12 weeks in photos

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already since bubba came into our lives. They change and grow so quickly! Thankfully I take A LOT of photos so I can remember it all. Problem is shes now worked out that the phone takes photos so she deliberately stops doing cute stuff when I bring it out! They learn young I tell ya. So, we have resorted to selfies lately because then she can see her face on the screen as I take the photo. And besides the more practice she gets in now the better she will be at posing for her facebook profile picture later on (oh god I cant wait for her to get into facebook...... not!).

Holding hands @ 3 days old

Photo taken by Katharine Jarvie Photography

Peek-a-boo @ 2 weeks old

Photo taken by Katharine Jarvie Photography

2 weeks old

Big smiles @ 7 weeks

Playing on the playmat @ 10 weeks

Mumma and bubba selfies!

If you are obsessed with baby photos like me then you might want to join in the baby gazing and discussions on my facebook page. You know you want to :)

Toni xx

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

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Mending relationships

At work I would see countless women walking around shopping with their babies and their mums. Lots of people seem to make a day at the shopping centre a designated grandma day and why not - it gives the baby a change of scenery, its an excuse to get out of the house and its a good way to catch up with your mum. Win win situation all around really (except maybe once the kids get old enough to throw tantrums).

I was always so jealous of these women. Partly because I didn't have a child and desperately wanted one, but moreso because these women obviously had a good relationship with their mum. Something I'd been longing for my whole life. I've written in the past about how my relationship with my mother was strained growing up. I'm not sure if she realised I perceived it that way, but it always felt that way to me. I've always wanted to have a close relationship with my mum. I'm not sure if that stems from the fact that I didn't have a dad or if its just an instinctive thing for a girl to want to be close to her mum. Either way I never felt like I had it, but I never stopped wanting it and hoping that it would eventually happen.

Once I got pregnant I thought that everything would change. Now there would be a reason for mum to want to spend time with me, even if the reason wasn't me but was my baby. Afterall she would have to spend time with me to see my baby so I would at least feel like we were closer than before. There was a part of me though that knew this wouldn't happen. I kept reminding myself not to get my hopes up because why would something that hasn't eventuated in the last twenty something years all of a sudden come to fruition just because one single thing changed. Admittedly a baby is a big and life changing event and while I knew it was going to change my life, I didn't want to get too excited that it would fix our relationship as well. I wanted to protect myself from the disappointment if nothing changed, but still the little girl inside of me longed for my mum.

Of course when bub was born nothing really changed. She didn't really seem that interested in her at all. Instead of just feeling bad for myself that our relationship didn't change I also started to feel bad for my daughter that she too might end up having a strained relationship (with my mum) like I did. It wasn't fair on her. She was already going to miss out on having a grandfather, I didn't want her to miss out on her grandma too. My heart was breaking all over again.

Fast forward a few months and I'm happy to say that things are finally changing. A few unfortunate incidents occurred in my life and mums recently, but the silver lining from this is that we now have more time to spend together and mum is wanting to spend more time with me and bub. Its nice to have the time to talk to each other. We've discussed a lot of things about the past and I'm seeing things from her perspective and learning a lot of things that I didn't know as a child. Also the fact that I'm a mum now means that I see my relationship with my own mum in a different light. We still have a long way to go to get to being really close, but you cant expect everything to happen overnight. I'm just happy that we get to see each other on a weekly basis now instead of every few weeks and the time we spend together is meaningful. I'm also over the moon that she is now taking a keen interest in bub and that they play together a lot. Its very heart warming for me to see my mum creating such a nurturing relationship with my daughter. It's nice to see the loving side of my mum when she plays with her.

The little girl that still lives inside me is now optimistic that I may finally be forging the relationship I've always wanted with my mum. Its better late than never. Sometimes when all hope is lost people surprise you. Things can always change for the better if you don't give up hope.

Toni x

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I get to be a kid again

There are so many benefits to having a baby. There are the obvious ones like experiencing unconditional love, knowing that you created a tiny human being and seeing them learn new things for the first time. Nothing can top the way they smile at you when they see your face (except maybe when she says mum for the first time, but we have a long way to go before then). I also now have a little buddy to keep me company when T does his night shifts, although she does sleep most of that time. One of the more superficial advantages of having a baby that I am absolutely loving is that I can be a kid again!

I now have a legitimate excuse to buy toys and play with them. Yes, they're for my daughter. I have already planned out everything I want to buy for my her "big girl" room. I know shes only 10 weeks old, but you can never be too prepared, right? There's the table and chair set so we can do drawings together. The fake food set and tea set so we can have tea party picnics on the floor. The blackboard so we can draw pictures together (may have to rethink putting that in the bedroom though because I can see carpet and chalk is going to lead to disaster). The little play kitchen so she can cook like mummy does. Oh sooo many things to play with! I can't wait.

Whilst trolling through all of the toy catalogues online back in July (before she was even born) I realised I may have been getting a bit ahead of myself. For now I'm looking forward to playdoh, bath toys and lego. I absolutely loved lego when I was young and my mum kept all of our lego so I will get to play with it again with bubba. I used to build big houses with horse stables and gardens. I had this awesome ice cream shop set that I cant wait to play with again too. To this day every time I see pastel colours they remind me of that lego set. T is really into lego too so Im sure they will spend hours playing together as well. Although he will probably try to get her to build cars. I just hope she is not smart enough to ever do this....

Another thing I'm really looking forward to doing with her is watching cartoons. The other day we watched The Little Mermaid together (well she lasted about half an hour into the movie and then fell asleep and woke up just before the end). She couldn't work out how I was singing the same words as the tv. When I was younger I absolutely loved Ariel. I wanted to be her. I remember I used to sing all the songs in the shower. What's scary is I still remembered them word for word and I hadn't watched the movie for years. There are so many other movies I cant wait to watch with her - The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast and Finding Nemo to name a few.

In so many ways I feel as though I missed out on a childhood because I had to grow up so quickly. That's probably why Im so overly enthusiastic that I get to relive it with my daughter. I cant wait to see her experience the joy and innocence of childhood and the fun of play. I intend to enjoy every second of it right along with her.


What was your favourite thing from childhood you wish you could do again? Have you ever bought a toy for your kids that you secretly wanted to play with?


Toni xx

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The greatest gift a man can give his daughter is to love her mother.

Photo | Katharine Maree Photography

When I was younger I don't remember my parents saying I love you to each other that often if at all. They were always busy with work and we were back and forth from babysitters so much that I hardly ever saw them together. I never really witnessed them fight, but I didn't really see them be affectionate towards each other either. In part I think this set me up to choose my ex-husband and the dysfunctional relationship we had.

My relationship with T is a lot better and very affectionate. We say I love you all the time and we hug a lot. I have always had a strong desire to create a family where my children would grow up knowing that their parents love each other. I think its important for children to see a man treat their mother right. This is most probably because I grew up without that and I know the mistakes that I have made because of it.

I want bub (and any other children we have) to grow up having very involved parents. Affectionate parents, loving parents and an engaged father. A girls first love is her father and its important for him to create a good solid image of how a man should act because this is who she is going to judge all other men against in the future. I want her to learn that a man should treat a woman like a queen. He should help her, support her, love her and celebrate her. I want her to grow up and seek out those qualities in the men she wants to have relationships with later on. I don't want her to make the same mistakes I first made.

Thankfully I had a second chance and got my life in order before I created my family. She has a wonderful father who loves her mother very much. I hope that together we can give her a solid foundation in life.

The greatest gift a man can give his daughter is to love her mother.

Toni x

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