Tree Fall

1 Week

How can it be a week already? Time is already moving too fast. And we already feel like Lily has always been with us.
Bella has had a few moments of pushing the boundaries and I've had a few moments of very public tearfulness in response, but none of it has been a real surprise and once Jim and I realised that we needed to just chill with Bella a little more, things have started to even out again.
I've been really surprised though by how totally Bella accepts that Lily is here and is here to stay. She's very proud of having a sister and especially proud that Lily is a McGrory-Patton just like her.

I know things will change once Jim goes back to work (a few weeks yet), but at the moment we're all working really well together and just enjoying all the newness and all the fun.

Loving it all.

Day 5

Ok, that's an insane amount of comments!! Thank you all so much for making my family once again feel so loved. I think the best way to illustrate how much all of your words means to all of us is to tell you that whilst I was in hospital my mother was texting me updates on how many of you were stopping by to wish me luck! (not in an icky, bizarro way, but in a 'look how lucky you are to have so much love and support out there' kind of way).
I'm going to print out all of the comments for Lily's baby book (must get one of those!) because I want her to grow up knowing that the world may be a big place, but that it's also a good place, full of people that care enough to reach out to us. So if you're thinking that being comment number 250 means that I won't even notice you, then you're very much mistaken - I will never tire of reading all the best wishes for Lily and love every single one of them. We are indeed the luckiest people I know!

Life here is good. We're all doing great.
Bella is handling the transition really well - especially since she suddenly has two parents telling her to stop it, shush, be careful and no! all the time. We are also telling her that we love her and that she's doing great but I think it's still a little unbalanced. She seems to be coping though and just isn't fazed at all by having a baby in the house. I'm pretty confident that she's going to be a fantastic older sister. She's already excited about all the things she's going to teach Lily. And she already calls her her little darling!
Lily is, of course, wonderful and has made herself right at home. I can't believe how worried I was about having a baby around the house when it just feels completely normal already. And I'm so relieved to say that it just doesn't knock you for six the way having your first baby does and that I'm already happy to think about the odd hour in the studio.

Like I said, we're good.

Introducing.....

Lily Constance McGrory-Patton.  21st February 2008.
(or as we like to call her - "our little garden gnome")

We're back home, all safe and sound after only a one night stay in hospital.
As you've all gathered, Lily was a complete superstar and decided to take this whole situation in to her own hands yesterday morning.
I woke up to a contraction at 7am, followed by my waters breaking immediately. After things moving pretty quickly we decided to go to the hospital and got there at 9.30am. I had Lily less than 3 hours later with no pain relief (!!!!). So from beginning to end took 5 hours in total. 
We're really pleased to be home again and as we speak, both our girls are tucked up in their beds.
Thank you so much to all of you for all the support in the last nine months - I have appreciated every word of it. And thank you for all your support yesterday - and for those of you that suggested it - it didn't feel like a virtual labour!!!

Change of Plan...

Because.... OOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (somebody tell me to breathe).

37 weeks...

Sorry. I'm still here. We're all still here. Waiting.
But the waiting is almost over.  I go in on Friday to be induced. Which I am not happy about. Because I do not want to be induced. Unfortunately I don't have a choice because in the last week my Obstetric Cholistasis has finally reared it's head and for M-P2's safety she needs to be out asap.
So I guess I'll be back next week.  Or should I say, we'll be back next week. The four of us.
Gulp.

Help....

It would appear that I've finally run out of steam. I just can't seem to work up the energy to do any more work or even fun sewing. In fact I've been stitching M-P2's quilt binding for three days now. Three days! It usually takes me a couple of hours for a quilt the size of hers and it's usually a job I love to do. But I just can't muster up the enthusiam for it.
My work days seem to consist of sitting at the sewing machine for a couple of hours without actually doing anything and then going back to bed for a lie down.
Not overly productive then. Although Jim says that gestating is being productive and who am I to argue.
Oh and I'm so huge that Bella called me 'her big fat Mummy' yesterday.
Thanks for that Bella!

Nursery Sneaky Peak

I had what I'm hoping was my last scan today and all is well. Large, but well. Oh and engaged.
After the hospital we dropped Bella off with some very generous and very much appreciated friends and I came home and did my best to get M-P2's room finished. After all, she's going to be here soon. Isn't she?
I can't remember if I've explained that the poor bebe doesn't actually have a room of her own. Instead she's commandeered the far end of our bedroom. The room is naturally split by the stairs that come up in to it (it's an attic room), so it hasn't been hard to create a definite separation. But it's still not perfect. And we need to come up with a better solution long term.
But in the meantime I've really tried to make it work as well as I can.  There's still a little more to do, but I'm pretty darn pleased with what I've managed so far.

It still needs some extra storage (I'm thinking about this ) and I really want to hang full length muslin curtains to further separate it from the rest of the room and of course there's the labels for the drawers.
But art work is up (love it), cushions are made, quilt is finished and toys are sorted.

A few more finishing touches (oilcloth for the tops of the drawer units etc) and a shelf put up and of course a  baby and we'll be there.

Bugged

Well M-P2 certainly was kind enough to let us enjoy Bella's party (Bella had a great time!) but almost as soon as it was over Jim and I packed our bags and headed off to the hospital.
We were under the very misguided opinion that those pains that I had across my abdomen that were making me cry every five minutes would soon be leading to the final member of the family finally joining us.

However, as I said, we were misguided. Very misguided. Because although I did spend the weekend in hospital, and I was in absolute agony, and I did get some very nice drugs, I did not, let me repeat, did not come home with a beautiful new baby.
Because apparently stomach bugs don't produce babies. That would be labour. And I wasn't in labour. Just pain. A whole lot of useless, sick inducing pain. Thanks to a stomach bug.
How unfair is that??
So today I am coming to terms with being more pregnant than I've ever been and showing no physical signs of being any thing other than pregnant for at least a few more weeks. And concentrating on finishing off all the jobs that need doing before M-P2 does eventually put in an appearance -
Quilt...
Cushions...
Basket linings...
Boppy covers...
Floor cushions...
Hang art work...

Oh and look who beat me to it! Huge, huge congratulations to Kristin and Fiona!

The wonderful fabric in the top photo is by the equally wonderful Aunty Cookie  and can be bought right here . It's hand screen printed and is fantastic. Oh and it's also limited edition, so rush on over there right now, or you'll kick yourself if you leave it too late!

Tea and Awards

Bella's birthday party is tomorrow (can you say 'excited' !!) but the two of us had a little party on her actual birthday.
Because I had been ill all weekend I hadn't been able to get out to get the bits and pieces that I wanted to decorate the house for her. So the night before I pulled out some vintage linens and tea sets, plus the bunting that I made for her first birthday and decorated for a pink tea party.

I also managed to make some chocolate cupcakes for her instead of a birthday cake (she's still unsure about the whole cake situation after not being able to eat it before).
Instead of tea I filled the tea cups with raisins, grapes and chocolates. And spread her pink wrapped parcels all around the kitchen.
When she came downstairs she was so shocked that she didn't want to go into the kitchen at first and just sat on the stairs (she's so much fun to decorate for).

After opening her presents and dancing around the kitchen (her, not me!), we spent the rest of the day playing with new toys and eating junk (me, not her).

On another lovely note, I've been the very proud recipient of a number of  'You Make My Day' Awards recently, but have been horribly slack in thanking the very kind people that have given it to me.
So thank you so much to:
Ainslie
Anna
Juliette
Maria

I really appreciate it!

Junior

I love Junior magazine so much. It's my absolute favourite parenting magazine. So much so that I asked for a subscription as a Christmas present this year.
And this months edition is certainly no let down.

It's got their usual beautiful fashion pages.

The gorgeous childrens rooms.

The cool new products.

And me!

Well, not actually me, but one of my rabbits. Which I have to admit makes me very proud. Because I really do love the magazine.
Cool.