letters to baby ... (#3) on sharing the news!

12.9.14

Hey my sweet little. How's everything in utero? Are you still having fun hanging out there, growing big and strong for daddy and me? You know you and I will be 15 weeks on Monday and I still have no bump and no pregnancy symptoms, except occasionally when I can't eat a big portion of food in one sitting. Like that burger last night that you were pretty unhappy about me eating (It was really yummy, homemade and mostly organic by the way!) Anyway I took at least 1/2 an hour to pick at it and daddy had to end up finishing it for the both of us :)

Please keep growing strong and healthy baby dear. Feel free to 'pop' that belly out anytime soon and know I am anxiously awaiting your tiny little kicks and flutters!

You know what else, sharing the news of your arrival with family and close friends has been one of the funnest parts of being pregnant so far. So I thought it would be fun to remember and document some of the ways we told people here. I think my favourite reactions have been your Aunty Pegs and Pa's. So here's just a few:

Grandpa and Duckie:
Your Daddy chose to catch Grandpa and Duckie off guard by just throwing your impending arrival into our conversation which went a little something like this... We have known for awhile that Grandpa and The Duck are planning to go to Europe sometime next year, their first trip to Europe ever and so Daddy was asking them if they were planning to go in March and what their plans were early next year and hey "what are you guys doing around March 7th?" (this was our original due date for you) And when they replied confusingly they weren't sure yet your daddy threw in "Well would you like to meet your first grandchild then"?! It took a little while for it to sink in and then there were hugs (and Grandpa tears) all round. It was awesome!

Aunty Peg:
We had just told Grandpa and The Duck about your arrival but Aunty Pegs was at work, so as soon as she got home daddy and I rushed downstairs to let her in on the goss. Daddy is forever showing Aunty Pegs funny you tube clips and silly pictures on his phone and laptop, so he bought up the picture of your first ultrasound on his laptop and placed it on her lap saying "Hey Paige check this out". The best part of her reaction was that once it clicked she was so happy she burst into tears, which in turn made Grandpa start to tear up again (he's a big softy that one). And then it was hugs all round. It was so lovely to have such an emotional and lovely reaction to the news of your arrival!

And do you know how excited these guys are about you? The very next night after we got home from work and I stepped out of the shower there they all were bearing gifts and the first ever cards written to you. Oh my it was sweetness for my mummy heart!

Pa and MarMar:
We waited till I think it was 8 or 9 weeks to tell family and friends (this nearly drove your Daddy crazy! He is THE WORST at waiting!) The reason is that week was Pa's birthday and I wanted to make this birthday extra special for him (especially as you are due right in time for MarMar and Aunty Stewy's birthdays). So we found a 'Happy birthday Pop' card and put a picture of your ultrasound in it and you wrote a very cute and sweet little note to Pa explaining your upcoming arrival. At the time he was sitting on the end of their chaise kinda cross legged and when he realized what the card was started to jump up and down on his knees and wave the card at MarMar to check out. His reaction and excitement was like a little kid at Christmas time - it was so funny to see and watch him and MarMar get so excited and happy about you!

Great Gma + Great Gma:
We went to GGpa and GGma's place for dinner one night. The boys (GGpa and Pa) were watching the rugby and so GGpa advised us that we had ten minutes to get ourselves sorted with drinks and nibblies and to catch up before the game started (this family is rugby obsessed you will find out!) So I announced I had something to show them in those ten minutes and pulled our your ultrasound picture. GGpa's reaction was SO cute when I announced that he was going to be a great grandpa (As I am the 7th out of 12 grandchildren and the very first to share this news and he has eagerly been waiting for this day to come - he even has a wedding speech about it) and his reaction was awesome he was so excited and started waving the ultrasound picture around the room to GGma and asking her to come over (she had wandered off into the kitchen) to see the picture and hear the details. And then he even popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. And GGma I hear has been busy knitting little things for you :) Later Great Aunty Susie and Great Aunty Libby came over too and it was fun to watch him and Pa excitedly tell them the news.

Great Oma + Great Opa:
We visited Daddy's Oma and Opa at Opa's nursing home one day to tell them the news. Daddy made a card for them that had a secret flap at the back which had your ultrasound in it. Then he wrote the sweetest little poem that he wrote inside the card which went like this:
"Growing quickly in a home of love
Is a gift from God above
We truly thank him who lives in Heaven
For what may happen on next March seven
Though this gift is of great joy
We know not yet if girl or boy
Please celebrate with us, our live in tenant
Yes that's right ...

(and then they turned to page to your photo) Katie's pregnant!

It was funny cause Oma let out one of her very loud excited Oma-ish squeal and then started to flash the card around the nursing home to all who would listen (even after we said we were just telling friends and family at this point and to keep quiet - oops!)  And Opa looked pretty pleased too understanding the news and smiling away (he has been asking us ever since we got married why we don't yet have a little girl or a little boy, and well now we have news for him!)

The Lollys:
We took our best friends Aunty Katty and Uncle Luke out for dinner to tell them the news and once again just threw it into the conversation. Aunty Katty and I had been planning to go to the One Fine Baby Fair in Sydney and I had originally told her one of the reasons I wanted her to come with me is that she actually has babies and I would feel silly going alone. But I was able to let her know that I was extra excited to go to the Fair now because I would be looking for inspiration for little baby A. It took awhile for the news to sink in and then it was hugs all round and lots of excitement as we would be joining the mummy and daddys club just like them :)

The Gwatneys:
Aunty Annie had just texted me to say that she had a dream that I was pregnant. I just happened to have been in Sydney that day for work and had dropped into Daddy's office to say hello. So we jumped on the phone and my first words to her were "Has anyone told you, you might have the gift of prophesy" it was pretty funny that she had guessed exactly right!

Uncle Stewy and Aunty Dom:
Well Pa was so excited and stoked with his birthday card that we let him share this one. We were all on the boat to celebrate Pa's birthday and so he got to rush over and ask if Uncle Stewy and Aunty Dom had seen his birthday card yet and would they like to read what was in it. They were pretty stoked! (they have been wanting us to have a  baby for FOREVER!) They are currently spending two months backpacking around Europe and so you have been sending them little weekly updates to keep them up on all the goss - its very sweet of you ;)

So there you go baby dear, just a few fun ways we have been able to share our exciting news with everyone. Everyone is so excited and happy to hear about you and we all cannot wait to meet you next year - c'mon the next 6 months, please fly by :)

Oh and also you have seen the moving announcement picture I made but here's the version your Daddy put on his instagram and facebook page (complete with my sticking it out belly lol):

letters to baby ... (#2)

27.8.14
hello my sweet little in there!

I'm sorry it has been so long since I last wrote you, but I promise you are never far from my (or your daddy's) thoughts and conversations! (or Grandpa, Duckie, Aunty Pegs, Uncle Stu's, Pa or MarMar's!)

I've just been feeling like I'm in limbo land at the moment and all round really! It's new catalog time at work and I am waiting on SO much stock to arrive I feel like I can't finish any room setting yet until it all comes in, and it's looking rather mismatched and sad in the shop (which is hard for your perfectionist mumma to deal with!) Plus my motivation and energy are a little lacking these days! It's also been so cold and rainy lately and both Daddy and I are simply over winter and keep mentioning how much we are ready for summer time to arrive. For with it will come warm weather, beach days, beautiful baby bumps and kicks, Christmas and New Years and us so much closer to meeting YOU!

And then there's you... You've still been on your best behaviour each and everyday and so with no pregnancy symptons (except that keen sense of smell!) you and I have been having lots of conversations that go a bit like this (while I hold my tummy) "Are you ok in there baby sweet?" "are you hungry/happy/moving around" "is there anything I am do for you" "do you like it when I dance crazy like this?" but you just seem to be ignoring me already ;) I am so ready to start showing and feeling you move around in there. Both because I am so excited for this season we are in and also cause I want to have that reassurance that you are ok and thriving in there. So today was so good for my mumma heart, although it started off quite crazy when I entered work this morning! You see I walked in to the warehouse to find our new warehouse guy calling out for help and lying unable to move on the concrete floor in a mangled pile with a deep graze on his head from his temple to his cheek! I just dropped all my bags and was in so much shock making sure he didnt move and running to get our manager and the First Aid staff while other staff ran to call an ambulance. It was a crazy morning!! But Joel seems to be doing ok and will heal in time. Constant prayers he will have no ongoing symptoms as he is the sweetest guy and a really great work colleague! But after that rough start, today ended so sweetly, as we had our 12 week scan and Daddy and I got to see your beautiful little profile for the very first time. It's crazy that in just a few short weeks you have gone from a little blob with a crazy heartbeat to a little human with an even crazier heartbeat and arms and legs and the worlds most perfect little profile we have ever seen!

So here you are at 12 weeks in utero:

Gosh I love you so much already my little and I can't stop staring at the pictures of your beautiful little self (or flinging them around cyberspace, even all the way to Greece where Uncle Stu and Aunty Dom currently are)!!!

Now lets bring on the baby bump, and flutters and kicks and our 19 week scan so we know whether you are made of sugar and spice or puppy dog tails, cause this mumma is itching to start planning and decorating your nursery and to start sewing sweet little baby things again (for it's been too long!)

All my love
Your Mumma
xo

letters to baby ... (#1)

It's true, I have been blogging quite a bit lately (secret little letters to our baby dear) and now that the news is 'live' I thought I would record them on here too! So here we go... my first ever letter to our little one...

13.7.14

Dear Baby,

This week your daddy and I found out about you. Besides being shocked at how quickly you have come into our lives (we have only been trying for 2 months!), we are so excited to welcome you to our little family!

I wanted to think of a fun and creative way to tell your daddy I was pregnant. On Monday, I had a work meeting in Sydney which finished early so on my way home I stopped at the shops and bought my first ever pack of pregnancy tests and an adorable onesie that says ‘From little things big things grow’. As soon as I got home I gave your dad a quick kiss hello and fled to the bathroom to pee on that stick that would change our little world forever. The test said I should know within 3-10 mins, but I got so nervous that I left it hidden in the bathroom (in case your daddy came in) for around 15 mins before I was brave enough to check it. Those little tests work so quickly though and I am pretty sure I stared to see that second line already appearing as I hid it away! If I’m honest, I think I already knew even before I took the test that you were on your way to us, our sweet baby dear. You see, Aunt Flo was a week late and I hadn’t been feeling 100% myself all that week so I kinda had an inkling that something was up (your mumma may not be punctual to many things, but her Aunt Flo is something you can set your watch too!). Your daddy on the other hand was pretty convinced I was pregnant and kept making hopeful and wishful comments all week – it was really sweet. He wanted that test to be positive more than anything!

When I came back and saw those two sweet lines I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face – nor the shock, I’m sure. I just couldn’t believe it! I took another test straight away and sure enough, that one had two pink lines, even more definite than the first!

One thing you will learn about your daddy is that he is sometimes not the most observant person and is not very suspicious either. So I was able to run around in and out of the bathroom, slamming doors and wrapping his ‘gift’ and he didn’t even raise an eyebrow. Did you know that once I even wrapped one of his Christmas presents on the lounge room floor while he was sitting behind me on the couch and he didn’t even know!!

The crafter in me attached two brown paper tags (with twine of course) to those little tests. One read “Daddy, I’m on my way” and the second which read, “Mummy just had to make sure” I placed them in the bottom of a gift box for your dad with the onesie on top. Then I went and sat down on the couch to give him your gift. He thought the onesie was really sweet, but I don’t think he got the message written on it at first and at one point I didn’t even think he was going to look in the bottom of the box for the rest of his gift but with a little nudging he did and you honestly could not wipe that smile off his face! And do you want to know baby dear, the first thing your daddy did when he found out about you, besides asking me “Really!!??” and tearing up!?  It was to put his hands on my tummy and to pray over you/me. It made me cry all over again and really was the sweetest thing in the world. He loves you so much already. In fact his new favourite thing to say is “I love you... guys” as he holds me/us close or “I missed you… both” as I walk in the door from work. It is just the sweetest!

The next morning I think I was still in shock/disbelief so I took the last test in the pack (those things are addictive and fun to take)! Sure enough I added it to the pile of positive tests. So we made a Dr’s appointment...

We went to the Doctor’s on Friday morning to confirm everything. From my dates, the Dr told us we are around 5 and a half weeks pregnant, which means you are due around 7^th March.  But he has sent us to our first ultrasound on the 21st where they will measure you and work out a more accurate date for your arrival. We can’t believe we get to see you in there so soon!

Since we found out about you, we have been scheming up fun ways to tell your grandparents and Aunty and Uncle. We can’t wait to see their faces when we tell them the news and I know that you are already so loved by each of them already. It makes me teary just thinking about it, then again it could be all these crazy pregnancy hormones too!

So far pregnancy and I have been getting along very well. I have had very few symptoms that you are growing away in there; except for a very short lived, queasy 30 secs in the bathroom one morning and feeling rather bloated and crampy all week. The Dr has assured me that the bloating and cramping is perfectly normal as my body is currently and very quickly expanding and making room for you in there. Oh and your once sleep-through-the-night –mum is already getting up in the middle of the night to pee! And your poor dad – I may have already once (jokingly I promise) used the ‘But I’m pregnant’ excuse to avoid getting off the couch and getting something!

You and I have also started a fitness regime and I think you love your green smoothies already as I always feel so great in the morning after I’ve had one. We’ve also started prenatal vitamins and yoga. We’ve gotta get fit and in good health for your D-Day you see!

Your daddy and I can’t believe the crazy journey we are about to go on and keep saying to each other how blessed we are to be able to have you in our lives. We love you so much already little one and can’t wait to meet you next year!

All my love your Mumma

x