Well she is here! And we even had her name picked out for over a week before she made her appearance into the world At 10 to 11am on Friday (26th) my waters broke (ewwwww! I have never had them break before going into labor before, it was a shock!) so off we trundled to the hospital as with Lilly being born in under an hour since the first contraction, the midwives were super keen for me to get my butt down there ASAP. We arrive.. and nothing. Not even a twinge of a contraction. But can I go home, I ask? Oh no. I have to stay. And be hooked up to a monitor for EIGHT HOURS! Eight hours!! On my back, stuck in the one spot, not able to move until I got DESPERATE to pee, and then it was straight back on the monitor. Ohhh that was NOT FUN. My back was killing me, my legs were killing me, I felt like I couldn’t breathe (well.. you would feel the same if you had a baby pressing down on all your organs and squished right up under your ribs!). Anyway, since nothing was happening apart from some braxton hicks contractions that were uber mild, Matt decided to head on home at 9pm to make sure everything was all good with the other four kids. WELL. At about 9.30 I’m feeling these contractions that are getting stronger and stronger.. and I’m alone in this birthing room hooked up to the machine and NO ONE will see me! Eventually I press the buzzer a few dozen more times and tell someone they NEED to examine me because umm.. hello these contractions are HURTING and I need to call my husband. I finally have a midwife examine me and tell me that she thinks the baby will be here in 15-20 mins. WHAT!!! LOL. I ring Matt and tell him to get back down here NOW… so he does, arriving around 10pm. Long story short… she was SIDEWAYS.. little monster. So her head was only partly engaged, and what would have been 20 mins ended up being an hour and a half of insane pain while we tried to get her to turn around - did I mention she was SIDEWAYS??!!! - and finally… FINALLY… she arrived at 11:05pm. I was in such shock I barely registered them placing her slippery little body on my stomach. I was just soooo relieved the pain was finally going to be over. I was shacking like a leaf (was told from lactic acid build up? no idea what that is…) and my teeth would NOT stop chattering. Happily, she fed immediately And the midwives were impressed with my feeding skills (after five kids.. you’d wanna hope so right? *G*). Another long story short, I ended up hemorrhaging quite badly then and they hooked me up to the drip that induces labor. WHat followed was pain WORSE than the labor. I was sucking down gas for a good four, maybe five hours, barely aware that I’d had a baby, since the pain was SO intense and coming at such an insane pace (like… no time to breathe between one contraction and the next). Eventually the pain petered out sometime around 4am and I was finally able to reach over and scoop Zoe out of the crib and tuck her into bed beside me. After that.. everything was just perfect. Zoe is perfect. She snuggles into bed beside me each night, we’ve had zero problems with feeding, the kids just *adore* her, and she’s slotted into our family like she has always been here We’re so thankful for her.

Oh.. she was 8lbs 7oz, and 50.5cm long (not sure what that is in inches, sorry).

So…of course what is a post like this without photos! So I hope you enjoy them

xox Amanda

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Lilly LOVES to be in the water. If I let her, she’d probably live in the bathtub in the winter and in the pool or spa during the summer. She was playing in the tub this afternoon when I grabbed these two shots

Today, I am 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant and I am ready for this baby to COME OUT NOW. Seriously, if someone wants to tell little miss to get out, I’d be most appreciative. I am tired of being pregnant and since I am now considered full term I am more than happy for her to make her appearance into the world Also, a glass of wine would be nice too. I don’t ask for much, right?

xox Amanda

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Well I guess when it rains it pours, because lately around here it has sure been pouring down. First Matt’s accident, from which he is still struggling to recover with both legs in casts and a wrist and knee still in need of an MRI, leaving me to do pretty much everything (it’s been a little over 4 weeks since it happened). I am in pain ALL the time (I am 36 weeks pregnant right now). And then last week, Isaiah slipped on some soap in the bath and knocked a tooth out. He cracked his mouth on the side of the tub and the tooth snapped right out whole, at the same time as knocking his second front tooth to the side and damaging it. I took him immediately to the dentist with his poor little baby tooth in a jar of milk but was told there was nothing that could be done. He’ll have to have a big ol’ hole in his mouth until his adult teeth start to grow in in around 3 years time. There is also a chance he could lose the other tooth depending on how much damage it has taken - best case scenario will be that it turns grey and stays in until it falls out naturally when his adult teeth grow in, worst case, it will get infected and need to be removed. When it happened, his face was COVERED in blood.. there was blood splattered on the bathroom tiles (which let me tell you, looked truly gruesome since our bathroom tiles are WHITE!) and it was just pouring down his chin. Thankfully it stopped within around 5 minutes, but uugh… seeing my little boy in that much pain and covered in so much blood was a nightmare. I started hyperventilating and my stomach was contracting (Matt was holding Isaiah at this stage) but grabbed Isaiah and made myself calm down for his sake. The guilt I feel over this is huuuuge… if only the soap wasn’t in the bath… if only I wasn’t baking the cake and Matt in the bathroom watching the kids… things like that that just go around and around in your head. Oh and did I mention that our car has broken down too???

Anyway, here’s a photo I took of him the day after it happened. You can’t see the damage too badly. The swelling of his face and gums had gone down massive amounts, and he doesn’t look quite so “raw”.

I love this one of Lilly. She’s looking totally disheveled and whatnot, but look at that smile… sometimes she is good to me (and those moments are sooo rare right now… I swear she has turned into an insane little monster since Matt’s accident!)

And just ’cause, here she is on our way out the door to Madison’s school assembly last week. She’s wearing a little hairclip made by Grace Designs (go check her out, her kids hair candy is GORGEOUS and the stuff she makes for adults is soooo drool worthy).

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week..

xox Amanda

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Happened to my post yesterday?! I went to check it today and it was gone.. beyond weird. And frustrating! So this is a test.. to see what happens.

xox Amanda

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Thought I would share a couple of photos of Isaiah and Lilly, the youngest two (for the next few weeks anyway… lol). Lilly can be hilarious when having photos quite often - she’ll either sulk and carry on/cry/run away or she’ll turn into a little ham, pulling out poses (!!) and funny little cheesy smiles. I think she has been watching Madison far too much LOL. Isaiah likes to have his photo taken - but only when he asks

In other news, I am now 32 weeks pregnant and feeling every *second* of it. None of the doctors I have seen think I will “last” the full 40 weeks (not surprising since Lilly was born at 35 weeks) but you never know. Matt was hit by a car - he was in hospital for a week (hence my quietness on the net lol)and has come away with two broken feet and a lot of scratches. It wasn’t his fault which is the only good thing (well.. that and the fact that he is ALIVE!!!). It’s been hard.. and will continue to be hard since the recovery period is at least 8 weeks. By which time the baby will have arrived! I am not sure how I am going to get by with no help and four other kids (five one the wee one makes her entrance) but we’ll manage as we always do I guess.

And lastly - baby names! Got any suggestions? I am fresh out of ideas right now. Anything I like, Matt doesn’t, and vice versa. I need suggestions!!! lol.

xox Amanda

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Just for fun, I thought I’d link this little “feature” that Style Collective Junior Style did on Lilly and Maddy :D Click on the picture or the link below to go and read/see the whole thing.

Maddy & Lilly junior style collective feature.

Also because I am a sucker I now have three shoots left before my maternity leave. Thank goodness one starts in about an hour and the other two are both next weekend. I tell you I cannot WAIT until I can just sit around and do nothing and have nothing waiting to be proofed LOL. This morning I cleaned the house like a maniac (scrubbing both bathrooms top to bottom… not sure why I bothered, I finished cleaning the ensuite and went back to the kids bathroom and there was already toilet paper “decorations” everywhere..) and if I had time I’d start on reorganising the girls closet. Maybe after the shoot. I am feeling motivated (although tired and freaking SORE).

xox Amanda

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I always wanted a sister. I have two siblings. Neither of which, to my immense disappointment as a child, were girls. Sure, I tried to turn them into girls. I would make them dress up (while they were still too young to protest) in my old flower girl dresses and I’d brush their hair. But did it turn them into the much coveted sister I so longed for? Oh no. But at least I have photographic evidence (thanks to my mum) of what my sisters might have looked like had I possibly gotten my wish You can be sure I still like to tease my little brothers about those pics to this day

My daughters however, did not share my unlucky fate. They have eachother, and despite the age-gap between them (Maddy is 6 and Lilly is 2) they are close and love to do things together. I love watching their bond grow. I love that our new baby will be another sister for them to enjoy. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a sister… it’s such a foreign thing to me. But if it’s anything as wonderful as what I imagine it is (and see daily in my girls lives) then… it must be something very special.

I have two remaining sessions left before I start my “maternity leave”. It can’t come soon enough! Although I am only 30 weeks I feel like I’m ready to burst and doing anything is a huge chore. I’m tired, I’m sore, I can barely walk… yeah.. bring on the maternity leave LOL. I’m also looking forward to having a tiny weeny bit of time to just shoot for myself, too. It feels like it’s been sooooo long!

xox Amanda

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Hopefully now that I am winding things down with my biz in preparation for baby #5, I might have some more time to be able to post over here! We had our 4d scan last week with some fabulous people over at Early View (same people we used with Lilly - who is on their front page! She’s the baby scan photo on the left). Totally relaxing and enjoyable once again. This time we only had Lilly with us instead of the entire troupe of kids (the older three were having a mini holiday at Nanna’s house). Lilly was enthralled with it all. She’s watched the DVD over and over again since last week too. I’m so glad we did it again - I almost didn’t, since it’s not *cheap* but hey.. you only have baby #5 once, right? Here are some of my fav pics from the scan, labelled by me so you know what you’re looking at LOL.

We also had it doubly confirmed that baby #5 is indeed a SHE! I’m soooo excited. I really really wanted another girl.. I love the idea of a house FULL of little girls. Although ask me again when they are teenagers and I may have changed my mind.. shhh. And can I just give a shoutout to my friend JEN from WindyRidge who also just found out her newest bub is going to be a GIRL too! Congrats Jen :)

Thought I would also share a couple of cute shots of Lilly and one of her bestfriends, Sammy. These are from a shoot I did for Itti Bitti (my FAV cloth nappy company).

And lastly, tell me what you craved food-wise or scent-wise when pregnant, or how you nested! I am in a serious nesting mood (already cleaned out the office, my walk in wardrobe, and organized the tiny baby nappies and clothes!) and I’m looooving the smelll of eucalyptus oil.

xox Amanda

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I posted some sneak peek images from the photoshoot I did for Eden’s Bouquet over at my other blog. I thought it would be fun to post some of the outtakes here. Lilly is, as you can see, not among the most cooperative of models. In fact, most of the time was spent trying to reason with her/bribe her/cajol her/amuse her long enough to get one or two decent shots. As frustrating as it can be sometimes, it does make for some hilarity and the outtakes always make me laugh. Madison is more or less a workhorse as long as she’s in the mood (and she isn’t always, trust me) I just have to remember to praise her lots and let her go crazy often to work off some steam. I’m just as glad to have the outtakes for my personal records as I am to have the beautiful “the shot” shots.

(You can see Matt’s hand in this one telling her to stay put LOL)

The last few days I have managed to get pretty much ZERO done. Well.. ok I lie. I’ve done a LOT of cleaning and playing with the kids and washing and cleaning and cleaning and… you get the picture right? At the moment I feel like I’m pretty much just following Lilly around from one disaster to the next. The older two are still in school (holidays starts next week….) and Isaiah is at preschool 2 days so that gives me a tiny bit of relief, but oh my Lilly is pushing all my buttons. Just as I manage to avert or clean up one disaster, she’s moved onto the next and I’m starting allover again. How can this go on from first thing in the morning until right before bedtime? Typing this has taken me HOURS. HOURS! Running to the keyboard for a short moment to type a couple of words before running back out to stop the monster destroying something else. I think I shall rename her Godzilla or something.

We made playdough on Tuesday. It kept them occupied (with me playing with them) for about an hour, not including the time it took for us to make it (about 5 mins!). We got it out to play again today so I thought I’d grab a few shots for the blog. Ignore my snaps again, and if you want to try it with your kids the recipe is below.

I like this recipe because you don’t have to cook it
You need:
3 cups plain flour
1/3 cup of salt
2 tbls vegetable oil
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 drops (or more) food colouring of choice ( used about 15 drops yellow).

Basically just dump all of the dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix it around. I let my kids do all of the pouring and mixing. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then slowly combine with dry ingredients. It will be quite hard to mix at first and I use my hands to squidge the mixture all together (kids love this bit too). Once it’s more or less in a doughy lump, you can take it out of the bowl (get rid of any dregs) and then start kneading it until it’s nice and soft. You want to store it in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place. If it starts to dry out you can add a little bit of water. Oh, I use the vanilla extract because I loathe the smell of playdough and I find this masks it quite nicely (and you can’t really smell it) and it’s safer than essential oils. But if your child is less likely to eat it than Lilly, then go ahead and scent it with your fav essential oil Have fun

xox Amanda

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I get asked ALL the time how I get anything done (my work, my knitting, just…anything!) while I have Isaiah (4) and Lilly (2) at home with me. Isaiah started going to preschool 2 days a week (school hours) this year so that gives me a bit of extra time, but on those days I seem to do more cleaning up and laundry than anything else.

Today however I want to fit some knitting in. I’ve cleaned up the house. I get Isaiah to help put away the clothes while Lilly helps me fold (or unfold as the case usually is) and sort out the piles of what belongs to who. Now that we’ve done that, I’ve set Lilly up at the kitchen sink with a bunch of plastic cups and bowls and a few inches of sudsy water. She has a scrubby cloth, scrubbing brush, and a whisk to make more bubbles. I find this gives me maybe 20 mins of time to get something done. Isaiah is in his room enjoying a respite from Lilly bugging him so he is playing with his cars. Oh you can excuse my snapshots just this once, right? My kitchen is not exactly a good spot for photographs sadly. Pics of the Monster at work

A couple of the finished knitting pieces I mentioned yesterday.

Mitered dish towel (who knits a dish towel! I laughed at myself for making this). Pattern from the Mason Dixon knitting book… the second one, can’t remember the full title. I used Jo Sharp desert garden aran cotton.

And a Lacey Bonnet. Pattern from Baby Bloom by Erika Knight. The turned out soooo teeny weeny that I would be surprised if it fit a newborn. I am going to make another one in a different colour. I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino yarn.

Of course now that I have spent my time typing up this blog post instead of knitting, Lilly has finished with playing in the sink and wants me to go play with her instead Have a great day.

xox Amanda

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