Mother's Day 2008

Here are some pics from Mother's Day 2008.

Owen's first face paint

Here are some photo's of Owen having his face painted for the first time. He was surprisingly calm and sat very still for the lady who was doing it. Owen can by quite wary of strangers and we weren't sure how he was going to react to the situation of not only a stranger sitting so close to him but also the feeling of paint on his face. There was nothing to worry about, and Owen enjoyed being spiderman for the rest of the day :)

Saxon 2 months old

Here are some pics of Saxon around two months. He's our most easy going baby so far (though that doesn't say much - Owen and Aaliya were little fire crackers). This is around the time he started cracking some lovely smiles

This is a beanie that I knitted for Aaliya. It is the first useful thing that I have knitted in a very long time.... I think it is cute :)

Saxon at 1 month old

he's a little younger than 1 month in this photo, but I had to include it

Some pics of my baby boy at 1 month old....

Saxon has fit in perfectly to our family. I think that going from 2 to 3 kids has been a much easier transition than 1 to 2. I'm used to the chaos and mess by now. Owen and Aaliya adore Saxon, there is no jealousy in this house, if anything, too much love (like trying to get the O and A to leave Saxon alone).

It's amazing how having Saxon has also reminded us of all the things that Owen and Aaliya used to do as newborns and infants, whether it be similar to Saxon or different. We remember that from a very early age Aaliya like to be held facing outwards, never over the shoulder. Owen loved slings, Aaliya didn't. Owen would cry from 11pm for a couple of hours from 2 weeks old to about 8 weeks old - we wonder if we had a good sling at that time whether it would have been such a big issue.

Saxon initially didn't mind slings, though has developed quite a preference for the wrap sling. I love it too :)

Saxon - first week

Here are some pics from Saxon's first week. Owen and Aaliya were just thrilled with their little brother and were constantly wanting cuddles. Oh, and Owen is pulling a pirate smile face and that was the way Aaliya posed for that photo... Other than that, the news to report on Saxon's first week was that he slept a good portion of day 1, then day 2 wanted to have booby all day and night. That part was frustrating but I think the poor little man was hungry and just trying to bring my milk in and get a decent feed. Then, like a newborn does, he slept for the rest of the week, with the occasional alert period. Typical, normal newborn stuff :)

Saxon's birth

This is the first photo of Saxon. It was taken just after he was born while I was still in the birth pool.

Saxon was born at home (planned homebirth). We had a midwife attend. He was born in the birth pool at 4.22am on the 6th March. The birth pool was in our kitchen, and Stu has set it up so there was candles along the kitchen benches. It was a lovely place to give birth. Active labour was 4 1/2 hours long, though I'd been having contraction on and off the day before.

Saxon was 6lb 14oz (3.13 kg) and 53.5cm long at birth.

Just before Saxon was born, I sent mum upstairs to see if Owen wanted to watch the baby being born, but he wanted to stay in bed!

This is the picture of the night before Saxon was born. I read the kids their bedtime stories, including a book called "Hello Baby" which is about a little boy telling the story of how his baby brother was born at home. Owen got a bit crabby when I had to hand the book over to Stu for a minute so that I could get through a contraction!

Our last family outing as a family of 4

These pics were taken just 3 days before I went into labour. We were heading off on a family outing to the Gallery of Modern Art to see the free kids section of the Andy Worhol exhibition.

It was the first day that Aaliya had her hair put into a pony tail - and she was pretty stoked with it because it was just like mummy's hair.

Reviving the blog

So I let it all get awat from me but now I'm back.....

It's been 10 months since my last post.....

Our family has changed a little. Stu is balder, Kara is looking older, Owen is 3 1/2, Aaliya will turn two in two months and we welcomed Saxon into our family (I'll give all the details in a separate post).

So, I'm back to continue documenting our family journey.

Still no teeth!

Aaliya is one week shy of 13 months but there are still no teeth! There are some pretty major teeth bumps though on the top, so maybe by the time she is 13months she might have some (though I've been saying "She have some soon" for what feels like forever!)

Aaliya turns 1!

So our baby girl turned 1! We had a lovely party with our family and friend who came over for a BBQ.

The kitchen was finished on an hour before the party started, but I knew that setting the deadline and having the pressure of the party looming was see the kitchen finished.

Aaliya had a rainbow birthday cake made by Mummy and had help blowing out her candles by Owen. We then let her get stuck into one end of the cake - such fun for a one year old!

Fun was had by all. I can't believe that my little girl is one. Where does a year go!

Enjoy the photos from her birthday :)

Schooling

So we are considering our options for schooling the kids. It's hard to choose what we are going to do.

Homeschooling is certainly an option, purely for the large number of benefits that the kids would get. Though we are not sure as it is a big committment from us.

Mainstream school system, both public and private, leave a lot to be desired. Doesn't take much reading or research to come to that conclusion. However, it does work for some kids, maybe even ours, so we don't know (yet).

Then there are alternative schools - Steiner and Montessori schools.

It's a big decision, and we are looking at all the options. I guess we have a little bit of time up our sleeves :)

Here's a pic of the kids doing some "work". Owen is doing a pre-handwriting exercise (pen control) that we printed off the net, Aaliya is just doing some drawing, so she can be like her big brother.

Aaliya's fav spot in the yard :)

Aaliya is very much into climbing up on things now that she is mobile. The weather has been lovely lately and we have been spending a lot of time in the back yard. Aaliya loves to climb up on this chair when we are in the yard :)

No teeth yet!!

Aaliya is walking before she has any teeth! Though I don't think that the teeth are too far away. This is the best picture I could get of her bumpy gums.

Aaliya the handywoman

So we have decided to renovate the kitchen ourselves and because we have so much time on our hands (very sarcastic tone used there) we have decided to self install and flat pack kitchen from Ikea :)

Anyway, we have be busy assembling cabinets. Aaliya is demonstrating some unusual interest and skill in the fine art of cabinet making and using a screwdriver at the tender age of ten months. Aint she clever? :)

Buddies

Just some pics of the kids playing together. I guess this is the advantage of having kiddies close in age :)