Holiday! Celebrate! Pt 1.

Huzzah! The school holidays are upon us and my little army of men and i decided to take off to the rainforest camping for a few days.

No pressures, no stress, no cleaning or washing or phone calls or internet.

We hired a 'safari tent' that had a little wooden balcony, beds and was completely water proof which was the best part because boy did it RAIN! It rained and rained for the first day or two which saw us all huddled on arrival on the balcony drinking cups of tea and eating all the delicious treats i had baked. Muesli slice, vegan chocolate cake and vegan pumpkin walnut bread (for this recipe see an awesome blog called 'Joy the Baker', you can click the link below)

Harry enjoying his 'tea' .

So after a delicious afternoon tea i presented Harry with one of his many 'surprises' - a toy story torch.

Mark eating muesli slice.

The first 24 hours were a time of winding down as Mark and i spent time reading 'Pride and Prejudice' together, drinking espresso (yes, we do good coffee even on a camping trip) and eating dark chocolate. I also had some delicious baby time with my little sweetie Flynn.




The view from our tent was gorgeous. When rainy, it was misty and magical and when clear we could see all the way to the Gold Coast high rises.

Harry enjoying the rain and his new umbrella.

When it eventually stopped raining we got to make a fire (yay!) and toast marshmallows.








We also took a drive around the hinterland and my hubby took some snaps with his new fancy DSLR! Here's a glimpse...

The best part of camping though was spending time just hanging with each other. It didn't matter if it  was eating pancakes from the BBQ at midday or snuggling under the doona at night reading stories. It was great to take a step back from our lives and appreciate each other and just how awesome God is in planning families:)

He's just a little man.

What has been happening at the Blackmore Ranch?
Well, Mark and i both got new cameras and are enjoying pursuing our collective hobby together. It's coincided with our month long fast of TV and Facebook that was inspired by the need to give our marriage a little spring clean!




In other news, my darling first born Harry has 'been in the wars ' as they say. On sunday we had a dash to emergency as harry had dislocated his elbow. Apparently a fairly common injury in childhood, it broke my heart to see his little arm dangling there and to hear him say "Mummy, hurt my arm" The whole time at the hospital he was cheerful although quiet and it really is quite evident the character that God has put in him.

He is a man of joy.



Even when he was a small baby his nana used to look at him and say "There's a smile in his eyes, a joke resting on his lips!" It's true. What moves Harry is a silly face, a funny voice, a crazy movement. Joy is to be his strength in this life. Thank you God. Take 2- Today he woke up unable to walk on his right leg and spent the morning scooting around on his knees. Poor little bunny. After a visit to his beloved Dr Seema (who may i add is 'da bomb and gives a good lolly every visit) it was discovered that he has a virus that causes inflammation in his hip and knee joint. It will pass and leave no damage. But every time he slithers to the floor from a chair or comes crawling around the corner making some wild exclamation it just makes my heart melt! Good on you Harry. Mummy's little soldier.

Boys, They go adventuring!

Hey all.

Life is crazy busy at the moment.

In the absence of posting longer material, i thought i would post a photographic journal of what my boys have been up to.
Enjoy!






Harry chasing our rogue bantam chicken Strawberry. We found her nesting on a clutch of eggs in a strawberry field on a farm at the sunshine coast. So we brought her home and she is our beloved house pet. She always tries to sneak inside when the door's open!







Harry and Daddy at the 'Railway Workshops Museum' at Ipswich. It was a fantastic morning together and a gorgeous museum to go to with everything from railway antiques, model railways and a miniature railway yard. (pictured above)








Flynn meeting his cousin Amos.







Harry giving Flynn lots of cuddles and kisses. They love each other already!








Harry and Daddy getting ready for church. A boy's gotta have good hair!








Have we been busy? Enough said!

Things to do 5 weeks after giving birth.....

Baby Flynn is 5 weeks old today and it has flown by.

So what did i do today? I went out and bought a bath mat. I mean a massive, shaggy, green, mother-of-all bathmats.

Why?
Because for 3 years i have stepped out of our shower onto my cold bathroom tiles and cursed the fact that we don't have a bath mat. I have grabbed and stood on vagrant towels, dirty clothes, strewn laundry...anything rather than face those arctic, angry tiles.

So today i passed a rack of 'luxury' bath mats at the outlet mall and was mesmerised by their textural goodness. I was lured into their spell by the promise of decadent softness underfoot. To step freely from my sacred 5 minutes of hot consoling water onto the taj mahal of bath mats is a 'luxury' this sleep fractured mother cannot live without.

So i bought it. Happy 5 weeks old my darling.

Welcome back Kotter, indeed!

Head full. Body slightly shaky. Many thoughts chase away the sleep with a smile. One resounding sentiment surfaces...

IT IS FINISHED.

Flynn McArthur Blackmore has arrived- 7pound 1 on Monday morning 12 July at 11:20am.

"Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty i'm free at last"


The pregnancy was nothing short of traumatic but the birth was beautiful. A moment of fullness, ripe and complete. I will blog my birth story very soon i promise but for now know that it was extremely good. Today i just wanted to dance over the delicious little things that have crossed my sleepy mind this morning....

- Okay my son is smelly. Who knew such a small bundle could fart with such potency? Flynn, i love you but you stink.-
- Mooo! woke up to wet rings of milkyness on my t-shirt. Hhhhm, milk's early. Happened last time. Totally forgot and suddenly
memories of that moment come flooding back to me. Sitting on my bed chattering away with my mother-in-law. It was a
shock then but today it's a comfort. An old familiar friend returning.-
- I can drink tea again! I can drink it without needing to throw up after! And for that matter i can drink booze and eat cheese
and freakin eat whatever i want whenever without fear of nausea or heartburn or indigestion.Thank you body.-

And lastly, God has never left me nor forsaken me. Never once, the whole 9 months. Even into the birth....especially into the birth. I feel fortified from the inside. Filled with God's strength for surviving 9 months of darkness.

Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty i'm free at last.

Secret Women's Business

So i have a million thoughts running through my mind these days.
About Labour
Babies
Birthing
Women

How to get them out in a succinct way? I'll start like this...

I was at a women's group full of mums the other day and i made the comment " I wish other women had talked more about birth to me before i had my baby". The reply came thick and fast " Would you really want to know about all that pain?" "People only tell their bad birth stories" "It would scare you way too much". The truth is i was really looking forward to labour with my first baby in that unprepared way that only a first time mother can be. But i thought "Why don't women tell their stories?". It's true that the most vocal are always relaying stories of inductions and 36 hour labours and horrible hospital experiences. Yet i find myself still asking, Why don't women tell their stories? Maybe we have medicalised and hospitalised birth so much that only the stories that are full of drama are worth the telling. What about the simple labours? the quick labours? the unexpected labours? the different, calm or beautiful labours? Where are the collective stories about them?

I am sick and tired of labour and women's sexuality being secret women's business.

In fact not even women really talk about these things so i guess it's more like secret woman business.

Birth is the pinnacle of a women's sexuality. Birth is the perfect expression of the love between a husband and a wife. Birth is about family. It needn't be hushed or swept under the carpet or left for a few women to discuss. It should be collective knowledge.

Listen men, rise up and be strong and take your god given place in the birthing experience.
Women, let's begin simply. Tell our stories......

The way to his heart.

One of my sweetest memories of primary school is coming home to find my mum making pikelets. She would be standing in our kitchen cooking them on the big electric frypan singing "I've got pikelets hot off the griddle" Hot, sweet pikelets dripping with butter and jam are the best afternoon tea a kid could ask for.

So, i decided to make pikelets with Harry yesterday. Our first venture into cooking together, i was a little unsure how this would go. He shook with excitement at the suggestion and eagerly hopped up onto the "big" chair to do some mixing. To my great suprise he actually followed my directions to "pour this in here" and "mix this together" without much drama. Though when my back was turned i did see him shove a whole handful of flour in his mouth! I even got out the big electric frypan to cook them just like my mum (doing them any other way didn't seem right!). I left Harry licking batter off the wooden spoon as i submerged the mixture in hot, sizzling butter. They were delicious! Harry and i sat at the table and nattered like two old ladies and munched and crunched the pikelets until they were all gone. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon together.