Point + Shoot

Here's a few snaps of my weekend for Chantelle's latest Point + Shoot bit of fun. Head over to Fat Mum Slim to check out more.

!!Short Hair!!

More than 20cm cut off, and shorter than I've had it since I had no hair when I was sick about 8 years ago! A good move I think - I had a silly long hair = health association that needed a kick in the butt.

Littlest Buddy (Lachie) hanging out in his new bumbo (such a clever head-holder-upper) and... intently watching the cricket!!! SO cute.

*love*

The tree is trimmed

Our Christmas tree is a constant work in progress.

T and I have a tradition of buying one very beautiful ornament to put on the tree each year. So at the moment, the tree has fleeting moments of beauty, in amongst some pretty stock standard baubles. But each year the balance shifts. I love this ongoing transformation.

This year we bought the Wedgewood 'my first christmas' booties for the boys, and I can't wait until they start picking our their own decorations each year.

I can't guarantee that our tree will always be beautiful, but I can be totally sure that it will be grow to be more and more meaningful every year.

*smile*

This is what made me smile today:
A gift from friends who know how obsessed T is with Oasis!

pop along to fatmumslim and tell chantelle what made you smile today

Oh, pretty

12 weeks!

Darling boys

You are 12 weeks old today! Happy 3 month birthday little ones.

You are very special little monkeys and we love you so so much.

I know people don't believe me when I tell them, but you're really no trouble at all. You're both good natured, and pretty easy to please.

It's a privilege to watch you grow and learn. You're such funny little things.

You pull hilarious faces. You smile at us - right at us - it's amazing. You grab hold of toys and reach out to touch things. You stare at us with such intensity. You grab each other's hands. You both love snuggles, and that's a good thing, because your Mama and Daddy do too.

As ever, all the love in the universe

Your Mama

Hello babies

Oops, I drove over the pram....

...thankfully sans babies.

How? oh, I just don't know. I blame general exhaustion, trying to get everything done quickly, and plain old bad luck.

The pram ended up very squished between the car and the garage door. Totally totalled. Unsalvageable. Rather entertainingly twisted out of shape.

Rather miraculously, the insurance company was able to approve the claim over the phone, we happened to find the last pram (had to be the same kind) in Australia, and were able to pick it up immediately.

So, except for the marks on the back bumper of the car, and that sick-to-the-gut feeling that you get when you know you've done something Very Bad, it could all have been in my mind.

Happy 10 week birthday boys

Darlings, you're 10 weeks old today. My goodness, you're practically men already. Where has the time gone?

So many milestones have been reached. First night at home, first walk in the pram, first restaurant outing, first smiles, first sleep through, and first 0000 outfits!

Now you're both old-hands at the walking and the dining out part. You love going out for weekend breakfasts. And you love your daily walk.

As for me, I love every bit. But I especially love the big grins, and the little cute noises you make when you're sleeping. I could watch you sleep for hours.

You've both grown so much too. You're definitely newborn size now. Both of you in 0000 sized clothes! When you were born you were too small to fit even 000000 sized clothes. You grow so quickly I can almost see it happening. From one day to the next you change so much.

You're funny little things. You have such different personalities, and it's amazing to me that they're so obvious even at this stage.

Hamish, our little wombat, you're so quiet and placid. You just lie there, even when you're awake, looking around and generally chilling out. You are a gorgeous looking little baby, and you give the most excellent newborn cuddles. You're a snuggler, that's for sure. You're so much like your daddy - you even have the same toes!

Lachie, our little squawker, you look like you're thinking something. Your beautiful eyes are enormous and constantly looking at the world around you. You stare at us with such intensity that my heart feels like it's going to explode from my chest. You look like a gorgeous tiny little china doll.

I've never been happier than I am now. And it's all down to you two - who knew that two tiny little things could change someone's life so much.

All the love in the universe
Your Mama xxx

The steep slippery slope to kitsch

Since becoming a mum, I have found myself doing a whole load of things I said I never would.


I wasn't going to rock the babies to sleep. I wasn't going to use dummies. I wasn't going to pick them up every time they cried. I wasn't going to dress them the same.


And I wasn't going to do this:






But I have.....

I know! Not only are they matching, but they're Christmas Themed.

I couldn't help it. And now I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop. It's not my fault. It's Christmas. It makes me lose my mind a little.


Forgive me boys. I really do love you. You're just so ridiculously adorable.

Sleep! Glorious sleep!

I hope I'm not jinxing myself here. I'm touching every piece of wood within reach.

BUT, I have had four nights - in a row - of sleep without the babies waking to be fed.

I had been led to believe this didn't happen for a long long time yet. Is it possible they have reached that holy grail of Sleeping Through The Night? At 9 weeks (with an adjusted age of only 3 weeks)??

I admit, I have been trying to achieve this. I am a routine girl all the way and have been feeding the boys every 3 hours between 7am - 11pm (or so, depending on when they wake up) so that they get their nutritional needs during these hours, hence reducing the need to wake up for food in the very uncivilised hours (or that's the theory anyhow).

I know lots of people think it's very selfish to do this to a baby - after all, it's for your convenience, not theirs - but to them I say "Do you have twins who don't sleep at the same time during the day, which means you can't rest? They're not exactly old enough to entertain themselves while Mama has a little lie down to recover from only 2.5 hours sleep overnight". After a few weeks of this I suspect common sense would prevail eventually and the routine wins the day :)

So, yay! Good boys. Fingers crossed it continues.

An explanation

I have just been reading Mama Mia (http://mamamia.com.au/weblog/2009/11/here-comes-the-bride-and-there-goes-her-name.html).

I didn't change my name when T and I were married. 5 years later I did. But I didn't lose my surname. I just simply added his to the end. No hyphen. Just two surnames.

I did it for a few reasons. One is that there was no way I was going to give up my name. It is part of my identity. It is who T fell in love with. It's me. It's mine. I love it. It's special to me.

Similarly, I am married to a wonderful man. We wanted to have a family. We wanted a family unit. I wanted to honour and respect our relationship and our future family.

T thinks it's pretty cool. Even if his mates tease him by calling him Mr my name / his name.

Our boys have my surname - the double one. I'm sure it won't confuse them. I don't feel sorry for them. It's not pretentious. It's a few extra letters.

But it's more than that.

It's a lesson that women and men are equal in marriage. That personal identity is important, and to be respected. That women are strong, independent and don't need a man's name to find their place in this life.

Important lessons for little boys, no?

So, my darling boys. That's why you have both Mama and Daddy's surnames. We both love you. You are part of both of us, and both of our families. We think that's important stuff.

And they're off and racing

I LOVE the Melbourne Cup Carnival.


Being a milliner, it's all about the hats and headpieces for me.


And being a bit of a purist, Derby Day is my favourite. But there's something about Melbourne Cup Day and all the colours of the rainbow that come out in celebration.

But because I've been pregnant nearly all year, I haven't been able to do much hat-making: the chemicals were best avoided.

I have, however, taken a couple of last minute orders and managed to finish them off, as well as make myself something to wear.


And in celebration of the fact that this is the first year since I finished uni that I haven't had to work on Melbourne Cup Day, I've invited some girlfriends over tomorrow. We all have new or nearly new babies, so it will be an interesting afternoon with about 13 little ones here, but I'm very excited.


Maybe next year - when they're a bit more mobile - we'll race the children.. hee hee

xx

7 Weeks

Today is your 7 week birthday boys. 7 weeks! I can't believe it's been that long since you were born.

You both started smiling this week. Adorable. Adorable. Adorable. I have been trying to capture it in a photo, but haven't successfully managed yet. I'll keep trying.

You survived one of mama and daddy's parties this weekend. In fact, I think you rather enjoyed the attention. All those cuddles from all those lovely people. What lucky boys.

Lach having cuddles with Aunty Renae

and Uncle Mike

and Aunty Shari

Hamish with Daddy

and Uncle Mike

and Uncle Dom

It was supposed to be an afternoon get-together, but in typical Campbell Case fashion it went for a full 12 hours - right through until 1am. You stayed up and partied with the best of them too. Didn't cry. Just sat back, chillled, and enjoyed the show (and oh my goodness, what a show!). Daddy and Uncle Dom looked very very funny with your pram toys attached to their earlobes didn't they.....!!!

You're just delightful, and I adore you with every breath in me.

All the love in the universe
Your Mama

Dear Queensland

why oh why oh why can't we please have daylight saving?????

Due today!

To my darling boys

Today is your official due date. Your daddy and I are so lucky to have had an extra 6 weeks worth of cuddles and love.

I can't imagine it any other way. Every single extra day we've had with you has been wonderful.

We love you so much.
Your mama

This is you on the day you were born

This is you now! Nearly 6 weeks old, and still snuggling up together.

Anyone like wine?

I do.

Check this out:

http://thewinewank.blogspot.com

Hilarious, tongue in cheek wine reviews that poke fun at reviews written by a bunch of self-important wine afficionados but yet leaves you with a tantalising urge to run out and buy a bottle.

A lot irreverent, very funny, and most importantly, useful to anyone who likes good wine.

Go on, have a read.

Jenxx

What a whirlwind

Where have the past three weeks gone??

I can't believe my little darlings are three weeks old already. I can't believe the fierce intensity of my love for them. I can't believe how much I would do for them, how far I would go for them. They are the centre of my universe.

The past three weeks have been such a whirlwind that I can barely keep my head straight. Hamish had respiratory distress syndrome, so had to have some help with breathing in his first few days so was in a higher level of intensive care than Lachie. Having them separated for their first five days really tore at my heart.

Then they both developed jaundice and got to have a little bake under the phototherapy lights. Hamish only needed a night, but poor little Lachie was under for four days. And he hated almost every minute of it. He kept pulling his little sunglasses off, causing me to worry that his little tiny eyes would be damaged.

Then Lachie developed a digestive problem and for a few days had horrible bile and blood in his stomach. He didn't seem too concerned by it though, but apparently the phototherapy lights make little ones very lethargic, so it was probably lucky he was under those at the same time or we might have had a distressed little one on our hands.

Once those problems cleared up, the boys really started going fantastically well. They have put on loads of weight, with Lachie now weighing 1.94kg and Hamish at 2.16kg!! All we're waiting on now is the feeding. They're still a bit too small to suck feed at every third hourly feed time. They can generally do two feeds, but run out of puff for the next one. So until they build up enough stamina to be able to eat enough regularly enough, they'll remain in the nicu.

I miss them so much when I'm not at the hospital with them. It's heartbreaking to leave each night, but it is slowly getting easier. Getting used to the new sleeping schedule is difficult too. Because the boys are in hospital, I have to express my breast milk. Every two hours. Day and night. Except for one four hour break overnight. I know all mums are sleep deprived, so I'm not complaining. In fact, I like being able to provide something so important for them, but it is taking some getting used to.

So that's a quick summary. They are gorgeous little men. I love them so much. We hope to have them home soon.

Welcome to the world Lachlan and Hamish

Hamish Charles born at 9.11am on 09/09/09, weighing 1.46 kg
Lachlan Edward born at 9.12am on 09/09/09, weighing 1.23kg
- born at 34 weeks, and currently in NICU but doing very well -

Letter to my boys on the day of their birth - part 1

[Part 1. 6.25am, 09/09/09]

Well, my darlings, the day has arrived!!

You are officially 34 weeks and 1 day old and today is the day your daddy and I will finally lay our eyes on you for the first time.

We have been so excited about this moment for so long it feels like forever. We have been eagerly anticipating this day since the minute we knew you existed.

Your daddy and I have spent countless hours talking to each other about how wonderful it's going to be when you arrive, imagining how wonderful our family is going to be with you both in it, and we can't believe that in only a couple of hours time we'll have you in our arms. We barely spent a wink last night because we were so excited.

We love you so much, and can't wait to see you very very soon.

All the love in the universe
Your Mama


[Part 2]

Oh, my darling darling babies. You're here. And you're beautiful. I love you so much. You're so so tiny. Much smaller than we were expecting, but you're perfect. We're all going to be in hospital for a little bit longer than we thought, but everything is going to be ok. Grow my tiny ones.

I love you more than I ever knew I could. Nothing could have prepared me for the intensity. It took my breath away. I loved you so much, so instantly, that for a second I couldn't breathe.

Welcome to the world darling ones.

Your Mama