So...Then Everything Changed Again!

On the morning of the 23rd I got up feeling a sense of urgency to prepare for this baby.  Earlier in the week I had done some nesting and sorting out but we weren't due to collect the birthing pool from our midwife until the Friday afternoon and  that morning I decided I wanted to collect earlier for my peace of mind.  I chatted to D, the midwife and my Dad, who kindly agreed to collect later that morning for me, and carried on with the day.

I'm not going to share my whole birth story now but we ended up deciding to set up for the birth, even if it was just a trial run.  After putting the children to it bed it looked like nothing was going to be happening that day after all, so we watched a movie and relaxed.  At 22:30 when the movie was done we got ready for bed.  Once I lay down I started getting some contractions, and shortly thereafter I decided to get up and into the pool.  The contractions came quickly after that and at 23:29pm our beautiful baby girl was born in the water, with D having to lift the caul over her head and off her body.  It was a beautiful, peaceful and undisturbed birth.

The last week has been a special time with all of us bonding with this precious little girl and she has been such a pleasure already, she is much loved  and we have been so blessed xxx

Setting things up

 One last bump photo

 

Labouring in the pool

 She's here!

 First morning

A birth day celebration!

 First sun bath and massage

 And lots and lots of love and cuddles!

So...Waiting on a Baby

The last few weeks have seen the end of my fourth pregnancy draw near, and while we have been busy with no time to sit around waiting on a baby, there has been a sense of waiting in all the busyness.
The children were starting to get more and more excited as we started gathering together everything we needed to welcome a newborn into our home again.  But mostly our days have just been filled with normal everyday things.

Here's a few snaps from the last few weeks.

A couple weekends ago I arrived at what I assumed to be a housewarming braai at a friend's house only to be met with a surprise Blessingway organised for me by some of my dearest friends and my Mom.  I was completely overwhelmed really, and they made me feel so special and loved, I am honoured to be surrounded by such wonderful women!

 Some of the amazing spread!

 I found this little biker riding about looking cool!

 I finished knitting a twirly skirt for my girlie, and she did some dancing for me in exchange.

Saying there has been A LOT of colouring in going on the last few weeks would be an understatement.  But these drawings the older two children produced the one day are some of my favourite artwork they have made so far!

Evie drew this beautiful lion

And Bear drew several scenes, cut out the pictures and stuck them together to make a story board.  The story reads from right to left and involves a hero knight, a portal, a bad guy, a battle and the saving of the world!

I managed to finally paint one of the signs to help people find our home. I still have another that needs to be done.

 And of course there have been baby chicks

A little person has been trying to drop his nap, but some days it's all just too much.

 And finally we had another small Blessingway for a special friend who is expecting her second baby soon.

...And then everything changed!

So...Baby Chicks

Earlier this week, and to much excitement, our very first chicks hatched.
They managed to time it perfectly with the first day of this cold front we're currently experiencing, and it has been the coldest this winter so far, so we were a little worried, but Mommy Hen is doing a fabulous job at keeping all her little ones toasty warm.
The first little ones hatched on Sunday morning and three days later she finally got up and let us have a proper peek at her new little ones.  We moved them over to another safe little coop for the moment and the children each carried a little one across, and Mommy Hen was very tolerant of the disruption and brief separation.  Sadly one of the chicks had issues with it's legs and passed away but as the children told us, "That's life!".
So we now have 11 little balls of fluff peeping away in the corner of the veggie garden, and we all love going to watch them whenever we can

 And what do you do on the morning you find all the water bowls and bird baths iced over? You set up a homemade jacuzzi of course, with Mom supplying top ups of warm water :)