Motherhood

I spent the morning today doing a three-hour test for gestational diabetes after I failed the one-hour test last week. Honestly, it was nothing more than a chance to read my book in peace for three hours, only interrupted by an hourly blood draw. Quite relaxing apart from not being able to eat or drink anything all morning. 

I wanted to post some pretty pictures & fun things concerning 'Motherhood'. I love to look at fun things to buy for babies, new things they come out with for babies, pretty pictures of babies. I can chat about sippy cups & naptimes for hours (what happened to me?!!?) I love this stuff so I wanted to share some recent finds:

Firstly, here are pictures of Mini-Madonna #2's new nursery:

I  kid, I kid! I WISH it was! This is another incredible design by www.littlecrowninteriors.com, check out their website for more, like this one I also love:

Next, some great photographs of some celebrity mothers, not trashy celebrity, real celebrity:

Audrey Hepburn

Twiggy

Grace Kelly

and the most lovely Royal ever

Next up - this Blog, it has me laughing daily: www.shitmykidsruined.com. You'll love it, kids or no kids. Also check out www.spearmintbaby.com and www.bleubirdvintage.typepad.com.

Something for dads: what do you think of this tee-shirt design for Jake?

And, lastly, the ultimate way to end a Blog post about Motherhood, some newborn photography:

there's nothing more beautiful in this world, I can't wait to snuggle my own newborn again

Mini-Madonna #2

I am 28 weeks pregnant which means two things. Firstly, that I'm up twenty-one pounds and baby is about so big:

And, secondly, that I have only 12 weeks to go. Or less, if baby continues to measure two weeks ahead as she has been. So, even though I've been working crazy hours and 100% focused on getting 1500 pallets of toys from one warehouse to the next, it's now time to focus on the fact that BABY IS COMING. SOON. It was all too easy to walk away from that ultrasound telling myself "OK, another girl, we have it covered". Because, as mentioned before, we have boxes & boxes of girl clothes in the garage. And toys. And bottles. And a crib. And pretty much all the essential stuff.

Except now I'm not talking about stuff. I'm referring to the fact that this little girl is her OWN person, coming on her own schedule, that won't care much about mine! I need to focus on her having a name, and a personality, and day-dream about who she'll look like, and give the pregnancy as much attention and excitement as my first. She is much more active & kicks far harder than Abigail ever did so she might be trying to do this to me herself. She's already determined not to be just 'Abby's little sister'. She is Mini-Madonna #2, equally as important as Mini-Madonna #1. And I don't ever want to feel like I swam through this pregnancy and forgot to stop & treasure it.

So, what better thing than retail to kick me into gear? I went shopping to help picture this little girl in her own right. So, now she has these:

and Grandma bought these for our little 'winter delivery'

and this shirt really moved me - doesn't it just scream 'I am COMING!!!'?

Life at Home

Abigail & Matteo are old enough now to spend the night at each other's house. They both love it & hate it (which is how goes their relationship in general!)

can't believe how old she looks here

this is not an ad for Bisquick - it's Abby's Sunday morning making waffles with her dad, we do this every Sunday

 

Cutting

It is not often that a three-year-old plays quietly in their room, undisturbed, for an hour. UNLESS they have just been given a pair of plastic pre-school scissors and a pile of scrap paper. I was told "this is a pile of mail, mum":

Then, another hour the next morning:

At least it's a neat & orderly pile, right?!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Just delightful - loved this book:

Aunty Alex's Visit

Aunty Alex and her boyfriend Chris came to stay at the end of August. We had a great time with them and they fit more into a 10-day visit than most - shopping, swimming, eating out, a night in Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam along the way, and still plenty of time with us. The best pictures we got were from a lovely day out in Sedona:

Ballet

In August, Abigail started weekly ballet lessons! I have never wanted to over-schedule my child's day, especially at three years old, but ballet is the one thing I always imagined a daughter doing. If she showed interest, that is, which she did. I danced ballet from age three to age fourteen and it was a huge part of my childhood. I searched for a local ballet school that resembled what I went to, and feel like it may be the only thing she experiences that's even close to my upbringing. 

We found this place - www.benderperformingarts.com, only a block away, and the home of this year's So You Think You Can Dance winner, if you watch that show. We also really like that parents can bring their morning coffee and sit outside the classroom and watch.

Abby LOVES ballet - from trying on & buying the leotard & shoes, to the very first lesson when she ran right in without a look behind her, she loves loves loves it. So, you can find us there every Saturday at 10am.

you already know this guy has to come everywhere