#3009 Grateful for the basics

Some days it’s nothing fancy that you feel grateful for.

And on those days where it all feels like much of a muchness, and nothing really new has occurred, it’s important to think of those really basic things that we all should be grateful for.

A roof over our head. Clean water to drink. Shelter from the wind and cold.

Clothes to wash, because the house is full of people.

Food to cook because you want to feed those you love.

And so I remembered this quote I shared with my friends the other day, and it just about sums up my thoughts today.

Enjoy. 💞

#2963 The holiday morning

Today was one of those really great, cruisy, go-with-the-flow holiday days.

I think what set the tone was the morning. It was oh-so-chilled. Hubbie and I had the best time, doing the most simplest of things, and we were trying to work out why it felt so good, why it was so good. We broke it down to this:

We started off with a simple walk alongside the park/water views. This we hadn’t done in a while, but it was also done while pushing baby boy in the pram for his morning nap – we were being productive, while enjoying the calm. Ahhh.

Next we stopped for coffee and a bite to eat. Still, baby boy was napping! Success. Only waking up when we were done. Check and check.

We meandered on down the Main Street. We popped into streets here, there. We took turns carrying baby boy and having him in the pram. We looked into those specialty shops that we haven’t poked our heads in for ages, and even went into another and both bought some clothes – other than baby boy’s christening, I HAVE NOT BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES I CAN’T REMEMBER WHEN.

Then we sat on a nearby bench to feed him as he was hungry. We were right in the middle of the Main Street, Hubbie was holding him as I fed him a peanut butter sandwich, and it was just still, cloudy but sunny too, just lovely.

And we were like “why did these past couple hours feel so freaking awesome?”

It was this: we felt like we were holidaying in our town.

It’s a hard thing to nail, because of the fact that you need to let go of all of your routine, something so very engrained in you when you are in fact, home. You are not away. You can’t think of jobs, you can’t think of the next thing, what is waiting for you at home, the weekend, the night, etc, etc.

You are just in the moment, like holiday people. Do I want to buy sushi? Yeah I want to buy sushi.

Do I want to walk into this shop? Yeah I wanna look at this seaside apparel.

Do I want to feed baby boy on this bench that we never sit on? Yes we bloody hell will.

This was absolute key. You have to live in the moment, forget about routine, and just be.

Enjoy. I need to try to capture this essence and apply it through the year. It is so, SO hard to do when you’re in the midst of work/school/raising kids/maintaining a home/ life balance, but I will try, damn it, to do these holiday things, ALL THROUGH THE YEAR. 🥰

#2842 The very spendy caterpillars

I couldn’t help but think of the classic children’s book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ as I thought back to our shopping trip earlier today.

Hubbie and I went to Target with baby boy because I needed some more navy blue leggings for baby girl’s school uniform.

We got a lot more than a few pairs of $7 navy leggings. 😬😬😬😬

So you know how in the story, the caterpillar eats through food, after food, after food, after food?

Chocolate cake.

Ice cream cone.

A pickle.

A slice of Swiss cheese.

And on and on?

Well, I felt we were a bit like that caterpillar, but instead of eating, we were BUYING.

‘On Wednesday morning, Hubbie, baby boy and I went to Target, and we bought…

3 pairs of navy blue leggings,

A matching Chicago Bulls top and short set, size 1,

a new Bonds onesie,

an ACDC top size XL,

a Cold Chisel top size XL,

and a light-up, spinning, noise-making 6 month+ baby toy.’

All of a sudden, these caterpillars weren’t feeling too good.

They overspent. 😬😬

But I’m sure they’ll come out the other side, all of them beautiful butterflies with their purchases. 🐛🦋

#2688 Hippy pants

There’s something for everything nowadays.

Which is what I discovered many weeks ago after learning baby boy had to go into a hip brace.

Seasonally, it was easier when baby girl had her brace many years ago. It was spring and we were heading into warmer months, so I had dresses and skirts that could go over it.

But this time around, we are in autumn, heading into the coldest time of year.

Some of the specialists at the hospital had mentioned hip friendly clothes. I also know from experience that you simply go a size up to accommodate the brace. But I wanted to have a couple of options, and a google search soon after brought me to a great website catering to kids with all kinds of braces…

And the clothes were super cute.

I ordered two pairs of pants – I call them his MC Hammer pants and often sing “Stop! Hammer time” when dressing him) and was really pleasantly surprised when I received the parcel.

As well as my pants and the milestone cards I ordered, they sent a pair of leg warmers, used often under some braces, and a choccy along with a sweet personalised note.

Omg. I was in tears. It was the sweetest thing. When someone gives kindness in a time of confusion or concern, well it’s super touching, it really is.

The business is called Hip Clothing and can be found at hipclothingau.com

It’s been a few weeks since I got the pants and he’s been wearing them too, but I felt it important to share… you never know who’s out there needing a helping hand. ❤

#2619 Hi to baby clothes

The fun thing about having kids is…

(Well there are many things, ok)

Shopping for them. 😁😁😁😁

There was this very cute trakkie suit for the colder months that I fell in love with months ago while looking up an outfit to take baby home from the hospital in… who we now know as baby boy.

Just recently I ordered it, and today…
IT ARRIVED!

Soooo cute! 🥰🥰 And the outfit too. 🤣🤣

#2562 Wednesday water play and washing

I got some more baby stuff today, and got myself a big juice to sustain me and keep me going in my baby decision-making.

Then after some acupuncture, at this stage now designed to help baby get into and stay in place, my other baby (girl!) wanted to run through the sprinkler. So of course…

There is nothing quite like seeing your child so happy, and gee was she happy. She totally woke up (she is a water baby!) and was running through the streams of water for the longest time. Ahh, nice and refreshed at the end of it all. 💦💖

Another standout memory has to go to what I did at the end of the day…

Some perspective… 2013 to 2023.

It brought me such happiness to do the washing today… because I was washing baby’s newborn clothes! Seeing them out there on the line, reminded me of doing it 10 years ago, and it was only 9 days before baby girl entered the world that I got it done.

Let’s hope I get more than 9 days this time around between washing and baby arriving! 😬🤞😁🙏🤰🤣🥰💖

#2503 The non-maternity dress

A month or so ago I was in Target browsing through the maternity section and getting quite frankly, excited.

Finally, clothes that could fit me and my growing belly! I went into the change room with so many clothes, I actually wasn’t allowed to bring them all in, so I broke them up into two groups, made Hubbie hold one pile while I went through the other, then swapped. 🤣

Out of all those many clothes, I just went home with about 4 items, 5 if you count the maternity undies. 2 of them I have worn a fair bit already, I am happy with those buys… and one of them, which I will call loose gypsy pants, well I am not happy with AT ALL.

I seriously look like a truck reversing into a car spot, that’s how wide my hips and behind and everything look in them!

They may allow for my belly, but they are truly unflattering.

That’s when I decided, NO MORE MATERNITY CLOTHES.

(Other than undergarments of course.)

I wasn’t then taking into consideration, that this pregnancy was unlike my first… my first I was the biggest in Winter, so I did need to be a bit more careful with clothes and perhaps buy a bit more…

This pregnancy, I will be my biggest, and growing to that level, all through Summer.

This would actually be a great time of year to be pregnant! Think loose, flowy, light clothing… and it didn’t necessarily need to be maternity either.

I already had dresses that could accommodate my belly. And if I needed more, it was actually smarter to buy a Summery, floaty dress that I could wear in other non-pregnant Summers, rather than buy a maternity dress that I might only wear a handful of times this season.

Today, we went shopping, and back to Target we went. I did peruse ever so quickly the maternity section (curiosity), but was truly surprised when I saw a lovely, non-maternity dress, in another section, that fit the bill.

A beautiful, bright, Summery colour, and I could wear it when I wasn’t pregnant… but I could wear it now too! Oh, the joy! I snapped it up, and really feel like I am doing the pregnancy thing right now… WINNING! 😁😁

#2465 Marvelling at where we’re at

It’s been a quiet week work-wise.

I’ve been using the spare time to do EVERYTHING else.

I make appointments. I go to appointments. I catch up on washing, cleaning, writing.

I think of my passions. I try to fit them in where I can. I write to-do lists, things that need to be done soon, things that need to be done before baby comes.

Baby. I massage my belly with creams. I look at the new baby clothes I have. I step into the nursery and just look around, marvelling at it and where we are and all of life at the moment.

I’ve felt life’s lows, and now I’m feeling life’s highs. 🙏

Baby girl has had a good week too. It’s amazing what a missing person in the friendship group can do. It shakes things up. She’s been playing with heaps of new friends, and I’ve used the opportunity to show here that she has many friends, she doesn’t just have to stick to what or who she knows, especially if respect fails to show up.

I buy presents. For others, for us. I plan outings for the future. I message, and call and email.

I get excited.

It is Spring after all. Now IS the time to get excited. 😁😁

#2449 Baby parcel

Hubbie messaged me early this morning, alerting me that something we had ordered for the car was arriving today.

He was excited.

So some time after it had arrived, when baby told me there was a parcel at the door, I had to ask her twice.

Sure enough, there was.

Gone are the days of covid and lockdown where we were going trigger-parcel-happy, and I was losing track of what I had ordered, what had arrived, and what was still to come.

Sure Hubbie’s car part was here… what was this package?

And it was addressed to me.

It occurred to me then… ahh yes. That belly cream. It’s arrived. That’s it.

But when I looked at the sender’s address and saw where it came from, my confusion only grew again!

What had I ordered from a popular baby clothes brand? Hold on, I hadn’t, which meant…

Now, I was excited. 😁

Work, schmork. Baby girl and I eagerly opened the parcel, and I was beaming from start to end.

It was a beautiful parcel sent to me by one of my besties. OMG.

Baby clothes to get me through the first few months. All neutral of course, but so gorgeous and cuddly and warm, OMG! I was so excited and grateful, sending her an ecstatic thank you, and then just beaming at them all, so, so happy.

Surprise parcels are the best. I feel blessed. 🥰🥰🙏🙏

#2440 Folding baby clothes

Today I spent some time folding away baby clothes.

These are baby girl’s old clothes, but I wasn’t packing them away forever...

(I started at size 0.

Then size 00.

Size 000.

Size 0000.

And I even had a couple of size 00000.

The smallest were on the top you see, because – )

… I was packing them away, for a later day. 😊

For the very near future, when the growing baby in my belly can use them too. 💖🙏

It was a beautiful, yet almost surreal moment. I couldn’t help it. A smile crept up on my face as I folded.

Fold, fold, fold.

😁💖🤰🙏