Oh goodness, another one!

Hello.  It's been a few months or so since I checked in - but I do have a good excuse, I promise!  I'm now 29 weeks pregnant, and for the first 22 weeks or so I was abysmally sick.  Now I'm doing much better - although still vomiting most days - and starting to get a bit excited about the impending arrival of Baby #2.

A BOY BABY!

Tabitha is, as you can imagine, incredibly excited about her new brother.  In fact, she talks about him every day (and will even tell anyone who cares to listen all about how "mummy is going to push him outta her bagina!")  Sometimes, when I stroke my own baby belly, she calls out "no, it's MY brother!" and comes to cuddle the bump protectively.  I think she's going to be an excellent big sister - perhaps a little *too* enthusiastic to begin with, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of things quickly.  

Tabitha will be just a couple of weeks shy of 2.5 years when Baby Brother is due to arrive - although Tabby came a full two weeks after her estimated due date, so I'm not holding my breath for a punctual arrival this time either!  We were vaguely planning a gap of around 3 years between the wee ones, however we managed to make a baby on the very first attempt (a pleasant surprise after 8 months of trying for T!)  I'm pleased with the 2.5 year gap, though.  I think there are so many 'pros' and 'cons' for all different age gaps, so you take what you're given with grace and make the best of it!

What else is new in our lives since I last blogged?  A whole lot!  We've moved house, to a much bigger home that we finished building in April.  We've gone from a 2-bedroom flat with a small backyard to a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, 2-living area house (still with a very small backyard!).  It's wonderful having the extra space, and the new house has much more natural light, with 2 walls of north-facing glass bifold doors opening onto a small decking.  This natural light and sunshine has been an absolute saviour through my pregnancy sickness, keeping my spirits elevated and keeping Tabitha happy playing at home.

We've also acquired three new family members - beautiful Pekin Bantam chooks called Lacey, Dolly and Sweetpea - who keep us entertained all day long with their antics and quirks.  I'll write a whole post about them soon.  They've just started laying this week, and I have collected 5 perfect, tiny bantam eggs over the past four days, so at least two of the girls must be laying.

Tabitha has weaned.  Such a big change, such a tangible sign of my tiny baby's development into a big girl.  The weaning was, thankfully, an incredibly simple and respectful event.  I had found breastfeeding to be really painful since falling pregnant, however my milk supply had actually increased with the pregnancy, which is unusual, and Tabitha was loving all the extra milk.  As we approached her 2nd birthday, which coincided with the 18th week of my pregnancy (nearly the half-way mark), I began to talk to her about weaning, just gently discussing the idea that one day she wouldn't have milk from mummy, just from a cup.  She seemed interested in the idea, but I wasn't sure how much she was actually understanding.  

Then, the day after her 2nd birthday, I decided that the best and most respectful approach for us was to chat to her quite frankly and honestly.  I explained that feeding was sometimes a bit sore for mummy, and that she could keep having milk if she wanted to, but it would also be great if she wanted to have her milk in a cup from now on.  She thought about it for a minute, smiled, repeated to me, "Mummy's milkies are sore!  So I drink my milk in a cup now!" and she never asked for a breastfeed again!  She still talks about "when I used to have milkies from mumma" and sometimes pats them and says, "nice milkies!  I love you!" which is hilarious and cute, but she is perfectly happy with the arrangement now.  She tells me that she "drunk up all of mummy's milkies!  I finished them, now they empty!" but she knows that when the baby comes, I will make more milk for him.  Overall, I couldn't be happier with how the weaning went - she was cool with it, I was happy to have a break before baby #2, and we made it to our goal of 2 years.

So what will I blog about over the coming weeks?  New baby gear, my top picks for slings/cradles/clothes etc., things I've found useful during this pregnancy, the chooks, a bit about my plans for our new garden (still a 'blank canvas' to put it nicely), and of course some cooking photos and recipes.  Despite being sick, I've still been cooking, and I'm about to hire a chest freezer and start to do some serious large-batch cooking to stash away for when the baby arrives!

Here is Tabitha these days - she's grown a bit, no?  She's pictured here guzzling a blueberry smoothie and eating a bowl of blueberries, so excuse the purple face!

 

Anyway.  What's been up with you?!