Life is a treat

Things have been going pretty well here. The release of tension now that we have bought a house is amazing - as is having an extra day each week - last Saturday we celbrated by making cupcakes to take to Lucya nd Maddie's party. Just over 4 weeks till we settle - and I am away for 2 of those weekends so packing starts today. The week before last was the council clean up - the new place is about the same size as here - but has no garage - you could hardly stand up in our garage it was so full of stuff - it still won't be easy but at least we cleared away about half the mess that needs storage!

Miss Lucy and her sister Maddie's birthday party was a hoot.

The brats just love swimming. The new coach is fabulous. They have just started using visuals in their lessons - which really helped Hannah. It is money well spent.

Hannah doesn't stop smiling from the moment we get to swimming till we leave

Can you be considered a stalker if you walk or drive by your NEW HOME regularly?? I took a photo like this of the twins outside our old house so now I wanted to complete the set.

My favourite forum is DS Down Under - they organised these Tshirts - I think they look great!

And all the books I ordered from Amazon have arrives so I have been having fun reading them.

Part of the plan to move house includes weeding the front garden. Kit and P did the worst of it on the weekend.

In love

I'm in love

A parcel came for me in the mail today - from Amazon - the pick of which was easily Count us In by Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz and Roadmap to Holland by Jennifer Graf Groneberg.

I have only read 3 chapters of Roadmap to Holland but I am so in love! I first found Jennifer via Pinwheels. She writes so beautifully. I was very excited about the prospect of her book on the first 2 years of parenting Avery a twin with DS.

In chapter 1 I am at a loss as to which parts I would like to draw attention to ... there is so much here that I can relate to - it is in the small bits so beautifully written and in the themes explored. In particular the experience of a lactating woman, three child seats in her car driving to and from the hospital with no babies in tow - that is something that is very real to me (and any new Mum whose babies have spent time in NICU) - yet I never quite saw it that way when I was doing the desperate pumping trip at 5.30 am till 9 at night - in order to win over the nurses confidence that yes I was the mother of these babies and ready to assume my responsibilities. Or baby Owen - no longer there. I still recall another twin mum I met - a lovely woman who had two sick babies. When she was pregnant there had been speculation about one of the babies having DS but in the end both babies were clear - she and I had some lovely chats while in the communal 'pumping room' just of the NICU ward. A couple of weeks into our stay that woman went home with only one baby. I know with all my heart that she, like me would prefer to be dealing with a diagnosis of a little extra. The love of the nurses. The breaking of the news - I cannot recall telling people that Hannah had DS. I know we mentioned it earlier as a possibility (after the 20 week scan - because we wanted our family and friends forewarned and because we needed thier support) but I can't recall any specific reactions. Jennifer does, in wonderful detail and so although her story is not mine there are many resonances in it for me.

The woman writes with a magic pen and she is telling a story I can relate to - with grace and poetry and raw detailed emotion. It is beautiful to read. Listening to the experiences of others gives us a new or different perspective on things - sometimes things that are totally alien and at other times things that are quite familiar to us. Jennifer's story is not my own but it is similar on many levels and I learn so much from reading about her experiences. Reading Roadmap helps me process my own journey as I read about Jennifer's. Her writing is so evocative and inviting that I want to savour each page - I can't wait to journey with her as Avery's mum - yet even though I don't want to put it down I find that I do - so that I can reflect upon what I have read and make the book and my enjoyment last just that little bit longer.

Thanks Jennifer for the generosity with which you open yourself to others. Your book is a must read - and one that hopefully will be enjoyed by parents from outside the T21 community also - there is so much of your story that every and any parent could relate to. And yes Avery is gorgeous - and yes I have picked him out as a suitable beau for my Hannah - so hands off him!!

This was my first stereo - I must have been 15 or 16 - I remember being so proud of it - new technology - it is a vertical record player - I loved being able to play my music in my own room. Anyways I have dragged it around with me since I left home 20 years ago - but this weekend as part of the council clean up and our preparation to move to a house with no garage I had to part with it. One of the 'trawlers' drove by and picked it up pretty quick - I hope it goes to a good home.

Poor old Hannah has a nasty ear infection. She was running hot and cold most of the day. She is asleep now so I ma hoping that she has a good night's sleep to help her get over it. P had a gig the other night and was polishing his guitar - naturally the twins thought this was a great activity and decided to clean their own guitars as well.

The lovely Melissa from Banana Migraine tagged me for this one - it looked fun so here are my answers:

4 places I go over and over
1. the park
2. the Supabarn (our local supermarket)
3. my in laws place
4. the internet!

4 people that email me
1. My husband

2. My mum
3. My eldest sister

4. My other sister

4 of my favorite foods
1. Ice cream

2. Cheese
3. Curry - vegetable kofta
4. Milo
4 places I would rather be right now
1. Brisvegas with my family
2. At the park with the family
3. On a minibreak just outside of Sydney - Blue Mountains
4. In retirement
4 movies I could watch over and over
1. Notting Hill
2. Lord of the Rings

3. The West Wing (not a movie as such though!)

4. About a Boy

4 people I want to learn more about, ...1. any of the T21 blogging community, Princess Mary of Denmark, Arthur Miller, my grandmothers

Life is GOOD

Things are going great here in the Dock at the moment. We have been trying to at least halve all the boxes we brought with us from the 'shams that have sat in the garage for the last 12 months - because it is council pick up this week and because .....[drumroll] ..... we have bought a house!!! We signed yesterday, the cooling off period ends next week and we move in some 5 weeks after that. It is a lovely house (though it has no garage and no dining room!) just around the corner from where we are now - funny how P and his mates weren't that keen on one of my money saver ideas - that they can 'walk' the large bits of furniture thorugh the main shops and over to the new place for us!!

Three Little Butterflies

My book of photographs by Conny Wenk arrived today - it is fabulous - I am very pleased with it. Isn't the modern world amazing??? Who would think that I would be ordering books written in German via Amazon German when I can hardly recognise a word of the language - but I have googled some free translators and am thoroughly enjoying the visual feast that is Conny's very cool photography.

Meet my Goddaughter

My gorgeous goddaughter: Dunking:

All is going well in the Dock. I was godmother to a beautiful little girl on Sunday - and afterwards her parents put on a lavish 1st birthday party for her - heaps of fun for everyone. It was a gathering for family and old friends and the star of the show held it together relaly well - she is definitely a socialable little girl!

Swimming lessons are going well - P and I were commenting tonight on how far swim teachers have come since we were little. We both recall rather dragon like tyrants and not much fun yet todya at swimming both brats and their teacher seemed to be having a riotous old time. Hannah was babbling and calling out 'me, me, me' for all the fun activities. You can achieve so much mroe when the learners are having fun - still she could certainly borrow Tommy's hip helpers or whatever they are called - her legs almost do the splits when she is trying to kick in the water!!

I have found the house I want - now lets hope the owners accept our offer!