I have a Dream...

...and it’s a big one. And I’m going to have to start buying lottery tickets to fund it. My dream has turned into a life goal, and even though I may only be able to achieve it in a small way, even that I feel could make a difference. My dream goes something like this...

I want to buy an old farm house with lots of bedrooms, and a few paddocks of land. On my old farm house I want to create a sanctuary for troubled teens, to be able to provide for them a safe, relaxing and rejuvenating atmosphere. To teach them skills which perhaps they haven’t had a chance to be exposed to, but most of all to provide a ‘home’ for them in which they are always welcome, no matter how far away they might travel. I have dreams about my old farm house, when I walk in the door I am greeted by many smiling faces of the children who have been and gone hanging on the wall. I can hear the sound of feet on the old style veranda that goes all the way around the house. My old farm house has a red roof, a royal blue, really heavy wood front door which has a brass handle right in the middle of it.

Dreams are never far from reality if you set your mind, and in this case my heart to it. One day this will happen, perhaps once I have finished producing my tribe. Until then, I will continue to dream.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my little sister who today turned the tender age of 19 today. The prince and I spent the day baking her an extra special birthday cake, with all our family's favourite colours... and it was yummy!!

Feels Like Monday

It feels like Monday, all the technology that I own keep telling me otherwise though. I can't believe that we are just about in the middle of the third month of the year... where has the time gone? Is it just as you get older that time seems to kick it up a notch? I can remember when I was at school and the terms just d---r---a---g---g---e---d on for what felt like eternity. Now I am the mother of an almost four year old and an almost newborn and soon its going to be Christmas... Again...

Anyway, the prince and I had a really great day today. We spent the morning playing aliens with some of his little figurines, which was followed by making some origami jumping frogs, followed closely by colouring and writing some stories.

Went then spent the remainder of the afternoon at the local park and beach with my mum. I love the beach, the sand, the water, the shells and the smell. I could quite happily set up camp there and live quite happily.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday, so the prince and I will be busy making her a cake of some sort in the morning... pondering on what to create, the prince thinks that a rainbow cake is the way to go.

A few thoughts

The birth of my son has been the most challenging, joyful and empowering experience of my lifetime. The lead up to his birth was an extremely emotional and scary time for me, I didn’t know what to expect and I felt useless and extremely alone. The prince was born almost 2 weeks over due after an induction, extremely painful posterior labour and an epidural. Not the most empowering birthing experience recorded, but it defiantly empowered me to become more educated for future birthing experiences.

Call me crazy but this time around, I am actually getting excited about labour and not just because we will meet our babe at the end of it. It has involved learning to put trust myself, something which has been a big step for me. It has meant accepting that sometimes things don’t go to plan and to be easy on myself. The biggest step has been getting to know me, really taking the time to sit down with myself and reflect on the journey’s I have taken so far, and the journey’s that I want to take in the future. I have learnt that I judge myself to harshly at times, and feel fear in trying my hardest in case it still leads to failure.

I know that I am going to have an empowering birth, whether my plans for a natural labour go through or need altering along the way. I know this because I have empowered myself in knowing who I am, of understanding the wonderful growth that I will undertake throughout my lifetime and the experiences I am yet to know.

Self discovery is a lifetime process, and I look forward to everyday. What day could be truly bad, with a beautiful son by my side and the sky above my head.

Have you ever....

Here I'll share with you all a few of my favourite photos from a trip that were taken what feels like a lifetime ago.

Have you ever stood beside something that radiated power without being plugged into an electrical socket? Have you ever stood next to something that was so gigantic that it made you contemplate your significance in the world? Have you ever stood in an area surrounded by only the sounds of nature and yet heard a whole story being told? Have you ever said thankyou to the great beauties of the earth that continually give us life whilst we continually destroy theirs?

More importantly, have you ever kissed a tree??

We have.

March Crappy Craft: Salt Dough Creations

On a forum that I frequently visit, a member came up with the fantastic idea of having a 'crappy craft' competition each month as inspiration to do more with our children. Here is mine and the Princes for this month, keeping up with his new fascination with echinda's we made a nature scene. It was so much fun and very quick and and easy as well.

Ready with our supplies!

Starting to make the dough.

Our dough ready to create with

The first echinda in the making

Ready for baking

Our finished products :)

23 Weeks

"Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb."

(information taken from babycenter.com)

Am starting to feel bloated and swollen. My ankles are puffy and I feel as though my face is swelling to the size of a balloon... ok, well maybe a slight exaggeration. Babe is moving heaps, especially when I jump into bed of a night time, which is always the way. The Prince is constantly asking if today is the day that the baby is coming, he is so eager to meet our little babe!