John's Turning 40!!!

We all hope you have a great day today, Johnny. Happy 40th birthday. We wish we were all together to help you celebrate. Consider yourself hugged and kissed!

Putting on Chubb

Benjamin is changing every day. His skin colour is softening, he's become very downy, his hair has the usual slight orange tinge, and he is starting to fill out his extra folds. We wondered when he would fit his skin, and he certainly has put on a lot of chubb over the 17 days of his outside life. What a darling!!

Hey Mum, Matching Hats

Willem discovered today that his new winter hat matches Mate's hat. He was quite thrilled and pleaded for a photo to be taken.

It was obviously a bit cooler this morning; Billy has on his flanny shirt.

Bye John

We arrived at the International Terminal at 1.30pm today, hung around for an hour or so before John was able to book in, then went into the lounge and downed a cup of very delicious coffee. A photo was taken of all of us, but with John's camera, so I can't put it here.

Billy enjoyed seeing the planes coming and going; Jessica just enjoyed. We sat around in the cafe until 4.30, and then John lead us to the gate. It was there that the reality of the situation hit. I won't see him now for 6 months. Fortunately the whole good bye scene was quick, and once John went through the gate and down the escalator we couldn't see him.

Now, the younger children are all asleep in bed, the older ones are starting to chill out, and John won't be home for what seems a long, long time.

Keep your head down and stay safe, Johnny.

Yeah! We Have a Kitchen Table

How's this for a decent sized table?! John stumbled onto this suite in an independant furniture shop while he was waiting for his puta to get fixed. The table is made of 150 year old recycled hoop pine. A rather solid piece of furniture. We managed to get 12 chairs for an extraordinary price and the whole thing was delivered yesterday afternoon.

Our first meal around the table was a bbq meal, and we had a friend of John's join us. The children are just as happy about having somewhere to sit to eat as I am. However, I'll have to sew a very big tablecloth now, because none of my cloths go anywhere near covering the table.

Our Happy Little Man

Yesterday, Wednesday, was quite a hot day. Benjamin had developed a little skin irritation in the nappy region, so we spent some time outside with Benjamin uninhibited and unrestricted by clothing. He obviously enjoyed it. He's got a big smile for someone who is only 14 days old!!

Josiah and Benjamin

Here is Josiah holding Benjamin. Notice how attentive Benjamin is. He looks up into our faces expectantly, and waits for our response. How much love can one baby be given?

Lilly turns 9

Yesterday was Lillith's 9th birthday. So after far too much chocolate was eaten in the form of bunnies and eggs, Lilly unwrapped her presents. She received a porcelain doll dressed in traditional farm clothing, a knitted cardigan for winter, a pair of goggles for swimming and two little mice.

The mice have been named Bubble and Squeak. They live in a cage fitted out with toys, and are kept on the teddy chest at the end of Matilda's bed.

We celebrated with a meal of roast lamb and crispy roasted potatoes, served with lashings of rich gravy. The meal was finished with a fresh banana cake topped with passionfruit frosting. (Our neighbour peeked through the hedge that morning holding out a bag of passionfruit that he had just picked from his vine.)

We continued to eat chocolate for the rest of the day, cutting the sweetness with cups of hot tea. Lilly and the other girls spent much time organising obstacle courses and tea parties for the mice, giving them lots of little tidbits to nibble on.

Family Album

Top Row: Elsie, Matilda, Josiah, Bethany

Couch: Emily, Lillith, Mum, Dad, Jessica

Front: Benjamin, Willem

Billy & Benjamin

Yummy! Yummy!

Benjamin

Benjamin at two days of age, sound asleep in bed.

And here he is in his favourite position in Diana's arms.

Finally, on day 4, Benjamin had his first full outfit on.

Benjamin has started into a very nice sleeping routine, he feeds well and enjoys his wakeful times. Actually, we enjoy his wakeful times!

Welcome Benjamin!

Welcome to our Benjamin Russell.

Born Thursday 13th March, 2008, at 6.20am, with a weight of 4.16kg/9lb 1oz.

He was received into John's hands in the quiet of our own home. Benjamin's sibblings were waiting silently in our loungeroom, but when they heard his first cry, I could hear their excited giggles.

This first photo was taken only moments ago (Friday 10am), whilst the second was taken when he was only a few hours old.

We had a beautifully restful night, he feeds well, and we are very thankful that he has come to join our family.

Two Down Now

Not only has Josiah been in bed with a throat infection since Saturday, Tildy badly twisted her ankle this morning and has been couch ridden all day. Being my right hand girl with the little children, I have sorely missed her today.

Fortunately, Billy fell asleep early in the evening, and Emily and Jess were happy to read in bed a little before their normal bedtime.

So, will tonight be the night? That is the question on the children's lips, and circling my mind without rest. I have certainly done enough nesting today to provoke labour; even now I can smell the bread ready to come out of the oven.

No, I haven't had the baby yet...

Still waiting.....

But it will happen, I know I can't stay pregnant for ever. At this stage, I know labour can start any moment, I also 'feel' I may as well stay this way forever. And yet in a few short hours from now it could be possible to be holding our new little one. It's a bit of a mind bender.

We spent Thursday and Friday preparing. There were a few bits of unpacked 'stuff' lying around, some boxes and rubbish that needed removing, furniture requiring rearranging for the special moment, and autumn beds to be made up. With the quilts out of my blanket box I could pack away some summer and non-nursing clothes for the next season.

Josiah has been in bed all day with a temperature and sore throat. He's been sleeping most of the day, hoping to be up and around before the baby arrives. In his waking moments he watched some movies and sipped on cool drinks.

Elsie went to the movies with her aunty and cousin, but was gone only a couple of hours.

Matilda, Lilly and Beth went swimming for a while, played dominoes, amused the little ones, watched a couple of videos, and are now having drawing competitions. They also vaccumed out the van, ready to receive the newly washed baby seat and recovered booster seat.

So, we shall continue to wait. We shall keep busy and focus on daily activities. I am attempting to keep well rested, especially proper sleep, and to prepare some meals for the family to make the week easier for them.

I am SO ready to have this baby!

Billy

What a busy day Billy had.

Brekky was eaten and cleaned up. He wanted to go outside for a little play but needed his shoes and boots and a jacket on. We had so much trouble getting his boots on I thought he might be growing out of them. But no, there was a pair of socks shoved in the toes.

Down to the school room where he got out the basket of plastic animals. Cleaned them up and set up the wooden doll house family. That took a long time which gave Jessica time to finish her books. She joined in with the little people cars and took the doll house family camping on the other side of the room. After these were away the wooden maze came out for some serious sorting of beads. It really was time for some refreshments by this time. So upstairs we came for cordial and bickies (with maze under arm). But it is far more fun having snacks with the porcelain tea set. The finger puppets were the next treat which took us up to lunch.

The other children broke for lunch and ate their sandwiches outside. Of course, Billy joined them. But after they returned to their desks, Billy needed to amuse himself again.

He proceeded to line up all our chairs to make a car. Cushions were needed for comfort and then the passengers were ready to board. Every dolly and teddy he could find. He noticed the wooden maze again and spent another session organising the beads.

He didn't like the spider in the corner of the window frame, so he took some time using the tea towel to get rid of it. When he finally got it from the frame, he wasn't sure where it was so he dropped the tea towel with a slight shudder.

It was time for another snack and he asked for a dvd. He's been in and out of the back yard with the children since they finished their lessons watching them swim and climb the trees. He used the cricket bat and ball for a while out on the patio but is now sitting inside again. It's just on dusk and he thought a handful of Nutrigrain would be a fitting end to his day of play.

No wonder he sleeps so soundly.

Trying to keep occupied

Still hanging on... But it is inevitable, I will deliver this baby at some stage.

After doing 3 loads of washing, putting away, sweeping and washing the floors throughout the whole house, helping Emily with her lessons, and the other children with some of their subjects, and starting on the bathrooms, we needed to drive to collect the bike from the repairer. While we were out we decided to go the supermarket and also to pick up some extra stationary for Elsie. So I am trying...

Of course, I did get home and sit until I had to prepare dinner. But after the children had a swim Josiah eagerly helped me cook, and the girls did the washing up.

The weather is cooling off, we've put quilts in the quilt covers, and I think it's time to have a baby!

Waiting, waiting, waiting ...

Well, I've reached the 40 week mark, now it's just a matter of waiting.

We reached our download limit way before the end of last month so we had to revert to our dial up account. It's painfully slow to upload blogs on dial up, so I didn't bother for the four or five days. It was a quiet time anyway. Managed to do some errands, took Elsie's bike in to the repairer (it'll be ready tomorrow), and sat a lot at my sewing machine.

I started a patchwork quilt down at the farm, and I've been steadily assembling it over the last few days. I was hoping to have it hanging on the bedroom window by the time the baby arrives. The main bedroom is very bright, and it would be nice to have it a little darker for the birth.

The children have done a lot of swimming. The pool is such a motivator for their school work! Most of them are coming to the end of units which means they have reviews and tests. They actually really enjoy the assessments. In their 'extra' subjects, like science, they are allowed a lot of time for revision, and can even complete the tests with open text books. I much prefer them to get the answers correct as comprehension exercises, than write the wrong things and have those errors cemented in the minds.

Today has been a cooking day. Josiah prepared a bread dough which I just put in tins to rise. Matilda made carrot muffins which she plans to serve for dessert tonight with custard. Bethany made icecream last night, and has re-whipped it this morning ready for dinner, and also made magic cordial. Using the cordial she prepared a dozen icy poles which will be frozen by afternoon tea time.

It is so nice having other cooks in the house to share the food prep.