kid-watching!! Have a great day xx

** Oh, almost forgot to say a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Megan and Andrew on the arrival of their little Prince, Joel Callan. Can't wait to see some pics Megs!!

**Edited to add:
Today has not been so wonderfully fantastic after all. Eli seems to be cutting teeth so he's been a real pain, just whinging and crying all day long almost. We went to the shops, and instead of coming home with a tracksuit and school shoes, I came home with some girly muslin wraps and a pink outfit for Lani - oops... trying on shoes DID NOT work with a baby strapped to my front at all - I couldn't feel Jai's toes to see what size he needed etc... and I need shoes for Eli too but just didn't even bother!! Shall have to take Jai back on Monday when Greg can stay home with Eli... I've also had a darn headache all day (all week actually!) - think it must be from not drinking enough water - I try, I do! - and well yeah I'm just worn out. I WILL NOT be trying to go shopping again until we get a double pram - it just does not work and I couldn't have done anything if Jaidyn wasn't there to help...

Anyway, that's just my little whinge. I want to curl up in my warm bed and go to sleep, but alas I cannot. Oh well..... just gotta get through the next few hours...

"Bay-be"

Another little update...

Firstly, we are SO VERY PROUD of our little man, Eli. Over the last 5 days he has learnt how to say 'baby' and now he really thinks he's the cleverest little thing in the world. This afternoon he walked around the house saying 'bay-be' over and over again... SO CUTE! I just want to gobble him all up! I will try to get Greg to get it on his phone camera tomorrow and upload it to YouTube so you can all see how cute he is!

Here's a couple more piccies of our Princess Lani from the last few days. Gosh, it's hard to believe that its been almost a week - gee whizz!!

Having a little sleep yesterday, 5 days old: (notice all that pink, lovin seeing that!)

All dressed and warm after bathtime today, 6 days old:

And check out these GORGEOUS flowers we received from Greg's NEW workplace... these are the prettiest flowers I have EVER received... they've looked great in our loungeroom, but sadly they are dying :(

One more day with Greg at home to (mostly!) help. I think the hardest thing will be if I need to run after Eli while I'm feeding.... eek. I'm sure we'll all be fine though!

Well that's about all for now. Lani is just doing perfect. Love her to BITS!!

Day Five

Wow, I can't believe its been 4 and a bit days since my beautiful princess was born. It is still very much sinking in that I have a daughter! I keep smiling to myself and thanking God for this beautiful miracle and answer to prayer.

I want to say thankyou for all the beautiful and heart-warming comments on the birth story etc. I didn't really think I had written it that 'well' or emotionally, but I'm glad you all had those wonderful feelings going through you as you read. It really was such a wonderful experience!! So thanks again for all your precious comments and well wishes.

Lani is settling in really well. We had a spot of wind last night, with a bit of screaming etc, but thankfully it was before my bedtime anyway, so we were just watching some TV. Greg doesn't do too well at the wind crying though - he feels so helpless. After a while, I couldn't tell if it was wind or hunger again (after only like an hour!). So she had another feed (didn't think I would have had any milk, but there sounded like there was plenty!) and then she went straight to sleep. Today I will have to do a bit of reading up on foods to avoid now that I'm breastfeeding again - I forget... (but I don't think all the chocolate ppl have given us helps!)

She slept really well last night. From 9.30pm, she didn't wake till 2am. Typically, I was stirring before then, just waiting for her to wake up! Then she fed again between 5.30-6am (a little doze between each boob) and she's still asleep from then. Pity Eli wakes up about 6.30/7am or maybe I could have had a nice big sleep-in too!

She is feeding really well. I'm surprised that my nipples are not sore anymore, already! I must have it right this time.

She is having 2 really big sleeps during the day so far - like 3 hours or so. She usually has a nice wake time before this. Between the other feeds, she's a bit awake a bit sleep, awake, asleep again.

We can't stop looking at her! She is so beautiful and we are still on Cloud Nine about having our very own little girl to love and spoil. :) Don't get me wrong, the boys are great, but I've always wanted a little princess. And now our family is complete!

We took Lani in to church yesterday morning. She was an angel - of course sleeping right through all the singing and all. But then wanted a feed so I missed most of the sermon, but that's ok!

We have so far received some gorgeous PINK things.. it makes me all happy!! My parents bought a cute pink and green quilt that looks really nice in her bed (not that she's been sleeping in there yet). Its nice to see pink!! And we have pink little bootees, and pink rompers and some pink outfits too! Pink, Pink, Pink.. I love it!!

Anyway, she seems to be hungry again!! It seems a newborn is forever on the boob huh!

Loving my life! Nat xx