Anticipation

Still here.

39 weeks with 5 more sleeps to go until I'm officially due. If my past history is anything to go by, the baby will make it's appearance fashionably late by about 10 days or so past the due date. 

However, the Whippet is telling me differently. He is on high alert and will just not leave my side. He's making me anxious. Or maybe it's the other way around. He follows me everywhere and has even started running down the long windy driveway behind the car in a final attempt to not be left behind. He's been with us through every pregnancy so we have seen this behaviour before. I just wish he could talk and tell me what time-frame he was operating on. Are we hours, days, still a week or 2 away? The anticipation of a baby is very humbling indeed.

The Kids have been learning the art of patience and anticipation from the Welcome Swallows that have been nesting appropriately above the front door. A few weeks ago the tiny eggs were found in the nest and have been checked daily to see whether they had hatched. The other day, the four babies had hatched and I can't help feeling there is some symbolism going on. Each baby chick symbolising each of the kids but only 4 because a 5th chick would be 'counting chicks before they had hatched' which is something I don't like to do. One by one they open their hungry little yellow mouths. The 4th one opened its mouth this morning and I cried - such is the fragile state of mind I'm in at the moment. 

The feminist in me doesn't really like the term "Confinement" as used to describe the post-natal rest period however after an exhausting week of 'nesting' activities last week I am very much looking forward to my little "Holiday" in hospital. Instead of experiencing the calm before the storm I'm hoping last week was the storm before the calm. 

It started with the freak Tornado that swept through the Valley. The windy weather that came afterwards ripped one of our doors off its hinges. Luckily this could be fixed ourselves. There were final visits to the Obstetrician, Orthodontist, Vet and Hairdressers. We started weaning the lambs and harvesting produce from the veggie patch (finally!) - all creating a lot of work. I had two spinning sessions at The Spinners Guild, with marginal success but I'm confident I'll be able to practise at home now I have the basics. The Whippet has been bathed and all farm pets have been wormed, as have the children. The water tank has been emptied, cleaned and re-filled. The dishwasher, iron and vacuum cleaner had an Appliance AGM and decided to all break down in the one week necessitating urgent and costly replacements. The lounge room got its final coat of paint. I set up the nursery and washed some baby clothes. Everyone has been treated to brand new white sheets on their beds and I have scrubbed behind the fridge and washing machine. I'd be feeling a bit more virtuous if all of these items were not so long overdue. Sadly, they are entirely related to my crazy 'nesting' compulsions.

Needless to say, I am doing nothing but nice and relaxing things for myself for the remaining days. The Pianoman and I enjoyed a final night out last Saturday night. We walked around the harbour, had a lovely Indian meal and took a bunch of silly gratuitous 'selfies' to mark the end of being parents of 4. I've cancelled out of a lot of social things but our friend was performing in the Bawdy Pantomine "Crapunzel" and seeing him dressed up as the evil stepmother, playing guitar and dancing Gangnam style simply could not be missed. It was naughty and hilarious and although I didn't laugh myself into Labour, we had such a fun night and what little stomach muscles I have left were truly sore by the morning.

I also finished making my ornaments for the Handmade Ornament Swap and have them all packaged and ready to send off to my secret swap partners. I've never done anything like this before and gifting something I have made to someone other than my children was a bit intimidating really, especially because these two ladies are very very crafty themselves. However, it was so much fun, and it really got me in the spirit of Christmas as well as providing a much needed creative distraction during these final days. The best thing about it though has been the lovely new bloggers I've managed to find who are involved in the swap.

There has also been some lovely mail coming my way in the form of this absolutely gorgeous little vintage suitcase which I won in Roberta's giveaway. Roberta is the talented lady behind Rowantree Design - vintage inspired handmade clothing for babies and children. So if you are in the market for something special pop over and look at her gorgeous range of clothing. She has been spending lots of time with her business in New York and picked up this little case on one of her recent trips there. I will use it every single day. It is the perfect nappy bag for me because I don't do nappy bags and this is clearly no ordinary nappy bag. It's teeny tiny but big enough to hold my little Macbook Air, normal daily paraphernalia and a small nappy wallet in the future. Thank you so much Roberta!

I was looking for a nice book to accompany me on my hospital 'holiday' and after reading not one but two recommendations for The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, I just had to pick up a copy which happened to be the very last copy in the whole of Hobart - testament to its popularity maybe? It's set in Alaska, a place which holds a special place in my heart as it is where I spent one of the best 6 weeks of my life trekking around as a 20 year old and I can't wait to be transported back to this gorgeous part of the world.

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So, another text-heavy Post however I can 100% guarantee the next couple of Posts will be very very short.

Finally, thank you to everyone for their lovely comments on my last Post and 'hello' to any new readers that have joined the ride recently. Look forward to visiting you all and hopefully sharing some news soon.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week!