Heat Wave

I am officially oh so over this heatwave that is gripping Adelaide, we are onto our 4th (or is it 5th?) consecutive day with temperatures peaking in excess of 40 degrees.

Thank goodness we have aircon! And although it is struggling it is doing a great job and I would be utterly lost without it.
However what I wouldn't give to be able to open all the curtains, blinds and windows to let in fresh air and light. That will not be happening for at least another week as temperatures are still going to be howevering in the high 30's for at least that long.

I am starting to feel quite down as I don't do homebody very well. I need to get out quite regularly for my sanity. However I don't always choose to do this, I am quite happy staying home, however when the choice to go out is removed (such as car trouble, heat etc) that is when I pine. During this awful heat though I will not take Lily out unless absolutely necessary, it is just not fair on her.

I did however today manage 2 trips to Spotlight while Lily was napping. (2 because I got everything besides what I originally went there for in the first trip!) Cameron stayed at home with Lily while she slept.

However I don't know why I bother going out by myself because I spend the whole time worrying, stressing and missing my baby girl and can't wait to get home to her!

Thankfully Lily still seems to be coping well with the heat. Not sleeping quite as well through the day, and a little more grizzly in general, but aren't we all having to deal with this heat!
I am feeding her more frequently than usual (I didn't know that was possible) as I am paranoid that she will dehydrate.

Lily has a new toy which she seems to love. It is a pair of Maraccas, they are SOO gorgeous! Also a great size for her to grip and play with quite well, apart from the fact they always seem to end up in her mouth!

So tonight while stuck at home in the heat I am dreaming of building this house in the mild Blue Mountains. (I'm not sure if they are always mild, however they were when I visited!)

There Is No Better Sound

There is no better sound than that of Lily erupting into the giggles, it truly is music to my ears.

This morning I found Lily's instant giggle button, it seems if I kiss the bottom of her cheek where it turns into her neck she can't help but burst into the most gorgeous sounding giggle. I repeatedly kissed her there so that I could relish in the most beautiful sound of her giggles, I will never tire of that sound.

Over the past couple of days I have found myself being so excited about being a Mum (strange since I have been now for over 4 months) and all of the amazing, fun, wonderous experiences we are going to share with Lily as she discovers this big wide world.

Already I marvel in her milestones, especially now that Lily is taking her toys out of my hands, I just love to watch the concerntration and how her breathing pattern changes when she is trying so hard to do something.
Even last night Mum was holding her and I just cannot believe that Cameron and I created her, I carried her for 9 months and now here she is, our perfect baby girl.

Yesterday poor Lily had her 4 month needles, like the true drama queen that she is she screamed the house down, however it was nothing that a bit of boobie wouldn't fix. After a feed she was back to her chatty, smiley self, especially when Nana met us at the shops. She was a little grizzly in the evening however had a good sleep from 9:00pm until 4:00am and is back to her usual gorgeous self this morning.

I just love to watch the bond that Lily shares with her Nana, she truly does adore her Nana, and the feeling is more than reciprocated.

This is the Settlers Bear that Mum brought for Lily, these bears are just devine, so soft and such beautiful attention to detail.

Mum thinks Lily will look so cute tottling around with this teddy when she gets a bit bigger, however I would like her to sit up on Lily's shelf so that she stays in beautiful condition. However I guess I can't keep everything for show. As you can see Lily looks more than cute with teddy already

Lily holding hands with teddy And tickles under the chin, whilst Lily is watching the news.

Here are a few nice pictures from the weekend.

I don't really have any nice pictures of Lily and I. I like the two above, although the second one is just at home, not very exciting!

Happy Birthday

Today is Cameron's birthday, my oh my how quickly the years are rolling on by, it was 2 days after Cameron's birthday last year that we found out I was pregnant. Already here we are a year later with our precious baby girl.

Unfortunately Cameron is at work for the day and wont be spending his birthday in any exciting manner. I set my alarm for 4 this morning so that I could wake up with Cameron and wish him a happy birthday. I knew this would only happen if I set my alarm because I don't wake up with his and he wouldn't wake me otherwise.

We haven't given him his presents yet as I wanted to wait until he got home and Lily was awake to give them to him.

I think he will be happy as I got him a new pair of Arnette sunnies, just what he wanted.

We are having a dinner for him tomorrow night, so I have lots of cooking and baking to do, I wonder if Lily will co-operate?

So Happy Birthday honey, I hope you have the best day possible and that the coming year is filled with much love, happiness and joy in watching our baby girl grow.

4 Months

How has this happened? How can Lily possilby be 4 months old?!

Mind you I am so glad that all of the stress, anxiety and worry are behind us now. I know that the birth of your child especially your first, is supposed to be the most amazing time of your life. It was on some levels for the most part is was the most stressful week of my life. I am so glad that we have now put all of that behind us.

I am much happier to have times such as those we shared this morning. I awoke at 6:00am to Lily happily, I might add loudly chatting away in her cradle, when I looked over at her she erupted into the biggest smile, and happily chatted throughout her first feed for the morning. It is times such as these that just totally melt me. That little girl is my entire world, my universe just completely revolves around her, and oh my does she know it!

For the most part Lily is the perfect baby, she is however acutely aware that I am right there ready to respond to her every whim and call.

Here is a picture of Lily with her teddy at 4 months, she is growing so much against this teddy each month.

What my baby is up to at 4 months.

~ In the past week Lily now rolls onto her tummy with hardly any effort at all. She only likes to be on her tummy for a few minutes and then whinges to be rolled over again. Now she just needs to figure out how to roll onto her back.

~ Lily almost always wakes up in a good mood, and is happy to chat and play for 20minutes to half an hour before she wants to be fed.

~ Lily is still waking for a feed at least once a night, but will sleep through perhaps once a week, it is amazing how human you feel after a good 8 hours solid sleep.

~ Lily is trying so hard to sit up, when I lay her down to change her bottom, or just recently when I put her to bed, she gets the cutest look of concerntration on her face and lifts her head and shoulders up off the surface that she is laying on. She is getting very strong!

I will come back and edit this post as I remember other things my princess is amazing us with.

Lily's 4 month birthday was shared with an equally important global event, Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as America's President.

I was lucky enough to be up feeding Lily during his speech, it was the most amazing telecast to watch.
Even here in Australia it is easy to get swept up in the excitement and buzz that is being created worldwide by Mr Obama.

The sheer volume of people that turned out to watch this event blew me away, they were saying in excess of 3 million people braved sub zero temperatures to be part of the amazing event.

I love this picture of Barack and Michelle Obama dancing at the Innauguration Ball, they are just such a happy, glamourous couple that are clearly so in love.

I am excited to watch how Barrack is going to shape and mould America over the coming months and years. He is certainly carrying a lot of pressure and anticipation from many people.

Tour Down Under

Today we took the huge treck to the bottom of Mum's road to watch the cyclists participating in the Tour Down Under go past.

In the past 10 or so years that it has been in the state I have never actually watched the bikes go past. It was a great atmosphere and we caught up with some of Mum's neighbours, however the bikes themself, I must say a bit of a let down.

It was just a group of bikes riding down the road, mind you I guess if it was a sprint stage or the finishing line it would be a lot different.

I was amazed though at how big the entourage of support crews, Police, Ambulances etc was.

It was quite nice though sitting under the shade of the trees with Mum, Nana, my cousin and of course Lily.

Lily was happy to sit in her pram to begin with

Then she sat with her Great Nana for a little while.

Some of the entourage that came through about 20 minutes before the bikes The news helicopter that was filming the bikes.

By the time the bikes came for Lily was all tuckered out, having a snooze in Nana's arms.

The bikes approaching

Just some of the cars that were following the bikes carrying spare bikes, etc.

Productive Weekend

I am very happy to report that I had a very productive weekend.

On Saturday we went to Ikea and although it was very rushed (note: never taking Cameron again!) and I didn't get to look around much we did get what we went there to get, an Expedit, I think they call them bookcases.

I am so in love with mine and totally recommend them.

Here is a picture of mine, it is not completely finished yet and I still have a few things to tweak, but all in all I am really happy with it and it is so nice to have the study now organised and clutter free.

That now means that all rooms in the house are organised and everything has a home. Makes my little perfectionist heart happy.

Here is a couple of pics of Lily watching Sunrise this morning. I can't believe she is going to be 4 months old tomorrow, where has the time gone!

From The Eyes Of Children

I just love how babies and children have the ability to make us stop and take notice of things that we would normally pay little to no attention to.

Take yesterday for example, I went into the city to purchase the text books that I need for this semester. Economics - yuk!

Anyhow on the way home I stopped to have Subway for lunch. We were sitting in Subway and Lily was in her pram. She was totally fixed on something and watching it with such intensity. I followed her eyes to where she was looking and she was watching the ceiling fans.

Now normally I would take absolutely no notice to fittings on the ceiling of anywhere, but Lily made me stop and look.

When I looked up I realised they were not just your normal run of the mill, ceiling fans. They were the most gorgeous timber ones with such intricate detail. I would not have taken an ounce of notice if it was not for Lily.

On one hand it made me think why would Subway have gone to the expense for nice ceiling fans when ordinarily nobody would take any notice.
Anyhow I am glad they did as Lily certainly appreciated them.

I am looking forward to the coming years when no doubt Lily will make me stop in my tracks many more times to admire the simple pleasures in life.

I find it amazing the wonder and amazement that babies and children find in the most everyday of tasks and objects. I love that Lily is going to make me stop and appreciate the simple things in life. I think we could all do with paying more attention to those.

In other news, my baby is growing far to quickly. She is now confidently rolling several times a day, and I must say she is quite proud of herself.
Lily also now takes her rattles out of your hands and promptly puts anything she may be holding in her mouth *gasp* I want my iddy witty baby back please!

I will finish this post with some images that are inspiring me today.

I would so love this wall mural in my house, how relaxing!

Beach and Bathtime

On Saturday we went to visit Cameron's parents who are holidaying down at the beach. It was a nice day but quite windy, in the afternoon the wind dropped somewhat so we decided to take Lily down to see the water. As you can tell by her face it was still far to windy for her liking.

Earlier in the day we had lunch at a cafe near where they were staying, Lily was such a good girl, she had a quick feed and then had quite a good sleep in her pram.Since Lily is such an alert baby who loves nothing more than to take in her surroundings, we have been trying in vain to discover how to sit her pram up. Cameron finally figured it out, of course it is very simple! Here is Lily sitting up for the first time.

Here are some pictures from Lily's bath this morning, it is still her favourite time of the day. 16weeks 1day

Welcome to 2009!

Well another year has ended, and another has begun. I love the start of a new year. It's a fresh year that I hope to fill with much fun, dicovery and adventure with Lily.

I guess there is always the anticipation of what the year may hold.

We welcomed in the new year with a small gathering of family and close friends at my parents house. Lily slept soundly through the night from 10:30 until we left at 3:00am in her portacot. It was the first time she has slept in the cot and she was most cosy, didn't make a peep. Lily doesn't sleep aswell in her pram as she once did, I think now she is just a little too big to sleep comfortably.

So far I have succesfully abandoned most of my new years resolutions. I am just no good at them! Of course one of them consisted of the obligatory 'eat healthier and get fitter' well I am sad to say that I have eaten chocolate every day since we greeted the new year.

I really must make more of an effort though as I really want to get back to pre-pregnancy weight, and ideally below if I can.

We had the most wonderful Christmas, Lily was very loved and spoilt throughout the day and night, and then boxing day also when we visited Cameron's parents!

It was best Christmas I have ever had, for obvious reasons, having a baby just changes your perspective on so many things, and special times of year such as Christmas are certainly one of those things.

Lily admiring the presents under the tree

Unwrapping one of many presents

Our little family

Lily with her cousin Lucy Lily with all her presents

Cameron is now back to work, and although I miss his company it is great to be back into our routine.

However back to work for Cameron means leaving home at 4:30am and returning at about 7:00pm, which I am not a fan of at all.

I am hoping that once it gets right into the heat of summer, they won't be able to work so long into the day as it will simply be far too hot. However the site manager wants to install lights so that they can work at night, that is just not humanely possible.

I know that Cameron is earning great money which enables me to be at home with Lily, but there really needs to be a balance between work and home life.

Oh and yes the seafood breakfast on Christmas morning was very well received, I was insanely jealous!