Inspired by Soulemama's Friday ritual, here's my moment to cherish this week:
Adam and our newest addition, Ivy, three weeks old. Asleep almost instantly in the Baby Bjorn on Daddy's chest.
Photo from my iPhone (using Hipstamatic.)
Have a gorgeous weekend.
xxx
First: you lot have some excellent stuff lurking in your pantries!!
Sue: can you email me a photo of your mystery vegetable by any chance?
Am now on lookout for uses for balsamic pickled cucumbers, rye flour (I have a bag of this too, Angie), middle eastern fig confit (YUM) and mango pickle. (Yvette - I have moved interstate and back with out of date pantry items! But salt has such a long shelf life, that's gotta be the one to beat!)
Pantry discussion to be posted shortly.
Notwithstanding the fact our smallest smallie only got up once last night (what a wonderful little person) my brain is a tad frazzled today so am posting pictures instead!
The makings of a wedding present for an adored cousin of mine...
Lunch: vegetable and barley soup. Hearty and delicious on a very cold Sydney day!
Sisterly afternoon cuddles.
Dinner...
Hope you're warm wherever you are: it's freezing in Sydney tonight!
xxx
Three years old, that is.
My Mum, who now has eight grandchildren, has a lovely rule that she must have a three year old photo of each of them.
Before three, they're toddlers, after that, they are really turning into little people (and can go through a cheesy photo stage.) So three it is. And it's a lovely, lovely age, right?
We have never had professional photos taken of our family, something I'd love to change but we've never found a photographer at the right time or in the right state (would love love love this amazing person to take a set of family shots for us - sadly I discovered her after we'd left Brisbane!)
Anyway, I was thinking of Mum's 'three' photo when flicking through these ones of Tilly at Pyrmont Park this week (thanks to reader Renee for the park tip! What a great park!)Tilly is right at delightful three-and-a-half... still little but not big.
You know what I mean.
Soloist.
Girl in nature.
Treasure. (The stick.)
Treasure. (The Tilly.)
Here's to treasuring precious days with smallies or whatever it is you're doing today.
xxx
1. It wouldn't be a Walmsley family outing if we didn't eat lunch on the way there. (At morning tea time.) Vegemite sandwich anyone? On the ferry from Circular Quay to Cockatoo Island.
2. It's the Biennale of Sydney. Installation art all over the island. A jumping castle that is art? that you can't jump on? Whose bright idea was that? *stomp stomp stomp*
3. Some of the installations are really quite fabulous (a.k.a alarming).
4. A roomful of tin roofs. Pussy cat in her element.
5. Bit of alfresco breastfeeding. La la la.
6. Does anything bother this little person? Ah, no.
7. All kinds of fabulous industrial spaces. Adam-heaven. (He dreams of our family moving to an enormous re-fitted old warehouse one day. In fact, I have the ripped out real estate pages in front of me to prove it.)
8. Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. Ivy in her little chair in the corner of the kitchen. Making trouble, as usual.
9. Favourite unphotographed moment of the day: Henry licking Adam's face, seeing if olive skin tasted like olives.
xxx
Maybe it's just me.
Delicious.
One week old today.
And this hat which I thought looked so tiny, enormous on her tiny noggin.
Knitting up another to fit her now. (When I'm not sitting idly admiring her.)
xxx
Hello!
Thanks for all your gorgeous comments - we really appreciate it! It's totally lovely hearing from you.
Ten things about my little lady, Ivy:
1. She was born on 30th June. Which for anyone who has ever worked in finance is a terrificly easy date to remember, fortuitous for a third child.
2. She wasn't enormous, as the midwives had promised. She was only 3.5kg. Which means she's little. Such a lovely thing in a wee baby.
3. We had a long induction (due to high blood pressure) in which nothing much happened, then in the afternoon as Ad and I sat around chatting with the most delightful English midwife on the ward, my waters broke and a shortish two and a half hours later we met Ivy. Cool, hey?
4. Having had two much longer labours, the physical benefits of a shorter labour are tenfold. Feeling really very well!
5. Ivy is feeding really well and not crazily often (unlike her sister at the same age!) which means we're all getting a bit of sleep and it's all really pretty peaceful here!
6. We were uncertain about how Henry and Tilly would go with an addition to our foursome, but they're very happy to have her in the family. Henry keeps telling me how much he loves 'the new baby' and Tilly is itching to get her up and walking so she can have a wing-man.
7. We had a picnic in our favourite park yesterday and Tilly probably introduced Ivy (with dramatic gestures) to about sixty innocent people who wandered into her orbit.
8. Ivy has generated an enormous amount of (utterly hilarious) discussion about where babies come from: more on that in another post.
9. Her favourite place to hang out is up under my chin, like a little marsupial. She smells utterly wonderful, so she can hang out there as long as she likes. I abandoned my sling already and am using a Baby Bjorn to maximise snuggling.
10. I get to see Adam in action as Daddy of a newborn, again. I'd forgotten how much I adored that Ad. He was the most fabulous labour partner, and is awesome in the middle of the night, or making tea in the morning, or occupying Tilly and Henry for ages while their mother sniffs the top of their baby sister's head under her chin.
We're all good here. Hope you are too.
Not quite on normal programming yet, but will jump back in when I can!
Ivy McLaren Walmsley, 1 day old, with her family
xxx
Favourite takeaway, lunchtime Saturday:
Favourite almost-six-year-old:
Favourite three-and-a-half-year-old in her favourite photo-pose:
New favourite picnic spot:
With this view:
Favourite cardigan:
And thievery of his Dad's favourite accessories:
(Frisking him for the iPhone.)
Hope you had a lovely weekend.
xxx
One of my sisters had an owl just like this one forever when we were little. Owlie. Very special. My other sister found this exact replica years later and thoughtfully bought it, I think just before Owlie was about to travel overseas on an adventure possibly likely to spell the end of his stuffing at the bottom of a backpack.
I'm not sure, but I think the original Owlie did the travelling anyway.
And this one stayed behind to be loved up by nieces of the future.
Love that owl.
(Pics taken on my iPhone. Adam had the camera out the back of the hill, as you know.)
xxx
...seven years ago, I married the most excellent man I've ever met.
We'd already been together six years, moved to London together for two of those, backpacked for another eight months and bought an apartment back in Sydney together. And had actually decided not to get married. I'd even broken that news to my mother. Then there was an amazing dinner at Rockpool, and a surprise proposal, and a ring, and who knew the whole wedding palaver could be just so much fun?
Thirteen years and I still think he is the funniest most marvellous most easy to live with person on earth.
If I hear a great story or read something interesting he's the first person I want to tell.
I can't imagine enjoying children this much with anyone else.
I can't imagine being so pleased to see someone every morning and every evening and still find him the single most hilarious person ever.
Happy anniversary baby. You rock my world.
May 17, 2003
xxx
~ Hanging out with a decisive three year old:
Me: Tilds, you can't just wear leggings, they're kinda for going underneath stuff.
Tilly: I'm wearing these.
Me: Tilds, do you really need to bring your precious Wiggles bag of animals with you?
Tilly: Yes, yes I do.
~ Local library action
~ The library finally getting in the Primo Levi book I've had on hold
~ Running a stick along a metal fence
~ Cutting, glueing, colouring action
~ Hanging a finally-framed print that I love love love, from here
~ Tidying up the pantry (nesting??)... I have a bit left to do though, this (above) is actually only a quarter of the space (I'm very lucky - big pantry). See below - 4 cupboards? One down, anyway.
~ Stove-popped popcorn for afternoon tea. The kids have theirs nude, I admit to adding butter and salt. Mmmmm.
~ Friday night dessert night: kick arse homemade icecream which I'll blog the recipe for next week!
~ A successful pumpkin and pea risotto that was gobbled up by everyone. Not even a morsel left to freeze. (You might be wondering at the May menu and absence of leftovers? You should see my freezer.)
~ Another semi-regular Friday treat: An after dinner DVD! The whole family watched the original Disney Snow White tonight. Very cool. The kids were laughing out loud.
~ Weekend is here.
Hope you have a wonderful one, wonderful people.
xxx
