2 Admissions Later

I went into hospital yesterday for my minor procedure - just getting a piece of me cut off that had ripped during millas birth and was never stitched or healed properly. They put me first on the list because I played the breastfeeding card, I was appreciative. I only had local anasthetic so I was awake during the procedure.

I later told Graeme that walking into the theatre was like walking into Heaven (okay in hindsight that's not right. But thats what it felt like) As soon as I walked in everyone stopped what they were doing, turned and welcomed me with open arms. Litterally, "Sophie! Welcome! Come in! Are you warm?! Come over here! Its so lovely to see you!" Ah, I felt so special.

A lovely older nurse called Betty (aren't the best older ladies called Betty!?) held my hand and talked to me the whole way through. She had smilie stickers on her name badge. Aren't the best people-people those who have stickers on their badges?! During the procedure I thanked her so much for being there. She told me she had been a nurse forever. I said that I bet she had seen a thing or two. She revealed that she had been thinking of writing her experiences down. I said that if she ever did I would love to read her account. Thank you Betty :)

I'm a bit of a tank, took about 8 goes for the local to work. They kept cutting in and I could feel it :s Same with the stitches. Yeouch!

I went into Step Down, waited a little bit, had a bite to eat and then we left together. I felt good! I was exceptionally bubbly despite being a little numb down there.

We decided to go to Addington Co-Op - a great fair trade cafe in Christchurch that donates all of their profits to the communities that supply all of their coffee in the first place (isn't that freakin' awesome!??) and have some breakfast. It was still early in the morning and the whole process happened much faster than we had expected.

When we pulled up I noticed my leggings were soaked in blood. Oh oh. I got out the truck and gush. Blood. Everywhere. I dashed into the cafe, desperate to get to a toilet. It was aweful.

We made it back to the hospital where they quickly readmitted me and helped me clean up. Graeme dashed home to get me clean clothes. I had to sit on a big pad so they could measure how much blood was coming out. I could hear them on the phone "You have to come now, she's loosing too much"

Graeme was there. I felt dizzy and faint. I passed out, and then Betty was back in my face "Betty!" I was happy. She's nice. Graeme kissed me goodbye (Betty told him he could) and I was in a room signing consent forms and being asked if I could put my bottom teeth infront of my top teeth. I was told to open my eyes, Betty was next to me hand in hand again, and then I woke up.

A doctor was standing next to me and I found myself half way through a sentence telling him that my husband probably made that plastic wind-chime above my bed. "You know those flashing dairy signs? The ones that say open? Yeah. They actually import those" The doctor walked away. There I was, spilling my husbands biggest secrets.

The dramas were over. I was fixed up. What was so simple turned a little complicated, but doctors and surgeons are really good at their jobs. I am very very sore today so I will be resting.

Graeme spent the whole day looking after Camilla, she ended up missing out a milk feed because I was away but she coped really really well, as did Graeme. I'm so proud of them both :) Graeme is a great Daddy. Last night while he was feeding her dinner I heard him say in the kindest voice "You have to chew it nice and big baby" as if she understood. I mentioned it. "I think she can understand" he said. Urg, you are so kind!

I feel a bit silly posting this:
1) this all may be an overshare.
2) There are people going through much scarier things.
3) Its not really that huge of a deal. I posted on FB yesterday that I had been in hospital, people jump to such conclusions when you mention the H word. I am not sick! I am okay :) However, this is my blog, and this is a big deal for me this week.
4) While at the hospital I desperately wanted them to know that I had never been before. They all knew I had a baby, random nurses would pop in and tell me how cute she was, but I found people were assuming I her there. "What hospital did you give birth in?" "How long did you stay here after birth?" "Did you have any pain relief during your labour here?" . "Actually, I had a home birth" I said, swelling up with pride.

This may not actually make sense. I'm a little doped up on codine, the good stuff.

Thank you so much to those who text me saying they were praying for me. I read those just as I was rushing back to hospital. They helped :)

A Fast Birth

A momentary glace at each other showed me everything; they were nervous.

I had to know, "Whats wrong?" I breathed.

"Nothing, nothing..." They both chimed back in unison. Something was definitely wrong. I could see it in their concentration. The happy lines on their faces had hardened. These ladies had seen the greatest and worst moments that life has to offer and right now they were preparing themselves for what lay ahead. I felt it.

I looked next to me at my worried husband. His worry was different, it was a natural concern as he looked on his wife and his future. Unlike my two ladies, his eyes spoke to me. They were deep and full of love and yearning; bloodshot and welling up with tears.

"Why are they lying to me? Whats wrong?" I asked him directly with a hiss in my voice. He looked confused. I knew he didn't know.

"Sophie. We have to get this baby out right now. I need you to give me the biggest push you have. She has to come now" I was told by my midwife. Usually so happy and chirpy now she was laying down the law.

This was the time to listen and do but I was confused; half an hour earlier she had told me when we got to this moment I would need to pause and stop; I would need to hold my baby in, breathe, relax and fight the temptation to push. The baby would need time to rotate her body so that she could be birthed. All of a sudden there was no time for that essential part of the process? I was confused.

I dug deep inside myself as the contractions took over my being. They controlled me now. They had won. This baby was coming.

I pushed. I pushed. I pushed.

"Sophie, this baby needs to come now. I need a really big push!"

"THESE ARE BIG PUSHES JANINE!" I yelled, staring straight into her eyes. Who was she to tell me that I wasn't pushing hard enough? I had my foot on her shoulder and I pushed off her, straight into the wall behind me. I realised I could go much much harder and I gave it everything. In those moments who knows what I could have achieved if I was not limited to my own bedroom. With that adrenaline I could have ran up Everest, lifted the Titanic from its depths, stopped an earthquake it its tracks (or created one). Instead I was doing the greatest thing I have ever done.

I gave birth to my little girl in one quick second. She wasn't there and then all of a sudden she was. Bright pink and sticky white. She was scooped up and placed on my bare chest. She let out a little newborn cry and I couldn't believe my life. This. Perfection. Love. Life. It was all too much.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I was later informed that the midwives thought Camilla's head was actually her umbilical chord. They couldn't find a heart beat so I had to change positions to be bum down (the hardest position to birth in). A heart rate still could not be found so I needed to get her out. Now. No dawdling around.

Following the birth it was apparent that Camilla just had a particularly squishy head and for whatever reason her pulse just wasn't to be found. She was perfectly happy and healthy. However my fast birth caused ripping which later was not stitched correctly. I was left with a large amount of skin that hangs and connects to nothing.

While medically I am in a fit and healthy order it still doesn't make me feel particularly good on the inside and over time is slowly getting worse. This Friday I am going into hospital to have it cut off.

A part of me feels like this is some dirty secret that I am revealing. I suppose it is a bit (a lot) personal but it certainly isn't dirty. These are the results of a fairly normal and natural birth and like stretch marks and wobbly bellies that you can't fix, this can be fixed, so I am having it done.

I've never been in hospital (if you don't count this little incident) and I am thoroughly nervous.

I don't regret the birth I had or my midwives instructions. She was protecting me and our baby and looking out for our best interests, at the time we did what seemed right. I am also thankful to every medical professional I have spoken to about this. I was worried that no one would take me seriously and tell me its not a big deal "Just one of the results of childbirth. What? Did you think it would be a walk in the park?"(No, they never said that but it was always the reaction I expected), thankfully all have been very encouraging to have it righted and made the process very easy.

Wish me luck :)

Flying With A 6 Month Old

We flew from Christchurch to Auckland last week, our first flight with Camilla. Camilla was 6 months old at the time and did very well.

We were flying with Jetstar so I had low expectations, I thought they would be delayed, or tell us we couldn't check in our baggage, or something, anything. But the check in process and flight was straight forward. I had had a friend tell me what she wasn't allowed to take her pram on her flight, however their website says that you can take all baby accessories for free in addition to your usual check in baggage. We had a portacot, pram, capsule and an extra carry on bag for baby. All were checked on with no problems at all. 

It is said that it is good to feed your baby as you take off and land because it helps with the altitude change and their ears because when they eat it encourages your ears to pop. Anyway, Camilla wasn't milk hungry, she didn't want a bar of it so we slipped in a pacifier and she was happy enough.

On the flight up she was quite grizzly. Not unbearable but definitely enough to make me feel sorry for the man sitting next to us. There was another girl (maybe about 1.5 yrs old?) across from us and she was grizzly too. Her mum had books, colouring in and activities packed for her. Organised! It just goes to show that every age brings new adjustments and challenges. 

On the flight back the flight was delayed by over half an hour (typical) so again it was hard to time her feeds. I ended up feeding her her solids during take off but the taxiing took so long she was almost done by the time we were going down the run way. We poped her pacifier in again and she fell asleep with her Dad for the whole flight and only woke up when everyone was undoing their belts at the other end. Super Babe!

I found I had a lot of anxiety while taking off and landing; It felt just like an earthquake to me. (do other CHCH people find this too?) Lots of bumping around, shaking and rattling and a loud out of this world noise that is so hard to explain. 

Flying with Camilla was relatively easy, the hardest part was trying to time everything but at the end of the day she coped very well! Also, I think its great that infants are free as are their luggage!

On Taking A Baby To A Concert

We took Camilla to her very first concert at 6 months old. I was nervous .

I'm writing this post to let you know that yes, you can take your baby to a concert. I've written our experience down here, and toward the end of this post have summarised my tips and tricks in bullet form to make your experience a worthwhile one!

...

I had nightmares that we would be turned away at the door, I fabricated arguments of what I would say if they did so "I'm a breastfeeding mother!!" or how I would react to judgemental onlookers.

You see, we almost had to take her. She is very attached to us and I know that our baby cannot be consoled by anyone other than her mother. She wakes up everynight at 10pm and I knew if she saw the people we were staying with instead of me she would scream her head off. We would get a worried phone call, and we would be stuck in the carparking building and not make it home for another hour. Meanwhile Camilla is wondering where her parents are and minute by minute loosing trust in us. Well. Thats what I pictured anyway. And it was 99% going to be reality. We decided just to take her. It was going to be much easier and much less stressful and much better than the alternatives (not going).

We were so excited to see Taylor Swift live in New Zealand!

We missed the opening act on purpose. I had never heard of them anyway and thought that the more time we could spend doing other things and Camilla not being trapped in the sling would be better (and hopefully making her more tired).

As we approached the venue we put Camilla in our Moby Wrap on my front. We put her front facing as we thought with so much going on she would probably want to watch everything (we later turned her around so she could sleep). She also had baby earmuffs on which were leant to us by a friend. They definitely block out a LOT of sound (she didn't even flinch later to the noise of fireworks right infront of us).

We arrived at the venue just as the crowd was screaming "Taylor! Taylor!". Everything was dark, the lights were flashing, there was a sea of screaming people, and then Taylor Swift appeared on stage.

I was overwhelmed and so was Camilla. She cried and cried and then she screamed. We found our seats, the ladies next to us gave me a sympathetic yet "why on earth didn't you leave her at home" look. I took Camilla back into the foyer where she quickly stopped crying. We went into the bathroom and she was happy to look at herself in the mirror. We went back into the concert and were met with the same reaction. Graeme took her into the foyer this time and I thought that would just be the way the night was, swapping her between us while one of us enjoyed one song. That all took about 5 minutes. So really we didn't miss much of the concert.

She was swapped back to me and I turned her around in the sling so she was facing my chest. Instantly she was happy. She had a familiar face to look at and she was all smiles. Her eyes drooped so I stroked in-between her eyes and she fell asleep instantly on my chest. I stayed up the back and soaked in that moment. There's something about being in a big crowd that is so exciting. I was listening to great music that we had been looking forward to for 6 months. I had my daughter fast asleep on my chest and I was drinking in the oxytocin (above).

Graeme came up to see me and we stood together. We were happy!

A staff member came and told us we couldn't stay where we were (we were in front of the exit doors, a fire risk apparently, you're supposed to be in your allocated seat) but said she had better seats closer to the stage if we would prefer. Yes please!

We moved around the arena so we were right next to the stage. The lights were brighter, the people were less and it was a much better experience there.

We loved the Taylor Swift concert. It was a full on performance, nothing like I have ever seen live, except exactly like her DVD. I thought perhaps Auckland would put on a half effort show, perhaps because of the budget or venue, but no. It was fabulous! Exactly like watching it in Blu Ray, except we were seeing it with our very own eyes and feeling it in our hearts. Taylor is a fantastic performer. The costumes! The aerialists! The lights! The ribbon confetti! The floating stage! The acting!

Camilla woke up with about 3 songs to go, she stayed in the sling and was a happy little girl. Most of the time she focussed on the big screen or on the stage which was in easy view. She didn't even flinch during the fireworks which were meters away so I know she couldn't hear much.

After the concert as people were filing past us so many people stopped to appreciate and comment on her and us "Good on you!" so many people said.

When we got back to the car while waiting in traffic I fed camilla some more dinner out of a can and she fell asleep shortly after and slept for the rest of the night.

It was such a great time and I really think I had more fun with her there! I didn't need to check my cellphone, we were bonding as a family and its something we will always remember :) We are so glad we took her to the concert at 6 months old.

Here's a summary on taking your young child to a full on concert performance:

• Don't be anxious! No one at the arena ever mentioned we couldn't take our baby, in fact the staff actually helped us and gave us better seats (seats to the side of the stage were much less chaotic than at the back!)
• Have something to hold or carry them in.
• Camilla definitely preferred to be looking away from the chaos - at 6 months old she couldn't make sense of it and it seemed to make her very anxious. She was perfectly fine when she couldn't see it
• Baby earmuffs! These can be found at most hardware stores, they cancelled out most of the noise. I know this because she didn't even flinch at the indoor fireworks only meters from us.
• Indoor concerts get HOT, dress your Bub appropriately. 
• If you're holding your baby on your chest sing along to the music! The vibrating in your chest will probably put them to sleep.
• Have food ready for afterwards. They're most likely to wake up when you have to put them back in the car, or your change of scenery affects them (going outside = cold, etc). Whether thats milk or solids, come equipped.
• Leave a little bit early, or hang around a little bit later, try and avoid that full on people and traffic jam that happens after concerts.
• I was worried about the public being cruel to us but they were lovely, many offered to take photos of us and asked all about her afterwards. 

Have fun with your whole family! If you take your baby to a concert leave a comment and let me know how it went! 

This photo was taken afterwards by the lovely staff member who got us better seats during the concert!

All photos are ours and are taken from different view points because we had 2 different seats throughout the night. 

A Sisterhood Vlog

Nice to meet you! Here's a [quite big] vlog for the Sisterhood to welcome you, introduce myself and to tell you about a new family. I hope you watch it. Let me know what you think!

My goodness I'm a dork who can waffle. Bear with me please.

You can find the facebook page HERE

Facebook Free Fail*

My week Facebook Free was a little bit of a failure. Okay. I failed. I lasted 5 days.

To be fair those 5 days were amazing. From my list I managed to achieve most things I set out to do. I discovered that my days were a whole lot more productive (and also tiring) and I was a lot more hands on and intentional with my day.

Why can't everyday be like that? You ask. I ask that too. The trouble is, I am addicted. That can be the only answer. Like gambling or alcohol or drugs (okay. I'm definitely NOT comparing my facebook use to meth) I don't actually get a whole lot out of it except a moments high of someone liking my clever and witty status, someone telling me that Camilla is beautiful. Me me me. I just want people to notice me. Urgh

That's really what it comes down to. I find my self refreshing, wondering why no one has liked my latest video yet. Why did that person only like it and not comment? Why did they comment and not like it?

Okay, you may be thinking I'm joking and I would like to think that too. But I am also just being honest. Does that make me really pathetic? Yes. It does. I am pathetic. That little bracket with a number in it gets me every time! (2), (1), (10) - I have to know! WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT ME!?? I often find myself wondering what people did in the 90's for fun.

I broke the week fast because I ended up needing to organise a collection for Plunket on the pronto. What better way to do it than Facebook? Because yes, it is incredible for communicating with people (I just started a page for the Sisterhood. Like it!). It is fantastic for staying in touch and knowing what my sister baked last weekend (chocolate brownie) in London. Through the powers of facebook I was able to have people respond and raise $900 for Plunket last week (woooo!) Thank you Facey. But in my 5 days of not being on it I really didn't miss much at all. Infact my life was better for having not been on it. I didn't hear about your 10th breakup with your horrible boyfriend, or your craving for chips at 11pm. And my life was better.

All in all, Facebook is great. It is a useful and powerful tool. I would like to keep it as that. I am still not satisfied with my level of addiction to it. Perhaps I need to go on another fast. Or have weekly facebook free days. Any ideas?

Another video for your viewing pleasure. This week Milla started to pull herself up on low objects including my legs, her capsule and our couch. 6 months old. Seriously.

*The 3 F's. When I was younger we had to wash the 3 F's - Face, Feet and Fanny ;)


My list, for those interested...

• Complete 2 more scrapbook pages for Millas first year album
• Complete 2 more granny stripe colours for my Granny Blanket
• Sew something. Anything! (Did I mention my sewing machine is fixed?)
• Rearrange our lounge with our dining table (it's coming out of storage tonight!)
• Bake something. Anything! I miss delicious baking treats.
• Write posts and read blogs in one sitting rather than throughout the day
• Continue to read my book, The Help
• Re organise Millas draws and figure out what clothes she needs for the size she is growing into (0)

BOOM. Our table didn't come out of storage. We'll do that at the end of this month when we have our new lounge suite (yew!), and I am still half way through organising Millas clothing. Her boom looks like a bomb site!)


EDIT: Jacinta sent me this link. Totally me. 

This Week in Emotions

Everything is a bit all over the place at the moment.

In Awe.
We had a fantastic connect group on Tuesday night, a little dinner party with 6 of our closest friends. 8 people around a dinner table, laughing & sharing. It was an absolute delight. I was in awe listening to everyone share about how God had transformed them and their marriages as a result of coming to our connect group. It's so important to work on things. Hearing everyones own personal stories blew me away. Hearing those I know its all worth it.

Unorganised.
I have so much to do this week, my lists are getting out of control and I am feeling a little like I am drowing in them. I also mega failed at our groceries this week. Usually I am super organised, list and budget in hand, meal planning extraordinaire. This week I dropped the ball, picked up a few things here and there, spent way more over the course of the week and didn't get nearly as much food as I would have liked. Oh well. There's always next week. Tomorrow is going to be too busy. I just know it.

Nervous.
I got given a flyer today for an up and coming womens event at our Church. It says "Special guest speaker: Sophie Moo2" ... That's me. Special? I have not picked up a microphone in yonks. I definitely didn't put up my hand for this so I am assuming God has some special plan and something inside me he wants to share. Actually, I am FULL of new works that God is doing. How to communicate them to others? The challenge. Stay tuned.

A little bit of hope
I may have just stumbled across a great moisturiser for my oily and dehydrated skin (yes, it's possible). Hope! (I'll give it another week and then I may just boast about it! What skin type do you have? Do you use the right products for you?)

Nervous again.
We are going to a concert this week with baby in tow. I am very nervous, mostly at what people will say. Thankfully I have a super encouraging Mum who has always taught me "have baby will travel". So I'm not particularly nervous about taking Milla. She's so cruisy. Really. I will be shocked if she doesn't hold up. It's more the other people. I have thin skin, I dont want people to think I'm a bad mother.

Excited
We are doing so many cool things this weekend (hence the mad preparation needed) AND we are going to visit some old time long lost friends. We were only blessed with having these guys in our lives for a short while before they moved away again but they had a huge impact on us while they were around and we are SUPER EXCITED to have the opportunity to see them again. I. CANT. WAIT!!


There you go, I just proved I am female. All of that going on in one brain. Amazing.

I hope everyone is having a great week and you are all staying safe and happy above all :) Thank you for reading my words time and time again. You are all wonderful :)

And a little video to finish off with.. This week Milla mastered the crawl (She's been caterpillaring for a month now) and also figured out how to pull herself up on lowish objects. I'm so proud (but also a little concerned. I am not prepared for my baby to grow up!!)

Sisterhood on Facebook

So much is happening in The Sisterhood over the weekend! 

There is now a handy tab up top where you can find a little bit of information but is mostly going to be used to direct interested people to so they can find out more about what we are doing together. It's definitely a work in progress but it is a start.

And TA-DAA! We also have a Facebook Page! I decided this was most likely going to be the easiest way to communicate as we go forward. I didn't want to spam my blog with asking for things and I wanted a forum where people could discuss, inspire and "sign up" to The Sisterhood so they felt like they belonged.

So come on over, like us and join the conversation.

You can also use this code to add to your own website to display the Sisterhood button.

<center> <a href="http://sophieslim.blogspot.co.nz/p/sisterhood.html" title="TheSisterhood"><img alt="Sisterhoodbutton.jpg" src="http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Hawesy/Sisterhoodbutton.jpg" /></a> </center>

See, I have been busy!

A Resource, updated

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. I had a few comments and emails in my inbox regarding my last post and I was very surprised and touched to read how encouraging they were. I have some great readers (you!)!

A lot of real lifers read this blog and I think that somewhat puts me off posting what I would like to. Perhaps for fear of being taken the wrong way, or maybe even appearing as something that I am not in real life. In everything I do I would like to be genuine. I would hate to post "LOVE EACH OTHER!" Here, and then on Monday don't exibit the same love that I would like to to a fellow Sister. How sad would that be?

Like everything in life I have my imperfections and I am sure you realise that. Just like how you do. The point is not that we hide these imperfections but that we acknowledge them, deal with them how we can and move on.

To be honest I dont believe my blogspace is going to change a heck of a lot. It is what it is and for the most part I believe it does reflect me. I think I needed to get that post of my chest to allow me permission to post what ever I like. For example, I really want to do a post about wives respecting their husbands. It has come to my attention lately that our generation is seriously lacking that respect. But just to do that out of the blue? You might keel over and die from shock. No. It was definitely best to warn you ahead of time. You'll thank me later :)

Late night tram ride 

I have had a great week. Just so you know. It's been long and its been hard but it has been incredibly fufilling. I have been collecting for Plunket everyday, musing over my blog, enjoying time with my family, hugging Graeme for longer, celebrating friends 21st, riding on Trams, and today I will be going on a shopping trip all. by. my. self. Not that I have any money to spend - but I am appreciating that Milla can go without me (my boobs) for a few hours now and I am taking the opportunity to spend some introvert time alone in my head and wander around a mall amongst a sea of people I do not know.

Peace & Bliss xx

Resource; Encourage, bring hope, inspire

When I first started blogging all of those years ago it was because I was a youth pastor and felt the need to provide a positive space on the internet where my girls could be encouraged and inspired. I was tired of logging onto facebook or the like and seeing these beautiful girls get trashed by their friends, succumb to temptations and be someone I knew they were fighting so hard not to be.

I set about to change their internet space. I blogged about depression, identity, self worth, healthy relationships and Jesus. Blogging was fufilling and I found a lot of people outside of our youth group reading my words and telling me how encouraging they were.

Obviously, I'm not a youth pastor any more but the heart still remains - I am still eager to encourage young girls and have them know how much they are worth. Life and seasons change. Now I also aim to educate people on pregnancy birth and all the afters - to have them know that they have rights and can seek help and to encourage them that they are great mums and dads. I have started to use this space as a journal to record our families years with letters to my husband and our baby, I hope that one day they will be kept and shared. And now, The Sisterhood, of which I am ridiculously proud of what we have achieved already.

So you see, to me, my blog is a resource; It's a space to encourage and bring hope and to inspire. That was my aim and still is. I feel like I have been focussing on other things for a while now. Crafty things. Design things. Baby things. Food things. I love those things but they do not reflect my heart.

I am having a bit of a blog-dentity crisis.

There, I said it.

Sometimes I'm hesitant to post what I really want, I worry that it will be too mushy, or you'll get sick of me and my 'fluffy thoughts'. You'll say "She's so naive!" and I'll say "Just be kind to one another!" and you'll stop reading. So I don't and I limit what does get posted.

A part of me is also hesitant to post about the Sisterhood. I don't want recognition or glory for it. I don't want people to say "well done you". I just want to spread the word. Do you have any better ideas for doing that? I fear that if I post about the Sisterhood here too much you'll feel like I'm always asking you for something or you'll give me glory that I dont deserve. Both scenarios would hurt me.

I just enlarged those words up there. Resource. Encourage. Hope. Inspire. That's what I want. Doesn't that warm your heart? Make you feel wonderful inside? Don't you want to belong to a positive place that is moving towards something greater and better? I do. Seeing those bold words awakens me, makes me zing inside. At nine-o'clock at night I feel alive inside. I feel powerful.

So in the short term future you may notice a change in my posts. Maybe you wont like it and you will unfollow me. Maybe you'll love it and you'll spread the word. Maybe you wont even notice and this is actually all in my head and I'm making a big deal out of nothing.

If anything I want to thank you for reading my words up until this point. You yourself are generous and encouraging and I would love to hear from you about anything. I would love to get a conversation started. I would love to know that I'm not talking to myself as it so often seems like. Please comment, email, share, discuss, suggest.

Love.

Sisterhood - Helping a brother in Tauranga

Sister! We are needed!

I have had a request (First request girls!! Our reputation exceeds us!) for some support for a fellow brother.

Actually to be a little more specific this request came from a dear friend of mine who is also a Christchurch blogger. Her father is up in Tauranga where he is housebound and recovering from major surgery for his prostate cancer. Yeouch.

The request has come in for housebound items, specifically, books.

If you have a good book you are able to send him please let me know asap. I have a list of books he might like which I can then forward on to you, or if you have any other ideas for something that is on your heart to give then please get in contact.

I can't wait to hear from you, generous and loving sister. Thank you in advance for being you.

My email address is sophieslim@moo2.co.nz

[wednesday] A Day In My Life

[0730] Milla wakes up and joins me in bed for a lazy morning feed. She's starting to crawl so we can't stay in there too long. Up we get!

[0815] Breakfast time! Rice cereal, nom nom

[0830] Serious emergency bath (in the sink) and change of clothes. There was an explosive whoopsie!

[0930] All rugged up for a ride in the buggy on a cold Christchurch day. Complete with rose bud hat and Nanas warm blanket! Camilla and I don't have access to a car during the day so where ever we go it needs be be in walking distance (and we've walked some looong distances together), or a very super duper kind friend will pick us up. Today, we walk.

Personalised shoes sent for Christmas from Aunty Amy in London. 

[1000] Milla falls asleep on route to get photos printed at the local mall. Gifts for babys at our fortnightly Plunket catch up. Super happy with the way the design printed out. Far out she's cute!

We live in a low income povo area. I hate to admit it put I hate walking our streets. Mostly I feel unsafe and suspect of anyone and everyone. Dogs are scary and are often on the lose and I -always- see police cars attending to their business. I will be happy when we can move up in the world and move somewhere a little more family friendly.

[1100] I make it to my friends house for our fortnightly plunket catch up and Milla is happy to see her little friends; Liv, Jake and Kenzie. Now that Milla can move around she's becoming a little bully - stealing kids toys. Kenzies sitting up so at least Milla still has something to learn ;)

[1300] We head home. Total kms walked: 6.4

Some days I wish I had the option of driving somewhere, but other days I love to get out with the buggy.

On the way home I stop to buy some savouries and a treat. Huungry.

[1315] Home. Milla crashes in bed. Fast asleep without a sound. Yes she is sleeping on her tummy and no its not recommended you let your baby do that. However, when you have a rolling moving around baby its pretty hard to prevent. 

While she naps I enjoy my food and clean since we were out all morning. The fun stuff - dishes, laundry, floors, oh and a shower too. Missed that this morning since I had to bath the little one!

[1500] Milla wakes up and enjoys some time practicing her new caterpillar moves. She's quite the moving talent!

[1600] Husband gets home from work and we head around to his parents home where his sister and her partner are staying! They live in Australia and it was especially nice to have them visit for the week. We saw them most days and LOVE spending time with them! 

Milla was particularly taken to them too :)

We had a delicious roast, swapped February Christmas presents (Graeme got a helicopter and I got a scrapbooking set) and played a few rounds of back yard cricket. 

Milla happened to notice her Dad hitting a tennis ball with a plank of wood and thought it was hilarious. She cracked up laughing. You must understand that Camilla barely says boo. Its quite a workout to get any noise out of her but she thought cricket was hillaaarious (and since has found basketball equally as funny. Sportswoman?)

[2000] Indoor cricket. Graeme had real deal [indoor] cricket that night so off we went with the sister and bf. They ended up playing for the opposing team as they were short players. Our guys kicked their bums.

[0000] Around midnight our beds called our names and we retired home. Graeme was able to play with his new helicopter while I dressed Camilla for bed. She was quite dazzled by all of the lights.

In my books a day well done. A little part of me is nervous for posting this - fearful of the "is that all you do?" comments from my aquaintences who dont have kids and have no idea how much of a day is gobbled up with breastfeeding and food prep and walking and changing and bathing and and and! As you can tell a large percentage of my day revolves around my Baby, cleaning and my husband. That's fairly typical.

At the start of this day the only thing I knew I had on was the plunket catch up, there fore I would consider this a "pretty usual" day - not that we keep Milla up till midnight every night, but I certainly didn't pick this day to take photos because anything out of the ordinary was happening. It just so happened we had a busy and fufilling day to show you :)

[The End!]

:)