twenty eight

Hello birthday. You came around even more quickly this year, speeding up no doubt as we draw ever closer to the inevitable big 30. I don't know why this thought panics me at all as I think I've done a good job of cramming a decent amount into my 28 years on the planet- a degree, a round the world trip, a range of mainly enjoyable, creative jobs- although unfortunately none have made me any closer to paying off the university overdraft. I've gathered some amazing friends and am lucky enough to have a loving family, a pretty damn fine husband, a new adventure living in New Zealand and two beautiful children. Though hang on, before this all gets too nauseating let's just stop for a quick reality check.

Getting out of the house with a 3 year old and a newborn is a major military operation, in fact getting (any of us) dressed before 11am is a huge achievement. This by the way does not involve a carefully considered, stylish outfit choice, just a case of throwing on whatever is cleanest or nearest as within a matter of minutes it's likely to be sporting some embellishment of a little patch of baby sick or peanut butter smears from grubby fingers and if I'm really lucky then maybe also a faint odour of stale milk. Make- up? A distant memory. Which is a shame as the climate in New Zealand seems to leave me in a permanent state of teenage style acne outbreaks and the only thing which seems to have any effect on it is the most expensive organic moisturiser and facial cleansing products available. The price of which almost gave my poor husband a heart attack when he last checked our bank statement. Then there's also the small matter of the rather vast sum of money we owe my ever generous parents, who funded our recent flights back over to the UK.

But on the other hand, the beach is only a 5 minute walk down the road, the sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day today even though it's the middle of winter. We have food in the fridge and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some birthday cake later. So life is good. The's still a lot I want to do but if I did actually get around to around to writing that book and maybe owning my own shop in the next two years then what would I have to look forward to when I hit 30 after all.

Image by nubiany on flickr. Mmm, a slice of this would do just fine!

sisters

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, I've been taking time out from the online world to hang out with my two girls and enjoy the first few precious weeks of baby Rose's life. She is such a joy to look after and I feel so lucky to have her in our lives. Lila has adapted really well to her new role as big sister and has been surprisingly gentle with her for such a lively child! I love it when I walk into a room to see Lila watching over her in her little bouncer "To keep her safe" or giving her a litte kiss on the cheek. Curt has already had to return to New Zealand due to his work commitments but we are still in the UK for another week so making the most of this time with the grandparents and the bursts of sunshine and going out on little adventures.

rose

This beautiful little girl arrived into the world on Monday morning at 7.20am, weighing 7lb 11oz. Her name is Rose Everly and we are totally besotted with her. She is like a perfect minature doll with such a sweet face and temperament. Any worries I may have had about the possibility of loving a second child in quite the same way as the first vanished the moment I laid eyes on her and held her in my arms.

She was three days late but thoughtfully arrived in good time for her Auntie's wedding which took place yesterday. After undergoing a ridiculously long labour ending up in an emergency c-section with Lila, I was really hoping for a natural (not to mention muh shorter and less traumatic) delivery and am happy to report that it was a vast improvement this time around, lasting only 7 hours. She did get a bit stuck at the end and had to be pulled out with a suction cup, but she dealt with it all very bravely and only had the hint of a cone shaped head for a day or so. I definitely wanted to avoid an epidural this time around and was really proud of myself for not caving in and begging to be given one as soon as I got into hospital!

She has such long fingers which maybe means she has a promising career as a concert pianist ahead of her but while it's fun to imagine all the things she might do and what her future holds, I am taking care to soak up and savour every second of this time when she is a tiny newborn as I know before I can even blink she will be three years old and careering around on a little scooter, singing her heart out into a toy microphone and tearing up the dancefloor at wedding parties.