my girl...

She's getting older- nearly 5 months. Time passes too quickly. I must savour every moment. My darling, my daughter... my best friend.

the beach...

It was the first hot day in a long time on Saturday 12th September. So we decided to make it a day of firsts. Lachlan had never been to the beach (living in the Western Suburbs means that it is a bit of a hike), so we weren't sure how he would enjoy it. He LOVED IT!!!John and Lachlan wasted no time and were at the waters edge as soon as we got there. Although the weather was lovely and warm, the water was still quiet chilly, but that didn't stop Lachlan. He just wanted more. And more. He had a blast jumping over the waves or trying to outrun them.

Carrington probably had no idea what was going on, but she didn't mind digging her little feet into the sand- a new sensation for her. She always just goes with the flow...

I couldn't resist these nudie shots- what a cute little toosh! At that age, who cares what you're wearing (or not wearing) as long as you're having fun right?!

family photo's...

My dear friend Sarah took some lovely photo's of our family during August. I haven't seen all of them yet, but I am delighted with the ones I have already seen. She is so talented and I am very grateful she shared her amazing talent with my family and I. Click here to see some...

the update...

Here are a few photo's of the little ones. I have been really slack with updating my blog, so they are pretty random photo's but they show some of the things we have been up to...
Carrington is now 3 1/2 months old and I just can't believe how much she has grown and changed. She loves to chatter away with her baby babble and is a really settled and happy girl. She is going through the 'sucking on anything' phase, so I am guessing that her little teeth are starting to move around in her gums already. She gives the best smiles- her whole face lights up and it melts my heart! She is still in a great routine and since 10 1/2 weeks, has been sleeping through the night from 9:30pm until 6:30am... it makes all the difference to my sanity!!! I owe it all to a fabulous book I read before I had Lachlan called "On becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo. When I followed the principles with Lachlan, he too was really settled and slept through the night within 12 weeks. I highly recommend this book to all mothers!!! This is why I LOVE having a little girl- to dress her up! I found this pretty fabric before I had Carrington and made this Amy Butler dress in the hope of having a girl. She wore it for the first time to church on Sunday 23rd August and looked oh so pretty!

Lachlan loves so be really involved with everything I do with Carrington. His latest thing is wanting to give her the bottle. Doesn't he look so proud?!

On the 28th July, Lachlan had to go to hospital to have grommets put in his ears. We had his hearing checked in June as he hadn't really started speaking much and was not at the level of communication that was typical of his age. The results showed that he had significant hearing loss due to a middle-ear infection that had gone undetected (we have since changed Doctors). So after a visit to a ENT surgeon, Dr. Rundle, we booked him in for the procedure. John took Lachlan to the Minchinbury Community Hospital on Tuesday 28th July at 7am. As the youngest patient of the day, Lachlan got to have his operation first. At 8:15am John called me at home to tell me Lachlan had just been put under general anesthetic and that all was going well so far. By 9am, Lachlan was back in his room recovering. I was surprised when they arrived home at 11:20am with Lachlan his usual energetic self playing and running around. It was hard to believe he had just been in hospital! Since then, we have noticed his hearing has improved greatly, and so has his speech. He is picking up more words and his volume has come down too now that he can hear how loud he is :) The grommets will fall out by themselves within the next 6-9 months. I was so proud of my little boy for being so brave! This photo was taken at 6:30am before the boys left for the hospital... Lachlan had no idea what was about to happen- ignorance is bliss!

she's here...!!!

Carrington Lorraine Smith has arrived! After a fairly short labour (only 3 1/2 hours from my waters being broken to her arrival) we got to meet our precious little girl. Her stats: born at 12:32pm on Friday 1st May, 2009; 8 pound 8 ounces (3.86kgs); 52cms long; 35cm head circumference. With dark hair, deep blue eyes and a 'cuddly' body, Carrington looks just like John did when he was a baby. She is such a good girl and is already into a routine. She feeds well, settles easily and sleeps, well, like a baby.

As you can see from this photo, it was a lot of hard work! I managed to do it all without an epidural, but I had a shot of Morphine 20 minutes before she arrived, which left me feeling very sedated and sleepy. I was able to feed Carrington straight away before having to be wheeled away into surgery. Carrington's shoulders got stuck as I was pushing her out and her heart rate dropped considerably, so they had to just reach in there and grab her out, resulting in a 4th degree tear.

Lachlan loves his new sister. He is so gentle with her and is very curious. He loves to give her kisses, cuddles, hi-5 and knuckles. I hope they always share this special bond.

count down...

I am now down to my final days before our baby arrives. At my recent Hospital appointment on Tuesday (28th April), the Doctor booked me in to be induced tomorrow- Friday 1st May. He was fairly confident that I would go into labour naturally before then as I was already 3cms dilated, but I think the baby has since developed stage freight and decided to stay where it is nice and cozy. The reason for the induction is that it seems I have developed Cholestasis again- the same condition I had with Lachlan which saw me induced at 37 weeks with him. This time around I have at least gone further in the pregnancy and tomorrow I will have reached 39 weeks.

With that in mind, we wanted to take some 'family' photo's as a memory of our last day before the exciting arrival of baby number 2.

I am feeling so many things right now, from elation (that I get to meet baby sooner than expected), to terror (remembering what really is involved in getting a baby from "in there" to "out here"), to anxiety (what happens if they don't end up inducing me and I am all preped and ready), to delight and happiness.

Wish me luck as I await the arrival of this precious child we are all eagerly awaiting.

updated pics...

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately... John has been busy converting part of our garage into another room, we have had family come and visit, and I have been hooked on reading the "Twilight" series. So I thought I'd add some pics of other things we have been up to in the past couple of months...
One of John's work colleagues go married last weekend, so we got to dress up! Lachlan was babysat by his Auntie Caley so John and I could enjoy mingling with adults without having to run after him (which is getting increasingly difficult for me!). This dress makes my bump look HUGE.. I am currently 32 1/2 weeks.

Swimming lessons! We started Lachlan in lessons mid February. He went to 2 before we had to stop due to John's chaotic work roster and other 'home reno' projects. Lachlan LOVES being in the water and we look forward to getting him back into lessons soon. (He had to wear a swimming cap as part of the pool regulations, hence the funny look on his face.)

Ahoy there Captain Feathersword! Lachlan went to a friends dress-up birthday party in February. Being only 22 1/2 months old, he doesn't know who any of the super-hero's are, but he does love the Wiggles! I made this little outfit for him and surprisingly he left most of it on for the duration of the party.