Sunday Snapshot

Couldn't help it...

I know I said I wouldn't be back...

But I had to share this little cutie with everyone...

Chillin' in the wheelbarra'

You can't see his shirt properly but it's brand new today (and "off white" already). This is what is on it.

Wolf had seen these shirts but we couldn't find them in a kids size. Any images we found to use to make our own I didn't really like... people on fire... people with limbs missing... not what I really wanted my kids to wear but I did like the idea of the shirt. It seemed suitable for my daredevil copycats. So I designed my own. I am quite pleased with it, especially that I got them finished at 7:30 this morning in time to let them wear their new shirts for church... it's not often we have white shirts that are still white so church seemed like a good place to take a white shirt. That and when Wolf told one of the other men at church that he was thinking of these shirts for the boys the man then came straight up to me and started telling me that I HAD to make them. So the boys made sure they showed him their new shirts, he loved them! I'd be happy to share the design if you ask I just want know where it's going, it is an original image that I created.

We went to the bookfest (big second hand charity book sale) today. I have my babies in October and they put the bookfest on the weekend before. I decide that hey, lets not go to a bookfest 9 months pregnant, we'll have a baby in August to fit around it (okay, not really) and guess what... they move the bookfest. Today was the last day though so unless you wanted trashy romance novels or computing books that were up to date a mere 10 years ago you were pretty much out of luck. Next time, if we can't get there till the last day then I think we'll skip it. We did however get three books for wolf for a whopping $2.70! Bargain.

No, Wolf didn't buy trashy romance novels or out of date computing books, he found some sci-fi rubbish that he likes... just thought I should clarify that point.

So, on the eve of Peach Blossom's birth, this is what my belly looks like... I should have taken the photo at lunch time when PB was right up high and sticking straight out. Even to me, this doesn't look bigger than the last one I showed at 35 weeks.

SO CLOSE!!!

At my baby shower breakfast this morning a lovely friend decided to make me break out in a cold sweat and start to hyperventilate... she informed me that it was only 48 hours to go... it gets REALLY real when you realise that counting in hours is actually an option.

We have three car seats crammed across the back seat of our car which the Ambo man wasn't happy about but was more willing to go with it when I let him know that it is a very temporary measure and when we have a bigger car soon we'll be back to get them moved across. Dragon learnt the hard way that there is no room between the seats and the doors anymore when he got his finger stuck there this afternoon. Three car seats... that made it even more real on Friday.

I have one simple goal for our stay in hospital... that Peach Blossom will NOT get kicked out of the nursery. You know, like my other two children have. They wheel them back in the wee hours of the morning saying something like "we needed to bring him back to your room because Master Lion was keeping the other babies awake, he doesn't need a feed, he's just chatty". I then mumble something incoherent to acknowledge that I realise my baby is back under my care and go back to sleep until it DOES need a feed. After all, these are my last precious hours of sleep for the next 12 months, no need to go disturbing myself too much.

I have the bassinet set up and sheets on it and all now. I sort of packed my hospital bag today. I packed Peach Blossom's nappy bag. Mine has everything I need except things I am still using... like clothes... and iPod... can't forget the iPod. I have terry nappies folded waiting for a tiny little baby butt to put in them, I have some tiny little clothes waiting for a tiny little body, I have muslin wraps waiting to do some baby origami. I have two disposable nappies... left over from nearly three years ago... I'm not holding my breath that they will hold anything much in but I'm sure I can convince someone to grab a new packet at some point. The kid is all set. I hadn't bought any baby bath yet and we are running low on wipes but guess what... they were in the wonderful hamper that my sweet friends gave me this morning. Along with all sorts of yummy stuff for our bodies (mine and PB's) and yummy stuff for our mouths (mine and Wolfs... if he's lucky). There was also this...

That's right folks... an animal print all-in-one nappy! I'm thinking it's giraffe... but I am probably wrong, all I can tell you is it isn't zebra print... my brain is feeling a bit fuddled tonight.

I have added a countdown in the top right corner (it looks messy but I couldn't be bothered fiddling with it to get it looking nice) so that you can figure out when 6am Monday morning falls in whatever time zone you reside in (Mrs Nurse Boy). I'm assuming it will stay counting down to my time zone because that would make sense.

Tell you what... I wish I was able to sleep this relaxed...

I thought he was so sweet just chillin' in his sleep. He has a big band aid on his chin to stop him scratching/licking at his school sore type thing on his chin. He was on antibiotics for his wog he had last week and I didn't particularly want to get him more antibiotics for what we were assuming was a school sore so we wanted to give gentler remedies a try first. The pharmacist suggested an antiseptic cream... I couldn't find any of the three tubes I have around here. I could find a bottle of Dettol. It was gonna hurt, diluted or not. I was almost in tears thinking about putting it on his lip. I needed to put a good spin on it... I wanted to explain that it might hurt because it was doing something good fighting the germs in his sore. Fumbling through the explanation we struck gold... Antiseptic Army Men... fighting Baddy Germ Men. He thought it was great and was thrilled with having such a heated battle raging on his bottom lip. The best thing is it looks like those Antiseptic Army Men are winning the battle and we will have our sweet little lips back to normal soon... except for the big red blotchy bits where he was allergic to the band aid stickiness. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Speaking of not winning them all... no one is winning the name discussion around here. I thought it was all picked and ready but apparently not. So, any suggestions? I think we only need a middle name but I'm just not sure anymore. Here's hoping I don't have to be knocked out completely for any reason because Wolf will name this kid from some weird mythology stories... he's threatened to do it... he reckons he'll even fill out all the official paperwork while I'm still knocked out and post it off before I know what's happened. I think I may even believe him.

If you need something else to pray for please pray that my back (and the rest of me, but mostly my back) will stop aching for a bit between now and when I go in so that I can have some restful sleep and some non-painful cuddles with my little men. They are getting upset at not being allowed to cuddle on my lap (it's been sore for a couple of days now) and that then upsets me because I know I'll have to be REALLY careful once I have a big wound to watch out for so I want to take advantage of all their cuddles now and it's just one big frustration for us around here.

So... I doubt I'll be back on here before the big day. I will read your comments though and see what names you like ☺ I am not getting a chance to even read anyone else posts at the moment so I'll have lots to catch up on next week when I have computer access again... I'll probably get sent home on Thursday or Friday morning from what I can figure out... but I reckon I might be a little bit distracted with another bundle of cuteness around here.

Putting a kid through Uni...

Not one of our children of course. Just one of the random kids that work at our favourite Maccas. And may I pause there to say I realise that saying "favourite maccas" is an oxymoron, it's kinda like talking about "my favourite trip to the school dental van" or "our families favourite bout of gastro" but I am talking about the one round the corner from Wolf's work that we frequent most often. With our current hectic, crazy, insane, busy, disorganised lifestyle we have been frequenting our favourite maccas far too often. This was made obvious to me yesterday when Ruby the drive thru chick (yes, I do know her name... your point is???) commented on the fact that I didn't have my kids in the car. Now, I did have two empty car seats in the back. I do have toys strewn across the entire interior of the car. It was obvious that I was driving a car that usually ferries children and I was driving it alone. But I know that was not what she meant... because last time we went through the drive through, when Dragon wouldn't say hello back to her she said "it's okay, I know you're the shy one". You'd think that would have tipped me off then.

I have been seeing Ruby at this particular maccas since I was in highschool. One of my friends worked there and when we were all hanging out there she would often come and chat to us all but I was pretty sure I was incognito for a few years... and I don't look *exactly* the same... and I am pretty sure she sees about a gazillion people go through the drive thru each week. So I think we may need to cut back. I hope Ruby doesn't miss us too much...

Over the last month or so I am sure that we have paid for the education or a couple of drinking binges for at least one of their maccas minions. Time to cut them off, it is now that we end our fry fixation. Let them leave the nest of our burger bender and spread their wings. I want to work in a hamburger hangup and mcnugget mcneed but my brain can't focus on alliteration for that long.

Who needs a bed?

I had my pre-admission appointment for the hospital this morning. It was for 10:30 and I turned up early hoping that I might get seen early and get out early... no such luck, I didn't get in till 11:00. I was her third appointment for the day... her first had been late to arrive, this made the second late to start and that chick apparently had so many questions the couldn't get through them all. Then in I wander... after her apologies and explanation about her lateness her first question was "is this your first child?" my answer "nope, third"... the look of relief on her face was priceless. We flew through the paperwork, she talked fast for all the stuff that she has to tell me because I've heard it all before, we got to the end, "any questions?" she asks... "nope" I reply. By 11:15 I had left her office, found my way through the rabbit warren that is hospital hallways to a toilet and found my way back out to my car and was leaving. One more appointment to go before this baby comes... car seat fitting at the ambos tomorrow. Oh, and my babyshower breakfast on Saturday morning. For the girls at church we do a full-on baby shower for their first baby in the church hall with all the women from church. After that we do a coffee date of some sort with just the other young mums, very low key and relaxed. For me, that will be breakfast on Saturday at my favourite little cafe near here... I'm looking forward to it!

Have you heard the one about the chicken?

Oh dear... PLEASE, no one ask my two year old what a chicken says... apparently he can't say "cl", he replaces it with an "f" sound... at least he flaps his wings really cutely to distract you.  Sometimes he does say "buck, buck, buck" though.

I just gave the boys a Timtam for dessert... they were on a REALLY good special at Woolworths today so I kinda bought a couple of packets.  Lion was hesitating over which one to pick and I got cranky and told him "they're all the same, just pick one!"  Then I felt terrible immediately... I don't eat the first Timtam in the pack.  I don't know why, I just don't.  I will if it's the last one left but I will start my pack at the second Timtam... it's just the way I roll... I probably should follow my own advice.

I got into the baby's room again today... There is now a useable change table (facing the right way and all) and all the baby clothes are sorted and the whites are all washed and sunbleached and beautiful!  Wanna see them...

And just because there's nothing quite like tiny little baby clothes hanging on the clothes line...

Really, there is nothing like it, getting all fresh and white in the afternoon sun...

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT...

...can you tell???

That's not just newborn size whites, you can probably tell from the size difference of some of the clothes, I think they probably go up to about 8 or 9 months.  We actually have never had all that many newborn size clothes because it seemed silly to me when they grow out of them in a few weeks!  We have had a few good outfits for going out in but around the house it's singlets or "just a bit too big".  We have collected more newborn stuff with each kid though... I realised today that some of this stuff is going to be doing it's 6th baby!  Waste not want not in this family!  Cheetah and Little Bear, Cousin Wilbie and Lion and Dragon have all had a shot at some of these things!  They are all still white for the most part.  It is frustrating to find stuff -that you KNOW was put away clean and fresh- when you get it out has stains that have developed while it has been stored.  I guess that's our climate up here, the tiniest residue of ick stuck in the fabric will grow and develop quite happily with the damp warmth we have for 364 days of the year.  Tomorrow it's the lights, darks and bedding getting washed.

I also got the sling washed and all the coverings for the bassinet and the beautiful crocheted blanket my grandma made when I was expecting Lion.  She was so apologetic that it was a new pattern and she didn't realise it was going to be so huge but it turned out to be just what we needed!

I took it into hospital with me and when the aircon was super cool at night I would get up to feed and I would wrap it around me and around my tiny little Lion and we would both be nice and cozy and comfy.  I took it in again when I had my little Dragon and was so thankful for it again and now it's freshly washed and ready for me to take in again to wrap up my little Peach Blossom and me for the late night feeds.  It is a buttery yellow colour but my camera was insisting I use the flash (I can usually turn it off manually but it just wouldn't today) and I have no editing stuff to fix the colours...

I just paused to put the boys into bed... I know, you noticed didn't you?  We are working through a kids bible that is simple bible stories but all told so that it flows from one story to the next.  Our story tonight was the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham through his son Isaac and then Isaac's son Jacob and then Jacob's 12 sons...  It then told the story of Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt.  I stopped at this point because I wanted to check if the kids knew what a slave was.  They didn't so I explained that it was someone who was forced to work very hard for someone else for no pay.  Lion looked up at me horrified, he put his hands tenderly on my face and earnestly told me "But we pay you, Mummy"... Well, I guess at least he realises that I work very hard.

We also had to dose Lion with his antibiotics again... I'm not sure if I'll make the 5 days... EVERY SINGLE TIME I give him a dose Dragon starts begging for medicine too.  He chucks a tanty and cries and screams and sobs that he "just want some medicine".  Poor Lion would give it up if he could, I am sure he doesn't want to be taking it three times a day.

Anyway, tonight... I am folding... not even cute little baby clothes can make that into a fun job.

Sunday Snapshot

It's Sunday again...

Time for a little snapshot of our life...

I know, you've been on the edge of your seat.

*****

I just submitted my last Tupperware order for I don't know how long. I am pretty much doing the minimums lately to keep my demonstrator status. I have a little bit of grace while I have this little baby but then I need to make a decision how much I love my demonstrator discount :)

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I did find tonight that our super brilliant wonderful icecream scoop (it's got TEETH, that's what makes it wonderful) is starting to go yucky and I would certainly be getting a Tupperware one before I lost my discount but not on this order.

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I may have underestimated Wolf's mancold... he is looking kinda sick.

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I'm thinking of taking my boys on an outing this week. You know, somewhere fun, like Big W. I came across these cute little replicas of some stuff they have on sale.

Itty bitty little sleeping bags...

Teeny tiny little tents...

Super small seatcovers...

I reckon the boys'll like to see those. I know, I'm a super fun mum aren't I? Actually they'll probably just nag me to see the toy section so I probably wont go with that outing... I just thought those little tiny replicas were soooo cute!

*****

Lion didn't want to go to sleep tonight. He was trying every trick in the book but the best, by far, was this...



L: Mummy, I can hear my lion crying.

MMcT: You can WHAT?

L: I can hear my lion with the long legs crying.

MMcT: Well where is he?

L: I don't know but he's crying because he wants to sleep in my bed with me.

MMcT: Okay well you just close your ears and I'll find him and put him in bed with you ONCE YOU ARE ASLEEP!

*****

I took the opportunity while the boys were still feeling kinda subdued today to explain what will happen on the day we have Peach Blossom. Lion already knew some of the story since he asked the "how does the baby get out?" question when I was pregnant with Dragon... YAY for C-sections... "see this line here... that's where they doctor cut mummy's tummy open and pulled you out"... This time however he was a bit more concerned that it would hurt me so I had to explain the "special needle to stop it hurting"... All this paled into insignificance though when held against the most exciting aspect of the day... we'll be dropping them at grandma and grandad's to play while we go to the hospital. Yep, Peach Blossom didn't even rate on their excitement-o-meter. Oh well, I'm excited!

*****

For posterity I thought I would record some things that, even at this young age, Peach Blossom does not like.

Me using my belly to rest the Milo tin on while I get the lid to close properly.

Me using my belly to steady the icecream container as I scrape out some icecream.

My soup bowl resting on my belly.

My ribs. (I am just making that assumption from the fact that PB has been kicking at them all day)

Big brothers sitting on my lap.

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Speaking of big brothers Dragon is kinda excited about being a BIG brother. He is a bit confused though because he thought this would negate his little brother status. I had to explain that Lion would be a big brother to Dragon and to Peach Blossom, Dragon would be a big brother to Peach Blossom and a little brother to Lion.

"NO, I will be a BIG brother"

We have found him discussing this with himself a few times, I think he is a bit thrilled that he will not be the bottom rung on the family ladder for much longer... He's never treated like a bottom rung but he is excited to move up in the world anyway.

*****

Okay, our day has been not so exciting... I think I probably should have skipped the Sunday Snapshot today... OH, I just remembered something VERY exciting... I went to church BY MYSELF this morning. I left all the ailing bodies at home and actually got to hear and entire sermon. I did miss having little hands hold mine while we sang and someone sitting on my lap having a snack (to keep their mouth busy so they don't talk) but it was really nice to catch the entirety of the last sermon in this series. Our minister is a great preacher!

*****

8 Days to go...

Does that scare anyone else??? No, just me?? I wonder why that is?

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Dragon was asking to go outside and I told him that he needs to give me his "precious gems" from his pocket so they don't get lost outside. His reply... "But I will just gaze at them in the sun and see how pretty they sparkle!"

Sure enough he went and sat in the sun and gazed at his precious gems and exclaimed at how beautifully they sparkled and came back inside.

*****

L: Um, I think I will just go visit one of my girlfriends.

MMcT: Oh?

L: Yeah, I will just go out and visit CLNG.

MMcT: Um, how about that waits till daddy gets home and he can keep an eye on you out there.

L: Or how about CLNG comes for a sleepover!

MMcT: Oh, I don't think she's really old enough to go for sleepovers just yet.

I know it's all innocent but hearing "girlfriend" and "sleepover" in the same conversation kinda freaked me out a bit!

*****

I considered naming this post "Why my insanity is not called nesting" but thought I would just quietly share that one... I consider nesting to be the uncontrollable urge to clean... and I do not have that at all, I am managing to control, far more than I should, any urges to clean. I also figured that it is usually doing stuff to get ready for baby... that is something else I am not doing... I am getting ready to not be able to do anything, I don't want my husband to be using my name as a naughty word because I have made it impossible for him to do what he needs to do while I can't. Working on the baby's room is still somewhere on the to-do list.

Would you like to see what our baby room looks like... you would? shhhh, it's a secret I am not sharing with ANYONE. I close the door when we have visitors so no one sees it... it's kind of messy at the moment...

AAAhhhahahahahahahahaha.... complete with pictures of another family on the sweet little table. No, sadly that is not what our baby room will look like when we bring Peach Blossom home. Hopefully it wont look like this either...

Unfortunately though that is what it looks like now. SHHHHHHhhh, don't tell anyone. It didn't look that bad before the workmen needed room to install the air con but it had kind of become the junk room and the shelves on the wall needed to come down (along with all the stuff on them) to make room for the air con and all the furniture needed to be packed against one side and it's just one of those messes that you don't want to deal with. Under that big old fit ball under the window is the bassinet. That will be easy to get out and with that is all the smallest of the baby clothes. I reckon one load through the washing machine should have them done and that's pretty much what I HAVE to get done before this baby comes home. I have been trying to figure out how all this stuff has qualified for "baby's room" status. I think I have figured it out.

Baby #1. Still plenty of room in the house, spare room and office are separate rooms so we consolidate into one and NOTHING BUT THE BABY STUFF goes in the baby's room.

Baby #2. Office moves to the garage and spare room is no longer an option. Kid #1 has their own room and Baby #2 has their own room. But in the shake up things have been displaced and now need to be put somewhere. You have realised that Baby #1 didn't use the entire room, he was only little after all and was in there to sleep, drink and get his bottom changed. That leaves a lot of room that can store stuff.

Baby #3 is on the way so kid #1 & #2 are crammed into one room which displaces MORE stuff, you have also accumulated more stuff and hand-me-downs in waiting need to be stored somewhere and toys for the in-between stages need to be stored somewhere and really, you probably did over estimate how much room a baby needs so it all goes into the baby's room.

Baby #3 is 11 days away from being born and you start to wonder if perhaps you hadn't overestimated how much room a baby needs after all.

I'm not sure what my plan of attack for that room is yet but most likely it will involve putting stuff in boxes to stack in a corner and ignore until later. My first job will be to clean off the recliner so I can at least be comfortable while I sort it out.

I figured if I was nesting I would have a sorted and cleaned baby's room with cot ready made and covered with a dust sheet and clothes ready in the drawers (I did that for baby #1) and be moving on to scrubbing walls and re-caulking the tiles and stuff (didn't do that for baby #1)... not doing what I should have done while I was far more capable and now it's just out of desperation to not see the house fall down around me that I am cleaning.

I am also trying to keep up with something a friend is doing... throwing out/donating 10 things every day in August. I must admit, some days I do, some days I don't. Usually though on the days I do get my 10 things the number swells to WELL above the 10. If it sounds like a good idea to you, give it a go for even just a week, it feels really good. If you need a place to get started look in the drawers and cabinets in your bathroom! I had 10 things in less than 5 minutes and HEAPS more space. Hmmm, I wonder if I can find 10 things in that baby's room...

I'll let you know... if I ever find my way back out!

*****

I started this post a few days ago after everyone seemed to think I was nesting and I was pretty sure a nesting woman would have at least made sure she had somewhere to put her newborn when it comes home in less than two weeks. Anyway, I then couldn't post it because I was too horrified to show what the baby's room looked like without having made any progress on it. I now have made some progress and have all the furniture roughly where I think I want it this time (although admittedly I wasn't paying much attention and the change table is facing the wrong way thus rendering it almost unusable... you know, once I get all the junk off it that is currently rendering it completely unusable).

I was relieved to discover most of the hand-me-downs I have just stashed quickly aside are folded and all ready to be sorted into sizes and put in the boxes under Lion's bed. The rest of it is still a HUGE job but little by little I'll get it done. The last urgent job that I need to do in the rest of the house is finish sorting the boys toys I have moved from the playroom out to the garage so that the car can be pulled back into the garage.

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Last random bit for this post... We got the boys checked for swine flu today. I was looking back at photos from when I was pregnant with Dragon and thought Lion and I looked TERRIBLE. Then I remembered my knack for getting sick in the final weeks... about 2 weeks to go while pregnant with Lion I got a mild gastro bug. About 2 weeks to go while pregnant with Dragon both Lion and I got a not-so-mild gastro bug... REALLY not so mild in my poor little Lion. I was determined we would all be healthy this time. NO GASTRO! and guess what... no one has gastro... thankfully no one has swine flu either. But we are dropping like flies... First Lion, then Dragon, then me, now Wolf. I am pretty much better. Wolf has a mancold so he's at death's door. Lion is battling a horrible cough but not swine flu and Dragon, well, it's hard to say. He certainly has a cough but it often gets better and worse at convenient times so it's hard to pick what's real and what's not. Lion is on antibiotics but the Doc didn't think Dragon needed them, Wolf is on over the counter meds and I am just plain going crazy.

So tonight I put my 3 sick boys to bed at 8:00 and I have had a lovely quiet house to myself. Now we only have to get through the next 8 days gastro free and I will be one happy Mummy McTavish!

McTavish Mishmash

There has been fire on the hills near us lately. The air is filled with black snow. At least two afternoons it was bad enough to not let the kids outside to play. I closed up all the windows except the small ones in the toilet and bathroom and I left the kitchen window open a crack. The house still smelt of ash and fire. I can't imagine being in a bushfire. I think it was a controlled burn it didn't get close (in fireman's terms, in my terms it was way too close) to peoples houses. The boys liked to see the thin line of flames moving across the hills from our very safe distance on the other side of the river. All the ash in the air did give us some beautiful sunsets. I know they need to do burn offs and I know that so many native plants require the heat from the fire to germinate but I feel sad for all the little animals that get caught in them.

I have a hole in my last pair of maternity pants. Well, an almost hole. I'm wondering if it can last me through the next 4 weeks, then they can go in the bin. It's right in the crotch so there is the fact that I don't usually sit with my legs apart so people wont see it but also the fact that if it DOES split it's in a very embarrassing spot. I have a few other pairs of pants that I can MAKE fit me but they aren't comfy at all. These pants aren't even really maternity pants. I couldn't afford maternity jeans when I was pregnant with Lion and I had a pair of stretch jeans that was a little too big for me. I wore them as long as I could then when they started to get too tight I would throw then in the drier and put them on still hot and they eventually stretched out as I got bigger and bigger. They have seen me through Lion and Dragon and most of Peach Blossom. They have served their time but to start to fall apart this close to the end????

I was supposed to have an OB appointment this Tuesday. I had been getting nosebleeds since Sunday so yesterday I rang to see when I should start to get concerned and the lovely receptionist said to come on in and get checked out. Apparently since my blood pressure is fine I don't have to worry unless they keep going after I have this baby. I had the odd nosebleed with Lion and Dragon but never anything as big as these or as long lasting. I really hope they do go away BEFORE I have Peach Blossom.

Sometimes when I look in their room I am glad Dragon is only on a trundle bed. This would be REALLY uncomfortable if he was on a big bed! Oh well, at least his feet are comfy.

He has suddenly decided he's interested in toilet training. I on the other hand had decided that I wouldn't try again till after Peach Blossom was born. I know that they need that extra bit of cheerleading at the start and like me to stay in there with them while they try but I am just not up for that at the moment... Still, we have had a #2 success after he asked to use the toilet and then a #1 success when he said he needed to go. YAY. Last night he actually went out to grandmas wearing undies and there were no accidents. I just hope Wolf and Lion can provide some of the cheerleading he needs so I don't have to and maybe we'll get this one out of nappies before the next goes into them.

I am cleaning out the playroom at the moment. We had to take all the furniture and all the toys out to the garage to get the air con put in (didn't have to but with open baskets I thought it was best so they didn't get full of besser brick chunks and gyprock dust from them drilling through the wall. When it was all moved out we discovered that rain had come through that window and we hadn't noticed so the wall had gone moldy in one spot. YUCK. That's now cleaned up, floors been mopped, shelves all cleaned, carpet is getting some much needed grossness killing UV light in the backyard and may even get hosed off if I could be bothered and all the toys are still in the garage. There are rules though... they are not coming in until they have passed the mummy muster. I am sorting through them putting away sets that are too little for Lion and Dragon but will be too big for Peach Blossom for a while, making room for other toys that need their space. I am only letting back into the house toys that aren't broken and toys that are still wanted. I would usually do this just before the boys birthdays in October to make room for any new toys they get but I don't think I'll be bothered then so now while it's all out of there for a bit seems like a good time... but hard work. It is nice throwing out all those McDonald's toys (how do they get them? We don't buy them Happy Meals) and all the broken toys that hurt my feet when I stand on them and the little bits and bobs that no longer belong to anything. I started sorting last night and left them with only the wooden train set for when they woke up this morning. They have been quite content with that for hours now.

It's the Sunday School picnic today... looking forward to that... sitting in a chair at the park by the river and keeping half an eye on where the boys are while they play with their friends. I probably should make something to take with us... to do that I probably should get the kitchen cleaned up... better stop blogging...

Another weekend...

another to-do list hardly touched.

I managed to get the dishwasher to run a couple of times, I kept the family fed, I put the washing machine on once, no one went naked, no one starved, no one got injured... not seriously anyway.

I did manage to achieve one thing that has been on the list for a while and needed to be done soon... like within the next 5 weeks. Since that list item was an arty-farty belly shot and after 5 weeks my belly will be more saggy-baggy than arty-farty.


It was a bit of a challenge. Since I had to do it myself. The editing took less time than the shoot. Not really happy with the shots I got as many of them were out of focus since I was using the remote for the camera and not quite able to see exactly where it was pointing or focusing but this was my favourite that was in focus so it was the one I played with.

So with 5 weeks to go from tomorrow things are getting even freakier... Baby's room - not at all ready for a baby. Mummy's brain - not at all ready for a baby. Baby's clothes - not at all ready for a baby. Daddy's brain - not at all ready for a baby. Big brothers - well, they are probably the most prepared of all... that's kinda scary in itself.

Apart from being so totally in love with this little bundle that is growing so quickly I am getting heartburn more frequently, getting more hardcore braxton hicks - perhaps I should write him another letter, getting more and more scary dreams.

The latest scary dream was so scary that I'm not sure I should share it... really, it had me freaked and I keep thinking about it all day every day since... it keeps coming back to me at the most inopportune times... freaking me out... making me nervous... making me itchy.

Yes, my latest freaky pregnant dream was that I had nits. LOTS of nits. My head was crawling with lice, I could see them on my pillow, I keep thinking about them and getting itchy, I am itchy now just writing this. I might go check my head AGAIN.

Arrr Me 'Arties...

You don't got to worry 'bout this ol' sea dawg...

He's mostly 'armless...

hahahahaha... get it?? he's missing his arm... 'armless... harmless... yeah, looses something when you explain your jokes, I know. I just didn't want the embarrassment of everyone commenting and saying they didn't get my joke...

I found this little pirate hiding when I was cleaning the boys room ready for the workmen to get in there to put in the air con yesterday.

With all this talk of swine flu and pregnant women and comas and still births and scary stuff, I asked my OB today at my appointment just how paranoid I needed to be. He said there was no cause for me to worry...

But I don't know, does that mean I wait for the tail to turn up before seeking help?

Yeah, I know, hilarious. And my nose is wonky.

So I did actually ask him since there has been all this stuff about pregnant women being at high risk and going into comas and lots of reports of women worldwide losing their babies before or shortly after birth. Then just today after my appointment I saw the paper and one local girl has lost her unborn baby at 36 weeks because the girl got swine flu. The news was calling it the first local loss of life to swine flu which I thought was good that they were recognising that her baby counted. I fully expected that it would be swept aside as an unfortunate "side effect" to her getting swine flu because sadly this country doesn't recognise unborn children as real people.

The media is loving sensationalising swine flu so I figured I should ask my doctor rather than take my medical advice from channel 7. I also spent the weekend with my head so clogged with goop I thought my brain would explode and my glands swollen up so huge that I could have been mistaken for a courting froggy. Dr Steve said I have no more need to get paranoid than the rest of the community but he suggested no unnecessary outings to crowded places. He said he wouldn't be going out to dinner or going shopping too much, that sort of thing. I will still be needing to do groceries since we are a bit backwards here and aren't doing online groceries yet. No need for quarantining myself and skipping playgroup and bible study and stuff but just caution.

There has been a big increase in cases locally with all the recent events. The show, school holidays, V8 supercars, etc. so now we are living in a hotbed of H1N1 activity. Yay for us.

So still no holiday photos because I am holding out for that computer to turn up. I am starting to think about caving and just loading them up but I am being as strong as I can.

There's only 6 weeks till we get to meet this little gymnast/soccer player/crumper. People keep saying things like "oh, you look like you have more than 6 weeks to go". What I want to know is how huge do they want me to get? I was looking bigger all last week then Friday morning it did a little dance/somersault/high kick or something and my whole belly shape changed. I'm pretty sure in a few days people will be telling me that my dates must be wrong and I'm going to go any day. Because you know... the general public just know those sorts of things... remind me again, why am I paying my obstetrician? It's upped it's intake of Red Bull I think, it's getting more and more active all the time... Bigger and more active... That's a winning combination for my bladder!

Whinge... Moan... Complain...

I am currently trying to decide if I have given my whole family food poisoning from dinner or if it's just me and it's a pregnant thing... I feel like rubbish and would love nothing more than to puke my guts up and go to bed... sorry probably an overshare.

Two posts in one day... days and days of nothingness then two in one day. This one was started ages ago so I thought I should finish it and post it... it probably contains nothing of consequence but I'll find that out when I read through it as I go... just a bunch of ranting and raving.



While we were shopping for the stuff I needed for Little Bear's cake we bought a bubble machine. Yep, nothing like sticking to the essentials. Mum asked why? My answer was that I took Wolf with me to do groceries. That seemed to explain it well enough. I saw it on the shelf and made the comment "bubble machine, cool". Wolf heard "wow, we really need that bubble machine, we'll have to buy that" so into Dragon's little shopping basket it went. Little Bear loved dancing in the bubbles at her party.

I am going to start putting out an all day feed trough for my kids soon. "Feed them porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast" they say... "fills them up for longer" they say... "cheap, nutritious and filling" they say... Then why is it Lion asks for food less than 10 minutes after he tells me he "can't finish my breakfast because my tummy is too full". Unfortunately I had already given his leftovers to Dragon so I couldn't present him with those to finish off.

He "needs" to eat constantly! TV is a big trigger, if he's in front of the TV he's S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G and only biscuits and lollies will do for the ravenous beast. It's not like I have ever encouraged this behaviour... REALLY, this time I'm not being sarcastic. They do eat snacks in front of the TV occasionally but for the most part they don't have anything while they watch. It's driving me nuts. Especially when he can't finish his filling breakfast and goes and sits down to finish his cartoons and decides that he is starving. But it's not just TV that triggers them. Seeing the kitchen reminds them that they need food, walking through the door after we have been out reminds them that they need food, playing in the yard reminds them that they need food. They are in no way underfed. There is usually fruit in the fridge and I rarely say no to them having a piece of fruit. We go through kilo's of sultanas for snacks, often they get a handful of sultanas and a plain biscuit for a snack but some days there is nothing I can offer them (unless it's a chocolate biscuit and a handful of lollies) that will do.

I don't actually think his tummy was full when he said it was this morning. He had just (out of silliness) knocked a glass candle cover off the table and he and I both froze as we waited for it to hit the floor and smash. Luckily for him it managed to stay on the chair and not hit the floor but he still got in trouble for being careless and I explained that if his silliness had caused it to get broken I would have taken money out of his piggy bank and taken him to buy me a new one. "well, that's not really a very fair idea" he says. After I explained that if I broke something of his by being careless I would replace it with my money and I expect the same from them he thought that it probably was a fair idea. I think the butterflies as he waited for the smash combined with being chastised by mummy made his tummy feel a bit yucky so he said he was done.



I am not sure if it's lack of sleep or pregnancy but my lack of intelligence is getting worse and worse. I can now provide you with this piece of useless information after one of my latest 'incidents'... Hairspray is really hard to clean out of your armpits... I know, you have been wondering that your whole life! Yesterday I actually sprayed my underarms with hairspray. Now I know that hair grows faster when you're pregnant but that's just crazy. I had mistakenly picked up the hairspray can instead of the deodorant (because it's easy to mistake a LARGE BLACK 360g can for a small white 30g can) and it wasn't until I put my arm down and it felt rather sticky that I noticed what I had done. I then had to try to clean it off so I could put the real stuff on. I often go to put soap on my toothbrush. We have pump soap in the bathroom and I haven't had pump toothpaste since I was about 10 so why I go to do that I don't know... but now I am worried that I will actually do it one day... when will I notice that one??? BEFORE I put it in my mouth I hope!



We went computer shopping this morning. I am sick of sharing Wolf's work computer. I am frustrated with feeling like I am depriving him of computer time whenever I get 5 minutes on there. I don't like the hovering at my shoulder waiting for me to finish. I have been reading blogs bit by bit but not getting to comment except here and there. Blog posts are being written bit by by too, any photo editing I want to do or googling (I'd call it research but I don't know if it really classifies as such) I want to get done gets pushed aside so that I don't have to sit with someone watching my every keystroke. The other option is to stay up real late and do it all... yeah, I need sleep since I am the one that gets dragged out of bed at 6ish every morning because Wolf's ears shut down between the hours of 10pm and 8am so he supposedly can't hear the kids asking for breakfast/TV/cuddles after nightmares/blankets pulled up/whatever else they decide they need to drag me out of my nice comfy bed for.

We have the electricians coming in just over 2 weeks to install our air-cons. Yep, right in time for winter. This is something we have been working towards for years now but it is finally happening. This time we made the decision, got a GREAT quote from someone that seems to actually be genuine, got the money together... and then my hand-me-down laptop fritzed... that's okay, we still have the desktop... then the hard drive on that fritzed... um... okay, I can handle only having access to a computer while Wolf is at home... turns out he sometimes wants to use his computer at home too. So we need to get at least one replacement computer (we really should stop using the work computer for home stuff quite so much) which has to come out of the air-con money. We can still do it though, just. We decided to just get a new laptop since our only place for a desk set-up is in the garage and that's not entirely practical. It's also REALLY hot in summer and is not getting air-conditioned (unlike our last house where the garage was the only place air-conditioned other than the master bedroom).

I think winter has been and gone. We had a couple of nights where I wore socks to bed but it's over now. The boys are still wearing flanny jammies to bed because they don't keep their covers on. It's only the first week of July. I WANT WINTER!


I have googled our front runner baby names. first and last together, first, middle and last, all initials, first and last initial. Here's what I found.

Horrible Diseases - None (oh, we have come close to this one before).
Gangsters - None.
Criminals - None.
Pedophile watch lists - None (yes, it has happened when I googled a friends name trying to hunt them down).
Dodgy film stars - None.
Famous people of any description - None.

We may just have a winner folks!

I am kind of enjoying this whole -not telling everyone what flavour baby we are having- thing... I am thinking that once it's born I might keep it up. Only post photos in non-gender-specific outfits, keep all gender references out, just keep it up as long as possible. Good idea?

Anyway, today's post was brought to you by some photos of Little Bear's birthday. I got a super sloppy kiss for that cake :) I figured I wont get around to doing an actual post of all the photos we got so I'll pepper them through other posts. Just a little something to distract you from my whinging and whining.

Now blogger is messing with my head... my last post it kept telling me that there were no spelling mistakes and I knew there was a heap. This post it is correcting correct spelling. It picked up half a dozen words that were spelt right... it offered me the EXACT.SAME.SPELLING. Blogger, don't mess with me... I'm feeling yuck and I'm hormonal... not a good combination.

More than a Mummy.

I've added an edit at the bottom...

I was thinking this would be something that I just stash away in the drafts as therapy but my bloggy friend Lisa over at Boondock Ramblings has started a "thing" called Chime In. I have no idea what to call it coz I'm not up with the bloggy lingo thus I dub it a "thing". I'm not sure this is exactly what she had in mind but it was half written and seemed to fit close enough with her theme of "Stay at home Versus Working mums" no, it's not a showdown, or a no holds barred fight, just a bloggy conversation of sorts.

I've been mulling this over in my head for ages... Is there more to life than being a Mummy? Should I want more than to "just" be a mummy?

A friend said she wants to be more than her kids mum. I figured it was normal, I am sure some people felt that way, I didn't. Then at bible study it came up and someone without kids asked if it's normal to want to be more than just a mummy. Everyone nodded their heads and made comments along the lines of "yeah, I think everyone feels that way at some point". Well, I guess if that's the way it is then I'm just not at that point yet... and I have found that there are a few others out there who aren't either.

So some women go back to work, I can see how you can miss work (really I can, I have on occasions but always figured that going back to work wouldn't even pay for the childcare so we'd be worse off and what I am doing at home is WAY more important that any job I could have). Some women want to study, some call it craving knowledge and some call it bettering themselves or something else, I can see how that is attractive too, but it's not for me at the moment. I do Tupperware, but it was for a purpose and now that that purpose is not achievable anymore I will probably drop it (or drop back to the minimum sales because as Wolf said he knows that I will still buy Tupperware and it'll be cheaper if I can keep my discount).

This is why I am happy being "Lion and Dragon's Mummy" (yes, I secretly love it when I get called that)... Let me just drivel on about my thoughts on this for a bit.

When we were talking about getting pregnant the first time we discussed what our options would be post birth. Would I stay home for a time then go back to work, would I work from home if possible, would I be a stay at home mum and not return to work for the foreseeable future, would Wolf be a stay at home dad???? So many options and questions and different things to weigh up before we made a decision. I realise that things are different in Australia to other countries so our benefits for single income families are really pretty good, our "free" health care system means that we won't miss out on needed health care if we need to drop our private cover, all this is personal stuff for our family at the moment, not a judgement on what is right or wrong.

We decided that the most important thing was that we were the ones raising our child. We would have to make sacrifices to do this but if God was making us responsible for one of his precious children then we needed to do our best. Then Lion was born... I REALLY understood how some women could want to go back to work, this mummy thing was hard. Work was a breeze compared to being a mummy. Thankfully I knew how to do Wolf's job and could step in for him if he needed me to. Some Saturdays I would go to work and let Wolf be the stay at home dad. I only needed one week to know I couldn't do this full time but it was a little break for both of us. Sometimes if he had a really tough week we would switch roles on the Saturday so that he could spend time with his "little man" and I could go and relieve the pressure at work (Saturdays can attract all the crazies). Some weekends we would all go to work and Lion would sit in a plastic crate on a trolley and watch us work or he would sleep (yep, in the plastic crate) and make me wish I was at home asleep too but we got family time amongst the books and music and customers and stuff. Thankfully work settled down eventually so Wolf didn't need to work 6 days a week and could share the Saturdays with other available staff and we got some weekends to spend together at home.

Even through all the rough stuff at the start with Lion's reflux, 2 hours of broken sleep a night (on a good night), nappies like you would not believe (caused by an intolerance we hadn't found out about yet) and other such excitement I still didn't want to be anything more than "Lion's Mummy". I had a job offer that was still standing and was great money, I could have gone back at any time to my old job too but weighing up the sacrifice of our family versus sacrifice for our family we always came back to sacrificing for our family. There were comments from the big boss "when mummy McT comes back to work..." but we made it clear over and over again that this would not be our only child so it wasn't a case of "wait till he's in kindy and she'll be back", it was a long term commitment to our family and raising our children the way that we felt God wanted us to.

Now back to being "just a mummy"... I am not "just" a mummy. I am their teacher, their first-aid administrator, their private chef, their voice of reason, their self esteem builder, their mediator, their feminine influence, their construction site foreman, their daddy liaison (yes, they need him to be their mummy liaison too sometimes), their interpreter, their comforter. I explain the way the world works to them and I soften the blow with a cuddle and gentle words when they find out that it's not quite as wonderful as they thought. I get the joy of reminding them to talk to God about anything and everything. I get the frustration of watching them forget that as brothers they need to have each others back. I am learning as they learn (who knew a catalytic converter cleans the waste gasses coming out of a car???), and I am working, oh boy am I working. I am not just a mummy, I am Lion and Dragon and Peach Blossom's Mummy and frankly, they probably could have done a lot better than me but God thought that I was best for this job so I am going to give it my all.

We don't want the values our children learn coming from a daycare centre. We don't want them to learn right and wrong from someone else. We don't want them to feel like they don't know when we are working/studying/whatever because the line between home and work is so blurred. We want them to come to us when someone hurts their feelings, we want to be there when the just want a hug for no reason at all, we want to be raising our boys to be men that we can be proud to call ours and that are godly husbands to some lucky women some day.

I have so little time with them. I know I am with them all day every day but really, they are going to start forming their own opinions soon (well, they already are actually but nothing big yet) and I want those opinions to be shaped by what they have been taught in our home.

I have so much more to say but I don't want to go on forever... I have repeated myself and I have left stuff out... It's all in my brain but getting it out on "paper" is harder than I expected.

I'm not saying that you can't have a job and still do these things or you cant do more study and still turn out a morally upstanding child or you can't want more for yourself without wanting less for your child. I'm just saying that I don't need those things, I don't know if it's right now or if I'll be fine being mummy forever, but I am Mummy McTavish and I am a very proud stay at home Mummy!

My little men of God "testing the water"

Comment if you wish but like I said, this was going to be left in the drafts just for me but I decided to share it for Lisa's Chime In post this week. I am not after assurance that I am doing the right thing or to be chastised for doing the wrong thing, this is a post for me. If you agree, that's wonderful that we share a common passion, if you disagree, then we may just have to agree to disagree, I hope that doesn't disappoint you.

Edited June 11th to add: I knew Lisa's Chime In was supposed to be about Stay at Home VS Working Mums and the main point I originally wanted to make was not so I fiddled with what I had to make it better fit the theme. The point I originally wanted to make was...

I am happy being JUST a Mummy. So please, Society, stop telling me that I should want "more" for myself than to be just a mummy. What more is there? What can you offer me through education, vocation, etc that is worth more than the lives of my little boys? My "life" may be on hold in your eyes while I wipe noses and make peanut butter sandwiches but to me this is THE LIFE. I am fortunate to be living this life, I will not crave for your approval. Society, please move on, harrass someone else and leave mummies alone, you need not bother us anymore. Thank you.

That one paragraph was probably more the therapy I needed than the rest of the post. I don't care much what path anyone else takes (working vs stay at home) and I wont try to change anyones mind because I don't know what their lives are like. I just don't think we need all the pressure that we get from society.

This edit has not come from any of the comments written, just from me mulling over what I had written and reading other blogs and articles on the subject and realising that I lost my main point along the way.

Peach Blossom Update

Dear Mr Braxton Hicks,

They are not painless and you'd better be thankful I can't get to you (mostly because you're dead) because I'm sick of these stupid things already (it's been about a day but I still have WEEKS left).





I know I shouldn't blame you because something has your name but REALLY, I'm pretty sure you had a hand in naming them, WHY would you name something that women don't like after yourself? Now if you had discovered something good then sure, name if after yourself so that women like you by association. But instead you strike fear into the wombs of first time mums, you just annoy other pregnant women as they try to go about their business with their lady bits running off and doing their own thing and you just make me cranky. "Usually painless", bah humbug, I've never had a painless one yet.





Contorted in discomfort,


Mummy McTavish

************

In other pregnancy news... Nothing has changed except my girth. 25 weeks tomorrow. Next OB appointment is on Friday and he'll send me for my icky glucose test and some other blood work then. 5 weeks till I have my pre-admission appointment at the hospital where we do the birth plan. Mine is pretty straightforward... "I come in, you chop me open, you take my baby out and you give it back to me all cleaned up." I need to get a tour of the new hospital though so I'll book that then and I'll get my first Bounty Bag of freebies :) My leg cramps have gone for now which is nice, with the other two bubs from about 20 weeks I was having about 300ml of tonic water each night before bed or I would wake up with every muscle from my toes to my armpits contorted and tangled in pain. I had about a week and a half of that and it seems to have gone for a bit YAY.





We are getting LOTS of kicks, Peach Blossom is very particular about how I should sleep and sit and stand and how much I should eat and insists that I go to the toilet every 30seconds or it'll give me a big old belt in the bladder. It's just as active as Lion and Dragon were at this point so I'm expecting another little carbon copy when we meet this one.





I am starting to prepare my mind for another reflux baby, I have no reason to believe this one will be free from it. I am trying to remember everything we did so that I can put it into place BEFORE we have a problem instead of being in tears and thinking "oh, that's right, such and such worked last time". I have decided I will speak to the pediatrician while I am still in hospital instead of ringing her in tears 3 weeks in to tell her I can't make it to the 6 week appointment and neither can my sweet little baby. I will find out what course of action we will take while I am still in the hospital and just pray that we will have a reflux free baby and never have to use our action plan. I DO NOT want to medicate again and I think what we learnt with Lion meant that Dragon managed with over the counter stuff instead of the prescription medicine like my poor Lion had to deal with. So we will now have 2 babies worth of knowledge plus what Chimera learnt with Little Bear to put into action to keep this one free from reflux. I really don't want to watch another of my babies go through such horrible discomfort again.

*************

On another note...


Cousin Wilbie has to go into hospital for an operation on Monday. Something is wrong and has been for a while and it could be something simple to fix but it could be something trickier and nastier. They have done all the tests and now the only way to know for sure is to go and have a look. It's "only" day surgery but still more than a 1 year old needs. Please pray that it is all taken care of on Monday and he will have no lasting problems from this. His mummy would also like prayer for the bit where he has to fast for the WHOLE morning. The boy likes his food!


Cousin Wilbie is the cutest 1 year old boy on the face of the earth! I know you may think otherwise (if you happen to have a 1 year old boy of your own) but you'll just have to deal with it. This photo was from a while ago but all the recent shots are on the 2 broken computers. This was cousin Wilbie's interpretation of "green day" at playgroup on the day we did Lion and Dragon's "green day" photo shoot that makes up the blog header. He's one of those kids that you just need a cuddle from whenever you see them! He's so darn cute! Thank goodness he likes to give me cuddles (most of the time).

A Quick Question...

What will we name our new baby... no, not it's real name, I'm not up to that yet. It's blog name. This also becomes the child's mascot in a way and we end up with a zillion toys and clothes and such related to the animal chosen.

Since we aren't telling you the flavour you'll need to just give us suggestions for both or suggestions that can go either way.

No, Boy Mom, even if you give me your email address and swear you wont tell a soul I'm still not going to tell you!

This isn't something that was started for blogs, it was why the names on the blogs are what they are, the kids already had them. It's the same over at the Aussie Half-dozen, it's just a thing in Wolf's family. Lion has been lion themed since before he was born and Dragon has been dragon/dinosaur themed since before he was born.

If we pick your name there is no gift in the mail, no lifetime pass to Museum McTavish, nothing but the knowledge that this kid might be famous one day and wouldn't you like to be able to say... "I picked their name".

It's a........

BABY

I know, I'm funny aren't I? Well, Lion thinks I'm having a woodpecker... mmmhmmm... I don't know where he got that from either.

So anyway, I kinda get confused with people I'm not related to flashing about their ultrasound photos... all babies look the same in those things. They don't even really look like babies. If you have twins or more in there then hey, I'll have a look if you're showing... or if you really do have a woodpecker I'd be just as interested as the rest of the world but generally, sorry, I'm not going to get all gooey over an alien looking creature in a fuzzy out of focus photo. But for the family who I EXPECT to get all gooey over OUR alien looking creature in this fuzzy out of focus photo here it is....

That's it's massive head (as my little bobble-headed babies are known for) with it's arm up protecting it's true identity (perhaps it is a woodpecker). AND THAT'S THE UMBILICAL CORD! You don't think I'd be that careless do you?

Peach Blossom Update

Figured I should do a pregnancy update for the family that reads this since it's a new little grandie/nephew/niece or whatever they may want to know what's going on...

We have our BIG scan on Wednesday. Usually at 18-20 weeks I am bucking the trend and going at 21 1/2 weeks (with the assurance from a ultrasound performing friend that it is perfectly okay since the doc just said "before your next visit") I'm pretty sure they'll do one of those weird ones where you get to see the baby in 3D as well as doing all the normal measurements and checks and stuff.

We are at 21 weeks today so we are into the downward slope, I have my next OB appointment on Friday.

Morning sickness has been coming back slowly but it seems to have hit again with a vengeance the last couple of days with dizzy spells and nausea. YAY. Still at least I got a bigger than 2 week break this time unlike with Lion and Dragon.

Plenty of kicking happening. Wolf can now feel the kicks but the boys aren't patient enough to wait for a kick. Dragon sticks his finger in my belly button then pulls it out screaming telling me that Spiker bit him. Have I said that the boys are sure we will call this baby Spiker? Yeah, I'm not so thrilled with that name but we haven't come up with any better alternatives yet so it's still in the running.

I keep meaning to get a pregnant photo where you can actually see my "fat fat fatty belly" as my darling boys call it. Still even if I had taken one it would have been on one of the dodgy computers right now anyway.

So, we still don't know what flavour baby we are having but we are probably not going to tell anyone when we find out anyway.

I think that's all as far as updating goes, I'll see if I can get some computer time later in the week to update on the two appointments once we have had them.

Good Friday

The Wonder of the Cross

Vicky Beeching

O precious sight, my Savior stands,

Dying for me with outstretched hands.

O precious sight, I love to gaze,

Remembering salvation’s day,

Remembering salvation’s day.

Though my eyes linger on this scene,

May passing time and years not steal

The power with which it impacts me,

The freshness of its mystery,

The freshness of its mystery.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

May I see it like the first time

Standing as a sinner lost,

Undone by mercy and left speechless,

Watching wide eyed at the cost.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

Behold the God-man crucified,

The perfect sinless sacrifice.

As blood ran down those nails and wood,

History was split in two, yes,

History was split in two.

Behold the empty wooden tree,

His body gone, alive and free.

We sing with everlasting joy,

For sin and death have been destroyed, yes,

Sin and death have been destroyed.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

May I see it like the first time

Standing as a sinner lost,

Undone by mercy and left speechless,

Watching wide eyed at the cost.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

May I see it like the first time

Standing as a sinner lost,

Undone by mercy and left speechless,

Watching wide eyed at the cost.

May I never lose the wonder,

The wonder of the cross.

Marvel at the cross with us today,

Wolf, Mummy, Lion, Dragon and Peach Blossom McTavish

Here it is...

The first photo of the three McTavish boys kids.

They're a charming bunch aren't they?

I will fiddle with this at some point but not today, I just couldnt wait to share it.

Quick Update...

Sorry, there hasn't been much time for blogging lately so I thought I would give a quick update on that scan I was so freaked out about. Doc was brilliant, I think he saw me in the fastest time ever. There was only once person before me and she was going in as I arrived so by the time I filled out the "we haven't seen you in a while and need to double check all your info" forms he was finished with her and was calling me in. He did the usual checks about vitamins, morning sickness, stress, problems so far, all was fine so in for the scan... He figured out that I was pretty nervous and when I told him why he went straight for the heartbeat which was ticking away happily and then I could just enjoy seeing our little Peach Blossom for the first time.

Peach Blossom did the typical McTavish baby thing and WOULD NOT HOLD STILL! YAY! He waved at me too. I got a "photo" which I then took a photo of with my phone and messaged it to Wolf at work while I was getting a coffee to steel my nerves to get my blood tests done. It was easy to put them off when I saw Doc at his old rooms, but with the women's section of the hospital moving to a different campus he moved his rooms to be closer and now there is a path lab right next door. I don't do well with needles. I'll happily watch anyone else get jabbed, I kinda find it intriguing, just don't bring that needle near me.

Anyway, everything is fine, right on target for size and we have a C-section date for late August.

(Our babies are called "he" right from the start. I did it with the other two and will keep it up this time. I just think it's nicer than "it")

Beware the Wrath of Mummy McTavish

Kmart Tyre and Auto Service had better watch out. I got pulled over tonight and almost had our car taken off the road then and there and 3 demerit points and a big ol' fine. Thankfully the nicest policeman on earth believed me when I told him (it was the truth) that we had asked for 4 tyres only just over a month ago and were told that we only needed 2 and the others had plenty of wear in them. He said that they were well past needing replacement, well past where he should just give me a warning. They were so bad I should be off the road right now. I explained the situation (I think KTAS didn't want to give me the 4 tyre deal plus the bonus that Bridgestone had for buying 4 of their tyres) and that I would be back there tomorrow to have words and get 2 new tyres. He said he was happy with that (I was obviously both cranky at KTAS and upset at the thought of having my car taken off the road, fined and points lost) and let me go off to my kindy meet and greet. I was fuming the whole way to the meeting. I will be writing to KTAS head office place to let them know I am not happy with my family being put in danger (I've been driving on those tyres in this insane weather). I'm going into the service centre tomorrow determined to not back down and to get my point across but also not looking to pick a fight. If they want to placate me and fix the situation then I'll let them but I will still be letting them know I'm not at all impressed that it happened in the first place. Like I said to Wolf, I got the best car seats we could for the boys to keep them safe in the car and I've been driving them around on crazy dangerous tyres. It's just not good enough.

Anyway, with that off my chest, I am hoping my blood pressure goes down before I go to my OB appointment in the morning. They called me today and asked if I can be there 10:15am tomorrow instead of next Tuesday. Easy done. I get my first look at my little Peach Blossom!!!! YAY. I have a love/hate relationship with the first scan. I love that I am going to get to see the little miracle growing in there but I hate that I don't know what they are going to see, will he be okay, will there be one... or more, will he be developing properly, too many questions! And that's without bringing in the whole gender question yet. I don't freak out after the first scan for some reason. Not even for the big one half way through where they do all the more detailed checks and measure everything more carefully. I just freak out for the first one. But Doc is great and I know between him and God I've got some darn good care happening I just gotta focus on seeing this little Peach Blossom for the first time not the scary stuff.

Peach Blossom McTavish

Some questions answered...

We have a due date of September 6 but since I can't seem to get babies out the conventional way as Lion says "we will chop mummy open and the doctor will pull the baby out". That will be probably 2 weeks early if Dr "Geoff Jansz" goes to his usual program. Although he may let me go longer since I don't have to fit in with his annual conference he attends the last week of October this time :)

This was absolutely a planned baby! We are very excited!! We will find out what we are having but we will only tell close family (when you know the exact time the baby is coming you have to keep something a surprise for your adoring public). We don't have real good odds to get a girl though. I probably wouldn't know what to do with a girl now! We'll take what we are given and will be just as excited with either. We will not just keep trying until we get a girl, that's just crazy talk.

We have chosen the name Peach Blossom to keep with the flower names that our kids have until they are born. It started with Lion, I was pregnant but we weren't telling anyone but parents and brothers and sisters. Chimera put the question to Cheetah that if Aunty McTavish had a baby what should she call it? Flower. But what if it's a boy? Yeah, Flower! (he was 4) So Flower stuck. (Although I seem to remember the Aussie Half-Dozen calling him Lizard after they found out he would be a boy, thanks Dragon for being so excited about a boy cousin!) Our Dragon was called Gumnut until he was born after May Gibbs Gumnut Babies, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

This time it's Peach Blossom. Unless you are Lion, then it's Spiker and to Dragon it's just Bubby. That sometimes comes out Blubby so I was a little offended when he kept tapping my tummy saying "Blubby, Blubby, Blubby" It's easy to get offended when there's hormones going crazy.

I'm pretty much the same as any other pregnant chick.

I am not keeping real well but it's nothing I can't handle, constant morning all day sickness combined with my tummy bug I had a few weeks ago and then the cold and then the cough keeping me slow moving and close to home. But you just have to keep doing some stuff. I know that I get worse in the afternoons so I am doing stuff in the mornings if I can. I'm used to it now, and I know not to listen to anyone that tells me about the magic 12 week mark where all of a sudden your sickness goes. Then when that doesn't happen it's 18 weeks then when you are still crook all the time you get "well at least you aren't on bed rest". I am having ginger this and ginger that and wearing my seabands when I can, it all helps and at least I'm not greeting the toilet bowl each morning.

I have a smell up my nose constantly. Not so strange except that I have no sense of smell any other time. I wake up randomly during the night smelling poo, raw red meat, rotting grass, just random gross smells. I have had to change to liquid soap in the bathroom because I figured out that was part of my smell problem. It smells nice usually, it's just yuck at the moment.

I am pregnant so all the yuckness is just part of it and I'll survive.

The boys are a bit of a mixed bag the way they are reacting. Dragon seems most excited but also has decided that he wants to be a baby all the time. There is also that whole shower thing. I had seen the book that was recommended "There's a house inside my mummy" in a bookshop and looked for it at the library along with another book that looked good (I can't remember it's title). Thing is when I used the computers at the library to search for it they gave me some random place to look and I couldn't even find that section. I got home and used their internet search and found that it's in a special parents resources section that I have never seen before. So now I need to go back. Lion is just getting on with life.

So Jennifer from The Miles Family Adventures guessed our news first (well Chimera actually did but she really knew already so she got a different treat) so Jennifer will be getting a special treat soon.

I have my first OB appointment next Tuesday. I got a gentle lecture from the receptionist about leaving it so late to make the appointment since I should have been to see him about week 10. We're not all that rich so I figured the longer I can put it off I might save one or two appointment fees over the course of the pregnancy.