february giveaway

Oops, oops, oops! So much for my giveaway per month......ok it's almost the end of February so here it is, just sneaking in by a whisker. A Hunky Dory honey bun and a selection of 1/2 metre pieces from the hunky dory range as well as some quilters muslin in pink and white.

You'll be able to make a lovely quilt or various projects with this fabric. And all you have to do is leave a comment to go in the draw....too easy! Entries close next sunday (give or take a day).
CONGRATULATIONS TO NAYS PLACE FOR WINNING!!!!!!!!!

The 'I need more time' sale

School, new baby, teething, housework, twins, tantrums, appointments, meetings, emails, blog, meals, nappies, laundry, driving, groceries, the gym, family, bills, church, volunteer jobs (can't believe I volunteered at school too), husband, ironing, quilts for queensland..................that is pretty much my life right now and forget craft or trying to run a store. I just need more hours everyday and finding time to cut up orders and get them out in the post is just killing me right now. So it's about time for a huge clearout of everything, EVERYTHING on the bolts right now to reduce my stock to the bare minimum and take a little break from my store.

I emptied these bolts in a night!

Don't worry, I'm not closing up shop as I still have new fabrics on order but I'm just giving myself a breather to refocus on my blog, home, family and LIFE! And the best way I know to clear stock is to reduce it at or below cost and get it out of here in big bundles. So I've made up huge 1/2 metre bundles of fabric that are to die for. A mixture of old and new and sorted into girly japanese, linens, floral lovers, greens/blues and reds and I'm sure I'll come up with some more combo's. I'll list them up in my store very late tomorrow night and will give you an ETA tomorrow. There are 3-5 bundles in each category which are identical to make it easier for me and all orders will be posted out at the end of the week................phew!

a nice day

Why thank you for all of those sweet birthday messages. I had such a nice day which started with an early morning call from my dad and my mum who said I was turning 105! Oops, she corrected herself but it was pretty funny. I could have done without Finn's tantrums (he's taken over from Tillie in the tantrum department and tends to do his best work in the aisles of my local Coles) and the worst zumba teacher I've ever had. Honestly, if you can't keep to the beat and are making it up as you go with the same cha cha for every single song then please don't teach zumba! 

And after eating almost an entire bag of chocolate freckles before school pick up, retro daddy then came home with a carton of macarons so I could spoil myself some more and break my normally strict diet for a day. So I'm all sushied and sugared out and watching Hannah Montana the movie while thinking that my iphone is the best birthday present...............ever! If only for the hipstamatic app which I used for all of these photos. OK and I'll admit it........................angry birds! 

thirty five

Thirty five! Today I am 35! Get out of town, I still feel 25 until I find more little wrinkles on my face!!! I've packed a lot into my life so far and the last few years have been crazy. I had my first baby at 30 and all 4 of my babies by 34. It's been quite the ride even if my tummy has seen better days.......tummy tuck for my 36th birthday perhaps? And so how am I spending my day. The school run, a zumba class, catching up on laundry, dinner at my favourite sushi train with my little family and maybe a glass of champagne and piece of cake to finish the day. And if I don't have to make the cake, well that would be nice.

little retro mummy! Man, I wish I had that dress for one of my girls!!!

And so today while I reflect back on all of the things that have happened to me so far, it is a total cliche that the best thing I have ever done and the best present I could ever ask for is to have my own little family around me. And having a little baby of my own to cuddle on my birthday, well it doesn't get much better than that. It's not an easy or quiet life here, but at the end of every day I am so proud of this little family of mine. I never could have imagined that I'd have four gorgeous children who I just treasure, a wonderful husband who is one in a million (ok, except when he doesn't bring flowers on valentines day) and the family we are raising.  

my fashionista

Ok, first things first. Mark your diaries for the 15th March when all will be revealed about my exciting day yesterday and a giveaway. I know you all looooove a good giveaway. And so last night I was trying on some clothes and before I knew it my miss keira had quickly put on a new dress and accessorised herself head to toe.  

when she gets dressed up she always calls out 'fasheeeeeeeeeeeern' and hides around the corner before calling out 'introducing, for your entertainment pleasure, the one and only Keiraaaaaaaaaaa Emilieeeeeeeeeeeee (insert our surname).......' and then she struts her stuff down the hallway. Now the twins are copying and it is the funniest (and cutest) thing ever. You just can't keep a straight face when she does this........I'm guessing this is all my fault for loving to dress her up from head to toe from an early age.

somebody pinch me

I've been teasing some of you over on facebook about how fabulous today was going to be. I can't share too much with you YET but all I can say is wow, wow and more wows. It's not often that I get a day away from the house and my responsibilities, but today retro daddy was left in charge of the homefront, school run and the little people.

the very glamorous hair and makeup room

He did a fabulous job and I had an a-m-a-z-i-n-g day and have so much more confidence! I know a few of you want some sneak peeks so here is a teaser and as soon as I'm allowed to share I'll be revealing my whole day with you........

another favourite

Skye reminded me the other day that I'd left off another TV show I've been watching lately. Now before you tell me it's trashy, I know that. But I do find it funny and after a day with my four....well you just need to watch something light and trashy. And laugh.  

Especially as it reminds me of my time working in London. There were lots of young lads and some older 'birds' from Essex in the back office of the investment bank where I worked. They were a world unto themselves.

iPhone questions

OK, so I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not in the right demographic for an iPhone. I really should have been identified at the store as needing some extra support, like an iPhone support group for the clueless (or blonde and clueless). And when you're going to leave the store they have a quiet word with you that perhaps you might need a bit of extra help. Honestly, I'm only 34 but sometimes while figuring things out I feel like I'm 84.

So here's my burning question of today - I'm using the phone on wi-fi at home and if I am sending photos or emails am I using up my monthly data limit (1GB) on my phone or am I just using the home internet and I can download to my heart's content. Don't laugh, I really am blonde and clueless. And why can't I access my hotmail when I'm out? I used to be able to do when I was on my old phone but not on the new one. And please don't call me, I have absolutely no idea how to answer my phone if it starts ringing.   

But it is making my life easier, Monday is my crazy day where I'm in and out of the house all day but I've been able to quickly check emails throughout the day at home without opening up the laptop, seen what's happening on facebook and try to keep the twins entertained with a few games while watching keira at gymnastics. And favourite games so far are Talking Tom and Angry Birds...thanks ladies for the tips. 

But now I'm going to go and do something I know how to do....and I'm good at it. Have a big cup of coffee and some mini muffins so kindly dropped off by this nice lady with some quilts generously made by her quilting group for Quilts for Queensland. I could smell the honey as soon as I opened the box and then she lets me know that the honey comes from her cousin's country hives. Well that would explain that delicious smell.  

i have iPhone

Well I'm probably a little late to the party but I finally got an iphone 4......an early present for my birthday next week and don't even go there when I first told retro daddy what i wanted for my birthday. Just don't do there. So I'm loving it but feel like an 80 year old learning how to use a computer for the first time

I'm just a bit clueless! Or a lot. But boy waiting for school pick up just got a whole lot more exciting....so many apps, so little time. Unfortunately Keira has quickly found her favourite games and wants to take the phone out of my hot little hands at any opportunity. But she won't be doing that until I visit the mobile phone store tomorrow for a case and screen protector! Love to know your favourite apps too.........

best books for quilting

A couple of you lovely readers have been asking me for recommendations of where to start if you want to quilt. And lucky for you because there are some great books out now which I really wish were available when I started quilting a few years ago.

First up has to be Oh Fransson's 'The Practical Guide to Patchwork'.......it has such a great intro section packed with lots of tips, photos and the basics explained. It is just perfect for the beginner to the more intermediate quilter looking for modern projects.

There are some beautiful quilt patterns in this book and it is definitely my favourite at the moment. Even if Australia Post totally stuffed up the amazon order and it got delivered to a photographer in manly who hoped that I had his book! I didn't. He wasn't happy but Amazon refunded me and I got the book for free (when it eventually arrived), compliments of Amazon for Australia Post's mistake. Nice.

Next up I love this book which also has a great intro section (not as long as the book above but covering the basics) and a lot of modern projects. This one is also great for all levels as it will test the more experienced quilter to try new ways with their quilting while having some great little projects which are perfect for weekend quilting when you want something quick and easy. Amen to that.

And here is my lovely pile of quilting books...I also have a huge pile of magazines and japanese quilting books too. Yes I like my books and these are just the quilting ones.......I haven't shown you the japanese craft books, the sewing, the knitting, the crochet, the softies and so on.

My favourite places to buy books are fishpond, amazon and book depository. And of course my local bookstore too, Berkelouw . They have a small but good craft book section.

big love.big fan.

OK, so my facebook buddies are finding out that I'm a bit of a closest TV addict. A bit........is an understatement. When you are married to mr workaholic you have a lot of late nights on your own. And one of my all time favourite shows is definitely Big Love. It always makes me laugh or gives me a bit of a fright.

Growing up I wasn't even allowed to say crap in the house and with 4 little people around me 24/7 I just can't swear even if I wanted to so this clip makes me laugh. We're only just getting season 4 here but man I love this show and am itching to get my hands on season 5. Other top shows right now are desperate housewives, modern family, millionaire matchmaker, the good wife and the real housewives on Arena. That's all...........love to know your fave shows too.

where have my nights gone?

My nights used to be the perfect time for my craft and a great way to pass time until retro daddy got home. But now that school has started I think I've said goodbye to it for a while. We get in the door from school at 3.30, have some playtime, do laundry, cook dinner, clean up after dinner, baths, brush teeth, put Elodie to bed (thankfully she's out like a light after 5 minutes), read books and hopefully have everyone asleep before 8.30. I say hopefully because there are always some bedtime shenanigans going on but we've come a long way from last year when we had no set bedtime. 

Then when all I want to do is collapse on the couch with some craft it's actually time for me to  catch up on laundry, tidy up after the day, lay out everyone's clothes for the next day, make up orders, pack keira's bag and write my to do list for the next day all while sneaking in a bit of tv for myself. And that is why it's taken me 2 weeks to get one hexagon flower done..............but it's better than nothing! And hopefully as the year rolls on I'll become speedy gonzalez with my night time routine so that I can sit down, relax and get some crafting done.

full body shot

Yesterday, I was asked to send in a full body shot of myself for an exciting project (ohhhh let the suspense build because I'm not telling you why) and quickly managed to get this shot this morning before I duck off to do the school run. I love to just pop on a dress in the morning as they are a no brainer and this is a cute one.

This is a little chambray dress from ollie&max (because I know you'll ask), you can accessorise these little babies and dress them up or down but I keep it pretty simple (as you can obviously see) and just throw on my silver birkenstocks, a pair of earrings and head out the door - probably with wet hair this morning! I also have the black one which gets a good workout.

Things I haven't told you lately - part 2

Well it's time again! Time for a catch up as there are always lots of things happening that never make it on my blog...................

- I need to wake up at 6.30am on school days just to get everyone out the door by 8.30 

- I've never been busier since keira started school
- I've been called selfish and inflexible over the past few weeks by a close family member
- didn't you know that stay at home mums just stay at home 24/7
- I've ignored it and moved on because I know the truth and when she has 4 children she'll get it
- the best thing I heard this week was that you will see the face of God in places you least expect - try it, it's true
- keira had her first school mass and was the cutest little kindergartener I've ever seen
- a school mum googled smart casual cocktail party and came up with my blog post and it helped her wardrobe choice- how funny is that!
- I haven't told school mums about my blog as they might find out too much information about me
- the scales tell me I've lost 7kgs since christmas....there are 3kgs to go
- good underwear is essential to the post baby bump/muffin top/roll of fat
- meal replacement bars and a few gym classes a week are the secret to my success
- my skin has not caught up with my fast weight loss
- I did my first step class in 6 years and was red faced for the next hour
- elodie is definitely my easiest baby and is asleep from 7pm almost every night.
- eldodie, you make me want to have more babies
- I don't think I can do the whole weight loss thing again though
- why do some people have 10kgs to lose after having a baby?
- oh no wait, I know that answer - hot chips, chocolate and overindulging
- retro daddy thought when I said I'm not doing anything for valentines day that it meant don't buy me flowers
- of course that meant surprise me. He had to go out and come home with flowers at 7pm
- you would think after almost 10 years with me that of course you shouldn't come home empty handed
- I made keira love heart ham sandwiches for lunch on valentines day and she loved them
- keira tells me she is 'brain shy' when it comes to meeting new kindergarteners
- keira got star of the week award at school for safe and gentle hands - 2 days later she pushed her brother over in front of lots of people in the playground and made him cry
- quilts for queensland is well underway and I have to show you  how many beautiful things keep arriving
- I love having short hair just as much as I did when I first got it cut
- elodie and her daddy have matching hairstyles
- some mornings when doing keira's hair for school I think I need to go to hair school

and that is a snapshot of what's been going on around here lately.............

quilted

Well last night was lots of fun, I lost my voice from all of the talking I was doing (nothing new in that) and I am definitely 'that lady with all the kids' but that's ok. I can live with that. I had one champagne and lots of sparkling water while retro daddy got to enjoy some beers and I suspect mass will be a little quieter this morning as 6pm mass is much more acceptable than 9am after a late night out. Oh and my wardrobe choice was spot on....very happy but I knew I couldn't go wrong with that little dress.

And on friday I managed to quilt this little quilt. It's made from a hunky dory honey bun and another fabric from the range. It's very pretty and floral...just how I like it. The quilting didn't take me too long and now it's just waiting to be neatened up and the binding can go on. And I'd kind of like to try this method with rounded corners  which I think looks really cute..........

I just love the back which made use of the leftover blocks. Hunky Dory is one of my favourite fabric ranges and I actually have 8 or 9 honey buns ready to go into the store as well as a range of clearance hunky dory fabrics. I just need to find an hour or so to get stuck in. Finding just an hour is hard to do.

smart casual

Tonight is the school cocktail party which welcomes new families to the school. We don't get out much and I've met some really lovely ladies at the school so I'm sure it will be a nice night. But I did have a moment of doubt with the dress code....... a sign I don't get out much. Smart Casual.

You see casual was throwing me there. I was thinking cocktail party and smart casual don't really go together. Normally I get dressed up to go out for dinner, to weddings or family events but Smart Casual threw me for a bit. This would be a great excuse for a new dress but clothes shopping is still a tad depressing for me and best avoided till I've lost all my baby weight. So I had already planned to wear this little country road dress which I can just squeeze into but then I was thinking is that too fancy, will heels make it not smart casual.

the last time I wore my dress - almost 2 years ago!

And I was tossing up wearing a silver sandal so I put it out on facebook and a very nice reader said smart casual needs a heel. And that is why I need........... 1. get out more and 2. have dress codes explained to me. And now retro daddy needs to sort out his wardrobe as I told him jeans were not on. Apparently they need to be crisp, show no wear and you need a sports coat with it (thank you wikipedia). I have a few outfits in mind for him and have 'advised' him that he better not leave it till 7pm to think about what he's going to wear!

So tell me.............are you in the know with dress codes?

almost 4 months

On Sunday, my 4th baby will be 4 months old. I can't quite believe it. To be honest, I still can't believe I have 4 children and to think littlest miss is now 4 months old. Wow, it feels like she's always been in the family and 4 months has gone so quickly. But could she get any cuter? Um no, I don't think so. But I am biased. And although there is a little tear in the photo this little miss is not one to cry. She would have to be my easiest baby. She wakes up happy and smiling, falls asleep anywhere and especially under her rainforest sounds mobile in less than 5 minutes.

She weighs in at a healthy 7.2 kgs and her thighs are too cute for words. But sometimes I do feel sorry for her, in and out of the car all day now that keira is at school but I make sure she gets lots of cuddles and kisses when we're not rushing around. And there is plenty of attention from the other mums at school. I've never been busier and I'm starting to get that feeling that I'm done and to spoil enjoy her as my last baby.............................but then I look at photos like these and think oh if I could have just one more! But my problem is one won't be enough.......

Quilting group

Just after the twins were born I found a quilting group just around the corner from me. It's run by a lovely lady called Wendy, you just bring along your own work, sit down and quilt. They are a lovely bunch of ladies and I'm not sure what we talk about for 2 hours but there is always a lot of talking and lots of friendly discussions to join in on.

So after a 2 year absence I rejoined the group on monday night, I was a bit late as I had to get littlest miss asleep before I was 'allowed' to leave home. But it was great to just forget about everything going on right now and do some hexagons. I'm going to try to make it a regular babysitting time with retro daddy and maybe, just maybe, I will get my grandmothers flower garden quilt finished. Some people do yoga or meditation............I craft!

I've been using charm square packs for my hexagons and so far have used Hunky Dory, Verna, Bliss and Oliver & S! I still have about 15 hexagon flowers to go but I'm making progress..............slowly but surely.

oh and you'll also find me today over at seven cherubs...........I just love large family blogs like Naomi's because I think 4 is tough so I don't know how you do 7!

a twin moment

Last week I managed to find swimming lessons for my twins and was a little embarrassed that we hadn't started them earlier but saturday classes are hard to find and weekday classes were impossible as I had no helper. So I finally get classes with half an hour in between and our lovely nanny would mind one twin and elodie while I take the other twin in and vice versa. So today first in was our fearless tillie in the pool for her very first swimming lesson.

for someone who hasn't been in the water very often she was super confident and had a great class. Wow, I was thinking this is going so well............WRONG! When we get out of the pool and over to our things to get dressed the tantrum starts...oh no! Tillie tantrums in public are deafening and embarrassing. Somehow I get her dressed and march her out of there with a red face, ear piercing screams, people staring and poor finnie not knowing what was going on as we'd been psyching him up  for his class. I go to the front desk but can't talk with tillie screaming so the nanny takes her out and minds her outside. And yes I tried the whole get down on their level and ask what is wrong - she wanted to go swimming again and no amount of rational talking was calming that little lady down.

I nicely explain the situation and tell the lady at the desk that this won't work so we manage to split the classes to 2 days and I'm so grateful and thank her many times over. Then finn who doesn't like ice cream sees the big display freezer and decides he wants an ice cream and throws a big tantrum and starts screaming and won't follow me out. 'Not you too, finn' I say to him (totally exhausted and over it by now), so I open the door and get out of there.

and then the most embarrassing thing happens to 'super self conscious wear my towel to the edge of the pool and throw it off 'me........while trying to sort out bags, the pram, the twins between the nanny and myself ...well my towel falls down to the ground in front of several people walking towards me as I'm standing right next to the front door of the swim school. Mortified! I am soooooo self conscious of my post baby body and cellulite to my knees and it was just another moment where I look like I don't have my act together. But I really do! The twins are out to get me, honest!  So I wrapped myself up, grabbed the twins by the hands and with a little bit of dignity left I marched them back to the car in silence while the nanny did bags and the pram leading the way (I love my new nanny by the way). They kept up their screaming for a good 10 minutes in the car but are now happily colouring, eating crackers and having a lovely quiet afternoon.

and that was my morning and a good example of why swimming lessons were always going to be difficult! Give me the mummy and baby lessons when keira was a baby anyday. That was a piece of cake and now I need to psych myself up for taking keira to after school classes and manage the twins poolside for half an hour.  Fun times. I'm thinking pee wee tennis in term 2 is looking very good right now.

Quilts for Queensland

Keira starting school, Elodie in hospital, orders coming in, a house to run, my mum having some really bad days and not getting to see her...........it's been a crazy week around here and one that I'd like to say goodbye to tonight. Actually, can we just start 2011 all over again. And while we're at it can I just have a whinge about my children's behaviour at church today - oh my goodness! I'm going to blame it on the heat as it was just crazy and retro daddy spent most of it in the heat at the playground with the twins and I practically gave myself RSI fanning Elodie with the newsletter to keep her cool.

Morning tea afterwards was fraught with more crying over cordial that had to be in the right cup and removing the licorice icing on the cake and then deciding they didn't want cake. Oh my, we dragged them away and went to the shops for some sushi and groceries only to hear that the power was off in our suburb. So we took our time and enjoyed the air-conditioning and 'bought' ourselves some better behaviour for a while.

relax! these are the opened parcels which are safely stored in plastic in  a box for safe keeping!

And despite the crazy week I have had the parcels kept piling up on my doorstep. Now where were we with Quilts for Queensland.........I am loving everything that has been sent in and yes I have a few more parcels to open. Thank you beautiful people who have been sending these in, they are just gorgeous.

one of the gorgeous quilt tops sent in by ballarat patchwork

A lovely reader asked am I still doing the project? Absolutely! Nothing like a good distraction and now with the damage from Cycle Yasi we might have to send a few up further north too. I do have a lot of blocks coming in and quilt tops and I'll be taking a few of you up on the offer of quilting them for me!

Just lovely! Who wouldn't feel special receiving this quilt by the lovely helen

I'm going to keep showing you more beautiful quilts, tops and blocks this week. If you still haven't heard from me then give me a couple of days to catch up on my emails before dropping me an email and be sure to put Quilts for Queensland in the subject so I can read and search for it easily. I still owe a few of you emails and my inbox went from full to crazy overflowing when I lost 3 days of my week with littlest princess in hospital but I will get there.....

Sewing 101

A week or so ago, Farmers Wifey asked where should she start if she's getting back into sewing! Here are a few things I think might help the beginner sewer..........it wasn't too long ago that I was pregnant with keira and asked my dad to pull my old bernette out from the garage! It hadn't been touched in a good 7 years or so and for a couple of sewing sessions I was totally clueless and getting my bobbin thread everywhere and caught up in the bobbin case....it was a mess! I hope this helps you................

Just getting started on your machine can be daunting for the beginner or returning sewer. I like how this girl covers the essentials all in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes this is all you need to get cracking and on the right track.

when it comes to first projects you really can't go past a simple tote, a lunchbag, pillowcase, pincushion, cushion cover, apron, simple elasticised skirt, shirred dress, a bunting and how about this list of 45 bag tutorials! There are so many free resources on the net it's a great place to start. When you're a bit more confident don't forget you can find my little girls dress pattern here - once you've mastered a few things you'll love making it and the trickiest part is just adding the binding and sewing it on.

Unfortunately my easy shorts pattern for Notebook wasn't copied to the net properly and now that the magazine is closed I am unable to have it changed! And you know what I did don't you......yep, I never got the original back so I'll add it to my to never ending to do list to draft again and share on my blog as it's a great little pattern. Sadly, the actual measurements on the template are not correct and they will turn out teeny tiny!

Got a question about beginner sewing just ask?  

Win a copy of Fat Quarterly!

So one of my big goals for this year is to get more time for my quilting. I've done 2 little quilts so far and have one all sandwiched and ready to go. So I'm not doing too bad...considering everything going on right now. I do need some inspiration though. Have you heard about Fat Quarterly? I've been seeing the button on a few blogs around the place but hadn't bought myself an issue........but I've got to say what have I been missing out on! If you love to quilt, sew, lovely fabric and read blogs then this has your name all over it. I settled down on the couch at 3.16pm with a can of diet coke, kids happily playing, elodie fast asleep and enjoyed reading the mag on my laptop (yep, you download it!)

There are so many patterns, tutorials and special offers from sponsors (my favourite places to buy fabric when I'm not buying from my own store). And you know you often buy a quilting magazine from the shop but you think, mmmmmm I just don't love everything in here, some of it is a bit old fashioned........nuh - uh, not with this. I just love and want to make everything, EVERYTHING. I am definitely going back to buy some back issues.

And if you'd like a free copy of issue 4 just leave a comment and I'll pick 3 winners next Friday! Everyone can enter. Too easy! And just click on the picture below for a little sneak peek.....fancy!

Can't wait and want to subscribe....there is also a special promotion running at the moment where you can get a free pattern from Chasing Cottons, you can find more information here .CONGRATULATIONS TO MUMMA MOMENTS, JANTINE AND MARGIE C FOR WINNING!!!!!!!

we are home

Well, if you were on facebook Tuesday night you would know I was having EWS - you know, Elodie Withdrawal Symptoms. I was missing her so much. Oh my goodness me I've never been separated from one of my little bubbas when they're tiny and it was breaking my heart - 2am and I was wide awake missing her. But I had decided it was better if I was home that night to get keira ready for school.  I don't know how mummies of little ones who are in and out of hospital do it. I'm exhausted!

I got keira off to school, the twins had major meltdowns when they realised I wasn't letting them on the play equipment and that keira was NOT coming home with us. Tillie decided to have one of her monumental screaming outbursts all the way back to the car...what a lovely first impression I was making! But I kept holding her hand and walked her back to the car with a smile on my face...you'll get much more understanding if you do that rather than react and freak out.

I raced back to the hospital and smothered Elodie in cuddles and kisses. I had joked that I might do a chariots of fire run through the corridors but the twins were just as excited to see their daddy so we took it at a brisk pace and I was back with my little baby. It was a long day and I kept falling asleep in the big red chair until finally we were released at dinner time to go home. 

Little elodie is on antibiotics until she is 6 months old to ensure this doesn't happen again and she is still a bit cranky and tired. And I don't know how she manages it but she always has a smile for everyone. She always had to get the dr or nurse's attention so that she could smile at them. I'm glad she can keep smiling. It has been a very exhausting past few days and I've had to get updates on my mum through text messages. I hope to get over and see her tomorrow.  Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement, I'm ready for life to slow down just a little for us now.............

So much to tell you - Part 2

So one of the biggest events in a mummy's parent's life is when one of their children starts school for the first time. And nothing could be more special than when the first one heads off to school. I have been waiting for this day to come for so long. I had it all planned out, the nanny was coming at 8 to mind the twins, retro daddy had the day off work, there was morning tea afterwards and I had a pick of 2 nice dresses to wear. But all of those plans went out the window with Elodie in the hospital. Retro Daddy came to swap with me in the morning but he was running late. It meant my worst nightmare -  not having lots of time to get ready in the morning. I raced home in peak hour traffic to get keira ready for school and worked hard not rushing her so that she wouldn't feel pressured.

she knows it all!

I had 45 minutes to get breakfast done, lunch made, keira dressed, hair done, photos taken and take her to school. That gave me a total of 2 minutes to get ready but I was starting from the back of the pack since I'd been in the hospital since 12.30 the previous day. So I had time for fresh underwear, deodorant, blush, change of earrings and a new top. No nice dress. I didn't even have time to try anything on. Now anyone who knows me knows that I like to look nice when I leave the house for things like this. I like wearing a nice dress. Getting to school and seeing most of the other mummies looking nice in their dresses and skirts just about broke my heart. I was still wearing jeans from the day before. Thankfully a few mums were casual too, I could just about go up and kiss them as it made me feel better (I'm wearing a nice dress each day for the rest of the week btw)

one tired mummy on 2 hours sleep and a 2 minute freshen up

I was getting choked up before we'd even left home. I was telling keira how proud I was of her, that she was going to learn how to read and write and that mummy and daddy had been waiting for this day for so long. My heart was breaking that her daddy couldn't be walking in with her, but I was so grateful he sacrificed it to let me go. I love that husband of mine, honest. We had a bit of time for photographs and her big ballet friends in year 6 came up and made a big fuss over my little keira. They looked after her at morning tea too. So sweet but now she wants her ears pierced, a pink watch and a bracelet!!

they did a short assembly outside, said the hail mary where keira did the cutest sign of the cross (so proud of her) and then they called up each new kindy child and family and introduced us to the rest of the school (great, wish I was wearing something nicer and had retro daddy with me). Then it was time to go into her classroom. Hold it together Corrie, I kept telling myself. She got the teacher we wanted and her place was right up the front next to some really cute little boys. Does she talk to boys, apparently not. Then we were told it was time to say our goodbyes and go to morning tea. With a heart full of pride and joy and absolute amazement that my little 4 1/2 year old was taking all of this in her stride, I covered her in kisses and walked out. Trying very hard not to cry.

I grabbed a few essentials and headed back to the hospital to swap with retro daddy. He collected keira and was so excited too. Thankfully he is already such a school dad that he popped into the front office to say hi (I know, what a great dad!) and they reminded him that keira's maths assessment was at 1.30pm! Thank goodness as I had totally forgotten. So Keira and her daddy enjoyed a sushi lunch for 2 and went back to school for her assessment and apparently more chit chat with her older buddies.

And that was the first day of school. Did it go to plan. No way. Was it special. Absolutely. People cared more about Elodie than what I was wearing, the nanny arrived at 8am and saved my bacon by making keira's lunch, dressing everyone, entertaining them and taking photos before we left and one of us stayed by our precious Elodie the whole time. Phew, now to do it all over again tomorrow. And I don't know why I was so worried about 'school mums', everyone was lovely and friendly and one mum even called our house last night to check that everything was fine with Elodie. Lovely. And I have a great new diet secret.....lock yourself up in a hospital room and worry about your baby for 36 hours and the first day of school and you'll drop almost a kilo! It's been a huge reality check that my number one job is to focus on my little ones and everything else will require more time or more help from others or just more understanding from others. 

So much to tell you - Part 1

Well sometimes my life seems like a soapie episode with some drama, something funny, someone needing me and too much crammed into one day. And the past 36 hours have been taking it to the extreme. In a perfect world, the biggest drama I should have faced yesterday was which lovely country road ruffled singlet was I going to wear to the kindergarten picnic. It was a boiling hot day and I settled on the navy one, a nice choice.

Elodie had a touch of a fever and was grizzly when she woke up so I gave her some panadol and she fell asleep. I was watching her breathing and thought it was going a bit fast but I thought maybe it was the heat so I let her sleep and decided to watch her closely and take her to the dr if she didn't improve. She seemed happy and was smiling after her nap so off we went to the picnic for 45 minutes. Retro daddy dropped us off and we had a great time. Normally dropping me off at a park with total strangers would terrify  me but everyone was super friendly and I was having a nice time. Someone offered to cuddle elodie and I noticed she was shaking and very cold to touch but had a really hot head, she had shallow breathing and I knew this wasn't going well.

I had no panadol on me and raced to my mobile to call retro daddy to come straight away and take us to the hospital. I had been through this with finn last year. Good on retro daddy who was there in five minutes and we raced to the hospital. We were seen straight away and her temperature was a crazy 39.7 and heart rate racing. I felt terrible. Why hadn't I just taken her to the dr first thing, why did I give her panadol and hope she would be ok and then I couldn't help but think of poor keira who I grabbed from the picnic and didn't even say bye to any of the lovely ladies I'd been talking too.

Her fever went down straight away with the panadol and hasn't gone up since. Thank goodness. But they were worried about the cause of the fever as there was no virus. With her heart condition (a tiny hole in heart causing a murmur) they needed to check she didn't have a bacterial infection which could get complicated. I wish I had been warned of this but I've always been told her heart was nothing to worry about. This is where it all started getting scary. I'm just used to getting some panadol, observations and being sent home. Instead they needed to draw blood and do more tests. The dr and nurse kept telling me this was going to be really traumatic and I needed to be brave. Ok, I'm thinking, well I cope with immunisations ok so we'll be fine. Then they started saying because she's so chubby and a baby it's going to be really hard to find a vein. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the penny drops................it's really hard to find a vein so they're going to have to keep trying.

And so they put some numbing gel on her little wrists and feet and we waited. I cuddled her so close I'm suprised she didn't burst open. So by now it's 5pm and they try, in goes the needle and out, try again, try again and try again. Try another spot and then another one. Take a rest and wait for head Dr to try. Trying again and again and nothing. Time to call in the paeditrician from home and half an hour she comes in looking very attractive in her tracksuit pants made into shorts, running shoes half on and an old t-shirt! She got down to business and told me off for letting her have a fever and not bringing her in immediately (as if I already wasn't beating myself up about it). She was no nonsense lady, put the arm grip thingo on till elodie's arm was turning bright red and she was absolutely screaming and she started trying and eventully got blood. But I will never forget the absolute agony Elodie went through, the back arching and blood curdling scream for a good few minutes, just absolute pain and I was so near to tears but kissing her and blowing air on her face and trying to be brave. They needed 2 sets of blood so we had to go through it all over again. Canula went in and then she tells me the bad news.................

Right we're going to transfer her to another hospital and admit her for at least 2 days. I look at her with the most serious face ever and tell her my eldest daughter starts school tomorrow. Sorry she says quickly - she needs to go in and be on antibiotics and observed till we get all the results in.  So Elodie had an ambulance ride, antibiotics, is still a bit grizzly and cranky but has no fever, no pain and her heart rate has settled down. She has a UTI and we just need a clear ultrasound and blood tests and we'll be all coming home tomorrow. She'll also be on anti biotics for the next 3 months to prevent this happening again. Moral of the story - just because you've had 4 babies does not make you an expert when it comes to fevers. I'm going back to the erring on the side of caution now! I'm also in total admiration of the dr's and nurses who were so amazing to us. The facilities may be really old and the staff overworked but we received the best level of care and the sweet dr in emergency kept getting me coffee's as I wouldn't leave elodie to even go to the bathroom. 

Tonight I am home to catch up on the home jobs, take keira to her second day of school and keep the show on the road at home. I miss elodie so much tonight and keep thinking I hear her little cries around the house - I hate being away from my babies no matter how little or big they are and especially when they're not well.