Baby-Led Attachment After A Caesar Is Possible!!!

There is a lot of negativity within the health community about breastfeeding after c-sections. While I understand the generalities of why there is this negativity (ie baby removed from mum immediately after birth, baby and mum missing out on many important hormones, scar pain, immobility from anesthesia, recovering from all the drugs for mum and baby just to name a few) I wanted to write a positive post about breastfeeding after a c-section.

Knowing that I would be having a third c-section and having done Baby-led attachment with Archie, prepared me to use the same approach after Oliver's birth. It really is the most effective way to get breastfeeding off to the right start and makes every feed after that so much more relaxed. Along with lots and lots of skin to skin time, co-sleeping and true demand feeding it helps really establish proper attachment for those important first feeds. Not to mention wonderful bonding time for mum and babe, getting all those great hormones flowing, so important after a c-section birth!

 Oliver, a few hours old, enjoying skin-to-skin time 

after another breast crawl.

Here is a video of a baby doing the "breast crawl" when only a few minutes old. It is truly amazing how a wee baby, perceived to be so helpless, can find their way to their mother's milk.

It can be hard in the hospital environment to stand up for your baby and what is best for them. For Oliver's first breast crawl we had a midwife standing over us wanting to get her hands in there and "help" him. We had to say quite a few times that "No thankyou, he's fine. He'll get there." And he did, without any interfering hands. In saying that though, the hospital were very supportive of my desire for lots of skin-to-skin time. In fact, because we both had trouble keeping our temperature stable after surgery it was actively encouraged (not that I needed encouragement!) so the first two days after his birth we spent almost every waking moment in bed, skin-to-skin!

As with a natural birth, the key to having a positive c-section is preparation and confidence. Know what you want, discuss it throughout your pregnancy with your doctor or midwife, firmly but gently stand your ground on the important issues. After all, you only get one chance at giving your wee babe the best arrival you can!

Boy, It's a Responsibility!

 

 Elliot's morning job list. Archie also gets in and gets his jobs done too!

As the Mum of boys, I have an awareness of my responsibility to raise them to be good men. Men that treat women well, men that will make good partners and husbands, men that pull their weight around the house. While that is all years and years away I strongly believe in planting the seeds of this responsibility early. Children are much more capable than many people give them credit for. If you scaffold and guide them, if you make it possible for them to succeed then they will generally rise to the challenge.

 El's self-made bed, complete with pj's under his pillow and baby asleep and tucked in.

A few months before Kindy was due to start this year I started to talk to Elliot about jobs that he needed to do in the mornings to get ready to go out. Together we came up with a list. At first he needed help with everything on the list. Luckily for me he's a lover of a routine so it took him oh, about a day to remember everything on the list! Over time the list has been added to, amended and changed to suit our changing circumstances. Elliot has also changed in that he now completes the list independently (apart from cleaning his teeth, I have a turn after he's had a turn). He even makes his bed and Archie's bed, usually as part of a surprise for me which also involves choosing clothes and getting himself dressed.

Archie's bed after Elliot has made it. Sideways quilt, rumpled blankets and all!

Sure, he often has his clothes inside out, back to front or completely mismatching. The beds are always rumpled and lumpy but I wouldn't have it any other way. He's showing me he's capable and responsible. He's proud of his success in doing these 'grown up' tasks.

Just Something I Love

Some pretty flowers, a surprise from the boys when they went shopping with Daddy. 

A couple of cross stitches by my Mum. 

One of the clocks we received as a wedding present. 

Some op-shopped canisters. 

A teapot given to Matt by his late Grandma.

 

I love this wall in my kitchen.

Oliver's Arrival

So our dear wee Oliver has made his grand entrance into the world. Settle in for a read, you may want to get a cuppa now. I do have a tendancy to waffle!

You may remember that I had been hoping his birth would be a Maternally Assisted Caesarean (MAC) as I'm a huge natural birth advocate, but have only had caesars! A Maternally Assisted Caesarean was going to be the closest thing I'd get to being involved in his birth but alas and alack, he had different plans!

After much negotiation with my Doctor we'd agreed on what would and wouldn't happen, how things would go, who would be involved in terms of aneathestists, paediatricians, midwives etc. As his arrival was going to be a planned c-section, we knew who all these people were going to be and so my Doctor had been talking with them in advance. The delivery was booked for a Monday morning, the day after my due date.

The Wednesday before my due date was my Mum's birthday and she mentioned a few times throughout the day that if he decided to come today then she wouldn't mind sharing her birthday with him at all. My response was to roll my eyes and exclaim "He's so not coming early, I feel fine!!!" Ha! Just goes to show what I know!

That evening while making dinner I felt a tightening and made a comment to Mum that I may have just had a contraction. That was about 5:30pm and was followed by another tightening about 15 minutes later. At this time Matt was on the bus on his way home so I sent him a quick text message letting him know that something may be happening but I wasn't 100% sure. I got on with dinner but didn't have anything myself, I was feeling a bit funny in the tummy, plus if it was labour I didn't want to eat anything as you are supposed to be nil by mouth for 7 hours prior to surgery.

Matt got the boys bathed and into bed while Dad cleaned the kitchen and Mum and I started watching the tele and then bam, at 7:30pm a really strong, long contraction followed by another 10 minutes later, and then another and another! By 8pm I knew that this was the real deal so rang the hospital and the midwife said to come in. Matt was back after getting the boys settled so we finished packing the bag (I thought I had a few more days to get things ready!) and headed off leaving the boys in the safe hands of a very excited Nan and Pop! On the drive to the hospital the contractions were stronger and closer together but very typically they slowed down once we got the hospital. Luckily the midwives believed me that I was actually having strong contractions and after being hooked up to the monitor for a while she called the Doctor.

Unfortunately though, not my Doctor. It was her night off so one of her colleagues was called in. At that point I knew that my plans for an MAC were out the window as the birth would officially be classed as an "emergency" as I'd gone into spontaneous labour and MAC's are only considered for elective caesars. Plus, all the people that my Dr had been talking to were not on that night.

So Oliver's arrival was your traditional caesar. The Doctor and midwife delivered him, lowering the screen so Matt and I could get our first glimpse of our little man. Then he was taken over to the table where the paediatrician checked him over and gave him the OK, he was weighed and measured (2.9kg, 52cm). He was brought over to me all wrapped up for a quick cuddle before heading to recovery with Matt. They waited there while the Doctor delivered the placenta and finished up the procedure.

It really, aside from not being an MAC, was my ideal situation. I wanted the baby to choose his own birthday. I wanted to at least labour for a little bit (it was almost 6hrs from the first funny feeling to when he was born) so that the baby and I would both benefit from some of those wonderful labour hormones. I wanted him to be ready to come into the world instead of being told "you're coming now!"

Our wee babe entered the world pink and screaming and ready to feed! Just perfect!

Through the Eyes of Babes

Elliot is loving taking pics with my phone lately and he just had to get a snap of his cereal at breaky the other morning. He was so excited, there was an E in his cereal!!!!

Another almost Wordless Wednesday

Celebrating in Style!

Celebrating your birthday in style when you're four means

Going on a steam train ride with family

 Spotting all sorts of exciting things out the window

 Experiencing the wonder of going through a tunnel

Getting to ring the old bell

The excitment of presents wrapped in brown paper

Receiving exactly what you were wishing for, even when it's as simple as a much longed-for book.

Choosing your birthday cake (and Mummy being able to somewhat replicate it)

Waking up on your birthday morning to more pressies!

 Helping to decorate patty cakes to take to Kindy to share.

I can't believe that 4 years ago he was just a babe in my arms. 

What a reminder to cherish every moment!

Making a Sheepish Return ...

I've decided it's time to resume the blogging. Lots has been happening over the last couple of months, none of it overly interesting to read about on a blog! :)

In a nutshell, to catch you all up, Matt has taken a new job which sees us planning a return to Brisbane. I say planning because while we had originally thought we'd be there by now, we're not. Well, not all of us. Matt is working in Brisbane through the week while I am up here with the boys. He's coming home on weekends or we're all travelling down when I have Dr's appointments for the new baby. I think I'll be fine with this arrangement until the baby comes. After that I've got no idea. It's pretty tiring at the moment being 35 weeks pregnant with a 2 year old and an almost-4 year old. I've absolutely no idea how tiring it's going to be adding a newborn to the mix as well!

On the topic of the new baby! I've got less than 5 weeks to go! It has come around so fast that I just can't believe that in 5 weeks they'll be another little man in the house, another soul to meet and get to know. I'm now in the care of the obstetrician in Brisbane who delivered both the boys and she is just wonderful. She gets me and some of my 'things', I don't need to explain myself to her, she's just fabulous. I'll post in a while about how we're progressing with having a Maternally Assisted C-Section, but she is open to the idea in some form so that is positive.

Other than that, life is progressing along as usual! I'm trying to continue our lives as regularly as possible, while having to deal with some pretty big changes. I'm still cooking a lot. I'm still menu planning every single week. I'm still attempting to sew. I'm trying to knit more (I've had a pair of slippers on the go for a while now, poor El!). I'm trying to get to that home-duties nirvana of no washing needing to be folded or put away, though I'm not sure it even exists!

Daddy Play

There are just some things that Mummies and Daddies see differently and I suppose that is one of the things that makes co-parenting so interesting.

The other day the boys (including Matt) were in the sandpit before dinner and I called out that it may be time for a bath soon. This was meant by muffled laughter from all of them! Hmmm, they were up to something, I knew it! I poked my head over the verandah to see three boys with face and body paint made from crushed up rocks! Matt was crushing the rocks and smearing it on the boys and also mixing it with some sand to make coloured sand. No way in the world it would have occured to me to do that if I saw two rocks just sitting there.

Needless to say, they had great fun and now the rocks are taking pride of place on the edge of the sandpit!

My No Rubbish Lunchbox Challenge

With Elliot going to Kindy this year 5 days a fortnight I spent a lot of the Christmas holidays searching for a suitable lunchbox for him. The Kindy handbook said that lunchboxes could go in the fridge but insulated bags needed to stay in their lockers for the day with an ice brick. I wanted his lunch in the fridge, summer here is just too hot to have food out for hours and hours. I struggled to find a lunchbox that would fit with our 'no rubbish' beliefs. I finally found the perfect lunchbox and I love it! And Elliot being a fan of everything having a place, he loves it too!

Unlike most Mum's I don't have the school food dilemma, Elliot will gladly eat the same thing everyday and likes that the 'right' thing goes in the 'right' part of his lunchbox.

So he everyday he takes a container of natural yoghurt with some frozen blueberries and passionfruit 

and another container of dried fruit.

In the big part of his lunchbox he takes a sandwich 

(this week he went all out and took some leftover zucchini slice!!!) 

and on top some green beans or carrot sticks and a packaged cheese, which is the only packaged/processed food that we buy

In the last compartment are another couple of pieces of fruit and a mini muffin from the freezer.

The only thing I don't like is that there is nowhere big enough for a whole banana so he just takes half a banana one day and half the next day. Not that that is really a problem with the way banana prices are likely to go soon!

So there we have it! A cheap ($11) and easy to replace if it gets lost (we got it from the grocery shop) lunchbox that means no rubbish going into landfill, no commercial or processed food muddling his little mind and body, and a Mama that can sleep at night knowing her little man may be away from her through the day but at least he's still eating good food!

Oh, this is the 4th week of Kindy and we've already had to have a discussion about Coke! I just have to share this little story, it just shows how innocent and wonderful children are (when we let them be). Elliot came home from Kindy and our conversation around the dinner table went like this:

Elliot: "My friend xxxxx said his Daddy drinks Coke"
Mummy: "Oh, do you know what Coke is?"
Elliot: "Nope"
Daddy: "It's a sometimes drink that you have when you're older, like, 20"
Elliot: "Ok Daddy"
Mummy: "What did you say to xxxxx?"
Elliot: "I said, 'My Daddy drinks water'"

I do so love my beautiful little man!

It Found Me!

As a Thank You for looking after their two dogs for a month while they were tripping around India my parents gave us two lovely chairs for the verandah. They are ever so comfy and a new favourite spot to have a quiet (or not so quiet) read in the afternoons. The only problem is that there are only two and the boys often claim them before I get a chance!

I've been scouring second hand, collectable and op shops for a suitable table to go with these chairs for a few weeks now (read this post) and finally the right piece found it's way home! We were driving through town, not planning to stop and it grabbed my eye in the window of a second hand shop! I quickly found a car park and got the boys out and into the shop to find it had a 'Sold' sticker on it. I was so disappointed, so bought myself a new marble rolling pin for my collection! :)

We continued wandering through the shop and as we were leaving I said to Elliot how disappointed I was that the little table was sold. We talked about the sticker and the word SOLD and he looked at it and said "No Mummy, it starts with a 'H'!" so I had another look and lo and behold it said "Hold"!!!!! I just glanced at it on the way past and misread it! So back to the lady we went and Elliot gave her our phone number so if the people changed their mind she could give us a ring. Later that afternoon she called and said they had changed their mind! Yay for us!

 A lovely place to while away the afternoon!

I'm so grateful for my little man and his fantastic pre-reading skills!

We Survived!

First day of Kindy done! No tears shed by either of us (I'm so glad I didn't make a scene!) and while the day was not 'wave goodbye to Mummy at the door, come at pick me up later' it was not as terrible as I was expecting.

All Elliot wanted to do was explore the fort and outdoor play area and then get stuck into the collage table. He wasn't such a fan of mat time and just wanted me to sit with him. He also sat as close to the edge of the mat as possible! He was hesitant about joining in, but once Mummy was a flippy floppy scarecrow he was fine! Archie and I left during Morning Tea time and came back about an hour or so later to see him playing on the fort (yet again!) with a couple of other little guys, chatting away, so that was heartwarming.

 Another half-day today and then a few days off until proper hours start next week.

My Not-Very-Creative Space

I'm just not in the right mind at the moment to be undertaking crafting. There is just too much stuff going on with the floods for me to concentrate on anything too taxing. Even our 20 week scan with the new baby yesterday didn't really lighten the mood. The news was all good, I'll post a bit more about it when I'm feeling a bit more chipper, but it just feels wrong to be posting about our happiness when so many are going through inconceivable heartbreak.

So in keeping with the Thursday theme of My Creative Space, I can announce my 5 recipients for Pay it Forward: 2011. I've no idea what to make for any of them, but one recipient will be moving into their dream home later in the year, so I'm thinking something 'housey' for her, another is a recently new mum (for the third time) so I'm thinking something 'just for her' for her and that is as far as I've gotten!

Two of my recipients aren't bloggers and they are:
* My mum - Lynne
* My dear friend and old neighbour - Kelly

The other three are bloggers and they are:
*Bec from Timber and Tin - dear friend and old neighbour
*LJ from With My Own Two Hands - an old Internet friend. We've been on this journey of parenting together since we were each pregnant at the same time with our eldest children.
*Amy from The Clip Cafe - a new blogger friend who is enviably crafty and creative

My goal is to have everything made and sent before the new bub arrives in June! For some real creativeness head over to Kootoyoo!

Please also remember to give anything you can spare to the flood appeal. Every cent is going to be needed.

The Summer of Water

This summer will be remembered as the summer of water.

For our little family, for positive reasons, our tanks are overflowing and have been for months, the boys have been able to play with water unchecked by a Mum who is a self-confessed water miser.

The overflow from our tanks. We've got our very own water feature!

As I type this the rain has been beating down steadily for yet another day and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. The boys have been loving playing in the rain and puddles and having deep, deep baths every night. It is raining so much at the moment that it doesn't matter how much water we use, we can't keep up! It is completely out of character for me to be so reckless with water use, but being on tank water only and seeing all our precious water spill out of the tank overflow and down into the bush has made me relax a little. I still think about it every time I turn on the tap, but then I have a little converstation in my head about how it's raining outside and the tanks are full, so it's ok to press the full flush button for just a wee! :)

How much fun is riding bikes in the rain?

For many thousands around our state though, this summer will not be remembered with fond memories. Many towns are battling with rising flood waters, with homes inundated, with businesses destroyed. This summer will be remembered with tears and heartache. We are pretty safe from flooding here, but the town we live near is very prone to flooding and the bridge into it was closed as a precaution just after Christmas.

Please keep all those affected by the floods in your thoughts and prayers. There has been so much heartache already and the rain continues to fall.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Yesterday we celebrated Matt's birthday! We had a quiet day at home and doing a few (boy-ey) errands in town. We went and looked at chainsaws and ramps to get the mower or scooter onto the trailer, we filled gas bottles for the BBQ, we went to the rural supply store. You know, all the fun things!

Elliot and I working on Daddy's cake. I had to buy plain flour especially for the cake! We don't normally have it in the house! But, what the birthday boy wants the birthday boy gets. :)

It wasn't all fun and games for Matt though. He started the day with a quick dash down the driveway to get the bin out after the truck came early! We missed it on our side but luckily the driver stopped for it on the other side of the street, but we were nervous! It was pretty full after Christmas, plus we were away for the last collection and forgot the time before that! He also got a call for help from his brother who's ride-on mower was broken and he needed a had pusing it back up onto the trailer. Matt really owes him because his brother came over and mowed our yard on Monday (which looked like a jungle) because our mower is broken! Hence the need for ramps to get it on the trailer, so we can take it to get repaired!

Matt's parents gave him a Bunning voucher for his birthday and it all got spent on this climbing frame for the boys! What a father, giving the boys a gift for his birthday!

We finished the day wonderfully though with Matt's choice of dinner and birthday cake (he chose a BBQ and a Chocolate, Rum and Raisin Cheesecake) and lots of time relaxing on the verandah. Oh and a great, crazy family dance to Billy Ocean's Get Out of my Dreams. I absolutely love this song, probably because when I was a kid I won a copy of it on vinyl at roller skating! I was such a child of the 80's! ;)

Matt's special request was a BBQ for his birthday dinner, which he cooked himself! Funny man!

Hip Hip! Hooray!

Happy Birthday Mattie! xx

I'm Working on Something Special

I am so blessed to be creating something unique and wonderful and amazing for the third time.

I'm working on Baby Number Three!

I love being pregnant and I have relatively easy pregnancies, although having two full-on toddlers at home full-time has been tiring to say the least. Over the past couple of months, the TV has definitely been my friend. Because Elliot isn't a day sleeper I'd put on  Playschool for him when Archie went to sleep because it'd be the only chance I'd get to put my feet up and on more than one occasion Elliot has woken me up after a quick kip on the lounge to let me know that Playschool has finished and he's turned the tele off, can we please go and play now? Now that I'm past the first trimester I'm hoping that the fatigue has run its course and I'll be back to my usual self.

I'm so excited to meet this new bubba and introduce the boys to their new baby brother or sister (for the record, Elliot thinks sister).

I'm (to be perfectly honest) daunted by the idea of parenting three young children, two can be hard work some days! Elliot will have just turned 4 a couple of weeks before the new arrival arrives and Archie will be 2yrs and 2 months, so they'll still be young.

I'm so excited to have started another journey with another new person. A journey that will contain joy, tears, hope, fears, frustration, elation and just about every emotion in between.

This journey of motherhood sure is an interesting one!

Sleep, Where For Art Thou?

Over the three and a half years I've been on this parenting journey I think I've used just about every method of getting a baby or toddler to sleep there is. I have sung, rocked, danced, pushed the pram, bounced on a fit ball, driven, breastfed, patted bottoms, and even in one moment of desperation, control cried (all that ended up happening was both of us crying, and I swore I'd never do it again). All of this has taught me one thing. Babies (and toddlers and children) will sleep when they are ready to. All we can do is help them along the ride.

Elliot, now three and a half, has always been a good sleeper - once he's asleep! He is a deep and sound sleeper but not good at actually going to sleep. When he was a little over two he just said to me one day when we were having the sleep battle "But I just need people with me". What can you say to that? He has always needed and still does need someone (me, Daddy, Nanna, Pop) to be with him until he is asleep. Fortunately for me (cause I get him into bed and Matt does Archie) he seems to have found a solution, he goes to sleep in Mummy's and Daddy's bed on the condition that he's in there by himself. Later when we're ready to go to bed Matt will take him back into his room. If he wakes through the night, he simply brings himself back in with us and more often than not, neither Matt nor I realise he's there til the morning (or when we're up with Archie)!

 Elliot (7 weeks) being nursed to sleep by Pop

Elliot (14 months) waking up with Nanna after a sleepover.

 

And on to Archie. For every bit that Elliot is a deep sleeper, Archie is a light sleeper. He has the same issues as El with needing people, so someone has always needed to put him to sleep but then he's awake. And then back to sleep, then awake, then back to sleep, rinse, repeat. For the first, hmmm, probably ten months of his life he fed every 1-2 hours around the clock, day and night. To say it was exhausting is an understatement because while sometimes he'd feed back to sleep, more often than not at night, he was awake. Sometimes cranky, sometimes just awake and wanting to play. It was through all of this that we seriously started co-sleeping because we were just too tired to do anything else and anyway, nothing else worked!!! But eventually (and I mean, in the last couple of months) he's just gotten into a little sleeping routine that works for all of us. Matt takes him to bed in the evening and they rock in the chair and sing songs. When he wakes the first time through the night he comes in with us. Some nights he has a feed back to sleep, some nights he has a feed and isn't asleep but puts himself back to sleep and some nights he's not interested in a feed and just fusses around giving us pats and kisses and then puts himself to sleep, usually on top of the covers with his feet in our faces. He is generally only up once or twice a night now which I'm just over the moon about considering where we've been on his sleep journey!

Archie (4 weeks) have a nap with Nanna *

 Archie (5 weeks) sleeping in the sling which was a sleep lifesaver for both boys. *

I'm really pleased that both boys have found their own sleeping patterns because, as tiring as it has been, I can sit back and know that we listened to them and what they needed at the time. We respected them as little people and didn't impose unrealistic expectations which would have set us and them up for failure (aside from that one horrid moment of controlled crying, which failed dismally). We were willing to give them the time they needed.

* When going through all the baby photos for sleep pics, I realised that we don't have many of Archie. At first I put this down to being the second child, poor hard done by wee man he is, but then when I was talking to Matt about it he said "It's because he didn't sleep!"

Archie's Baptism

Well it's done! Archie's Baptism is done and dusted.

It was a lovely, clear day but I had quite a sleepness night the night before. There were howling winds and pelting rain and all I could do was pray and hope that by the morning it would have blown itself away, and it did! Not a cloud in the sky!

The service itself was short and sweet with just 14 of us there including the boys! Archie seemed to pay attention to everything going on too, when his Grandmothers were doing readings he watched them and listened, he watched the Priest blessing the water and oils, he stared at the candle as Godmother Helen lit it and held it for him. He wasn't so keen on his white Baptismal bib though, so that came off straight after the ceremony!

The dear wee man fell asleep in the car on the way home, all that Baptising sure does tire a boy out! So then it was lunch with the family, way too much food and presents which were all opened with an emphatic "WOW!!" and not wanted to part with any of them "Boat!", "Cup!", "Truck!".

So that was the day. Unfortunately it was too warm to wear "the cardi" and also, my dress wasn't as boobie as I remembered so it wasn't an issue. It was finished the night before, so I kept up my usual standard of leaving everything until the last minute!

Around Our House Lately

Things have been busy. I celebrated my 30th Birthday last Thursday (Yay!!!). I was truly not worried over the whole 'turning 30' thing. I think I've always felt older than my years anyway, so 30 isn't a big deal. My new friends made it a big deal though by organising a morning tea and cake at the park! It was such a lovely surprise! There were soooo many kids but they all get on so well it didn't seem like that many at all. We played Duck Duck Goose, a wonderful musician friend taught us a new song, we had Chocolate Cake decorated with strawberries, there was so much laughter and fun! I didn't take my camera (bummer!) but a dear friend did and put some pics on her blog!

Now, to the super exciting bit!!!! I get to introduce another addition to the family, along the same lines as Kenny but even more exciting, if that is indeed possible! Introducing .... Freida!

Freida is a Pfaff Expression 2.0 and she is just lovely. It was a surprise, but not a complete surprise if you know what I mean. I had suggested a sewing machine as a dream present a while ago but forgotten about it. Then a little while ago when we were having a weekend in Brisbane, Matt said he needed to go shopping for my present, but he came home empty handed. I said "Oh well, if you're getting me a sewing machine the shop in town sells them and you get free lessons". Anyway, about a week later he made a massive production of walking through the house with a massive box wrapped in a blanket and 'hid' it in the cupboard. Like I wasn't going to have just a little peek. And then some googling. And then some more staring at the box and wondering how I could re-wrap it so he didn't know I'd peeked. Then Elliot let the cat out of the bag, in that 3 year old way, that they couldn't find a sewing machine at the shops.

I put Freida straight to work whipping up a pair of pants for Elliot. Unfortunately I let the 3 year old loose in the fabric shop and he chose a lovely aqua colour. It wouldn't have been my choice, but anyway, they're his pants, he's the one that's got to wear them! I haven't sewn since high school Home Ec, where it's fair to say I was terrible. I was so nervous, but I'm really pleased with how they've turned out (besides the colour obviously!) They took a full afternoon, and that includes a good 30 minutes of Matt and I trying to figure out how to thread the machine, and then realising about a million times that we'd gotten in wrong and re-doing it.

Anyway, enough typing. Here are some pics from my birthday celebrations! They're sure to continue next weekend when my parent's, brother and Archie's Godmother and her sister come up for Archie's baptism! Yay for extended birthday celebrations!

Party hats all round!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

 Touched the bottom, better kiss a boy ...

or two!!!

 Why eat chocolate cake when there's garlic bread?

Elliot was quiet in his room for ages and we found him playing a board game with two of his Postman Pat toys. He was having a turn for each of them as well as rockin it out in his lairy pants!

A wonderful day full of family, friends and cake!