Mummy needs a 'Time Out!'

Kerry started back at work this week, full steam ahead! Monday he is taken from 8am to 9pm with TAFE so Tuesday was his actual first day back working. After having him home for two weeks, the last three days have been a 'Jump into the deep end' kind of days. I am enjoying the day time when I'm just at home with the two boys, Mathias entertains himself surprisingly well with his toys and his music, and Carter is still just sleeping, eating, being adorable and not much else.

It is the evenings that are proving to be the toughest. Managing the three kids all at once! Yesterday Carter woke up for a feed just as I was dishing up dinner for myself and the kids. I knew that if I didn't sit at the table with the big two while they ate dinner, they would be left to their own devices and most likely run a muck! So, I tackled this dilemma like a true multi-task er, and breastfed Carter while I sat at the dinner table and ate dinner with Taylah-benet and Mathias. After that I ran their bath as I burped Carter, then laid him on the couch or a bed while I set Taylah-benet up with her homework on the lap top, and read Mathias a story and put him to bed. I had them all asleep in bed by 8pm with not too much stress on myself.


Tonight was a little more stressful, emotionally mainly, knowing Kerry would not be home until very late again, and having come straight from school pick up then swimming.


One thing I have found is that I have to aproach one child at a time. which everone I feel needs the attention first aka the one thats screaming the loudest!, then once they are settled, taking care of the next child and then the third.

I won't depress you anymore with my stressful night - they are all finaly happily sound asleep at 8.30pm

I'll hope for a better evening tomorrow!!

Kindy Badge Ceremony

Today I attended Taylah-benets' Badge ceremony at school. This is where they present all the Kindy students with the school badge! a big deal to a kindy kid and their folks!

I admit I got a little choked up hearing my little girls name called out and watching her shake the principles hand, receiving her badge and watching her wear it proudly!

The kindy students also performed their own take on the rhyme 'Hickory Dickory Clock' soooooo cute!! Xx

ps. please excuse the dogie camera work - I was holding Carter at the same time :)

Wiggle Time

Today my Mathias turns three! He is one crazy cool kid who drives me up the wall with the amount of enery he has, but thats what I love about him the most. He is so much like his daddy, a people person, always happy, loves his music, Stevie Wonder, Wiggles and Jack Johnson are a few of his faves' at the moment.

Saturday we played non-stop at the Wiggle playcenter with big sister Taylah-benet and cousins Ava-Ruby and Hendrix. Then we squeased the entire family (27 bodies!!) into our tiny unit to party it up Wiggle style! Wiggle balloons, Wiggle jelly, Wiggle music and an awesome Wiggle cake! needless to say Mathias had an Awesome Wiggle party day! Here's just a few of the pics. Xx

A few of my favourite things...

I Love how done hair can turn a 'I feel like crap day' into 'well, at least I can look half decent day'

Bundaberg = liquid gold...need I say more?

Taking Carter Mason Cole on his first trip to the city

Love my hansome husband 

Having Carter right next to my bed, makes for quick night feeds!!

 Easy peasy and delicious Banana Choc chip muffins that never last the night in our house!

Nerf Wars!!

Mathias Loves his music!

Orthodontist visit

Family updates;

Mummy is feeling better each day, I even cooked dinner the other night for the first time since Carter was born; Husband is going hard on the MW3 and the only reason I can tolerate it is that it seems to be the only thing that can keep him awake! though he is being wonderful and taking care of the two big kids while I get some much needed rest; Taylah-benet started back at dancing this week and she has gone from playing with no one at school, to playing with 'Everyone' - I'm not sure what she means exactly but she is still loving school and is chattier (is that even a word?) than ever! But I love our conversations! Mathias is gearing up for his Wiggle party tomorrow! I can't believe he is turning 3! He is super excited for his party and I'm looking forward to seeing what my wonderful Aunty has in store for his cake! Carter, is as magical as ever! I absolutely love having a newborn baby again and he could not be more perfect!

Kerry, Carter and I travelled into the city yesterday as I had an appointment with an Orthodontist about having a new plate/retainer made up for me. I have a mentioned in my very first post that I was born with a clef lip and pallet. What that means is I was born with half a top lip and palate (the roof of my mouth). A while back Kerry and I watched a BBC documentary series called 'Inside the Human Body' The very first episode is titled 'The creation' and it explains and shows the development from conception to birth. It really is fascinating to watch if you get the chance to look it up on YouTube. It explains simply that the philtrum (the grove just beneath you nose) is where the formation of the face meets. This happens at around 2-3 months gestation. A Clef lip and palate occurs when this formation does not complete itself inside the womb. Here's a photo from when I was a baby

Mine was repaired when I was 7 months old. But the implications for my teeth and palate are lifelong. Essentially to repair the roof of my mouth, they sliced the thickness of my existing palate and slid one half across to the other side to form a complete palate, which means that now I have a complete palate, but because it is half the thickness should have been, I have a soft palate and I need a permanent support there in the form of a plate/retainer. I will wear this for the rest of my life. If I were to have my plate out of my mouth for any longer than a couple of hours, because my palate is soft it would slowly and gradually begin to collapse and my teeth with it too.

The reason I need a new plate is because my front tooth, where the repair was done, is breaking away. That's right, my front tooth is breaking away, and it needs to come out, so I need a new plate made up with a tooth on it. So you won't see any open mouth smiles from me for at least the next month, while I wait to have the plate made up, the tooth extracted and my new plate in!

When I think about my childhood I feel like I grew up in my Orthodontists' chair, with many visits to hospitals, plastic surgeons and speech therapists. In the BBC episode it shows so so many children and even adults who were not as fortunate as I was, to be born in a country that has the means to support a need such as mine. Here is a link to an organisation that strives to help many of these people http://www.operationsmile.org/

Even if I can't smile now, I am so blessed, and extremely grateful too my mum, for not treating me any different to her other children. To my orthodontist in New Zealand who always told me I was pretty and made me smile.

I'd like to believe I've out grown the days where I didn't like what I saw when I looked in the mirror - all I could see was the scar. And I used to worry that I could have a child with the same deformity - one of the first things I remember after Taylah-benet was born, I cried because she has the a perfect little nose and mouth.

Six Kids

Yes, you read that correctly. I want at least...Six Children. However, after each pregnancy and labour experience I re-evaluate this idea I have of how many children I want simply because it is so painful to get them here! But once the healing is over and I forget the labour, I usually come back to this number. Why? I love the idea of a big family, siblings growing up together, and when they've all grown, married and left home (a day I dread!) I know I will love and cherish every time they come home and bring their families with them.

I Love having a newborn baby too, and I know that I'll only get to enjoy each of my babies as newborns once and as long as I am physically able to bare children. They are so precious and fragile and miraculous all at once. Sure I could go on and on and on and on and on.... you get the idea, of how hard motherhood is! But boy, I could never put it into words that could do it justice as to how unbelievably amazing it is. I have written in my journal hundreds of times that my children are the reason I was born. ever since I can remember I knew I wanted to be a mother and knew I would absolutely love and adore my children, but honestly, I never imagined the unconditional love I feel for them, now that I have them in my life.

I wish so bad that I could keep them as little children for longer! And I know that when they are grown, I'll look back and feel like it was only yesterday I was bringing them home from the hospital. So, I will strive to savour and cherish every waking moment that I have with them, those sleepless nights when I'm stuck in the middle of the bed between the husband and the two extra monkeys who have joined us through the night. When my 3yr old son dances around for an hour to Stevie Wonder hits. When my 5yr old daughter is chatting away about how Heavenly Father wants us to choose the right. When it's bed time and my husband is rolling around on the floor with our eldest two playing with the nerf guns like they are on a real battle field...with laughing gas. And even when it's 2am in the morning and I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open to feed our newborn son. When these days are gone, I will miss them.

I will brace myself and have the space between my children that I need, and when the time comes and if Heavenly Father sees fit to bless us with more children, I will do it again.

After....WHAT!!!

Ahhh Yes, as if going through 9months of growing a baby in your womb, then the labour of pushing it out wasn't enough, once it's out, you’re introduced to a whole new pain. Afterbirth pains - if you only have one baby you most likely will not have had the pleasure of experiencing this.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have the baby, then hand it over to the husband and take the next week or two off just to heal!? I think Heavenly Father knew better, and knew that mummy’s don't get much time at all to themselves, even if they have just had a baby. So, we have to heal and do it quickly!

I received a booklet from the hospital that has some post-natal exercises to do, and it had a picture in it that I’ve never seen before, that showed what pregnancy does to your stomach muscles, here's one i found on Google...

After each pregnancy your body has to work harder to put itself back together again, a bit like humpty dumpty huh! The afterbirth pains are the uterus contracting your abdomen back together and the cherry on the top? Breastfeeding promotes the uterus to contract! Yeah! And you though the contractions and labour was over!

This being my third the pain felt pretty bad and panadol does nothing. And I've never taken to breastfeed very well either, so the first thing I wanted to do the day after my son was born - buy a breast pump. For me it is a mental thing as well as physical, with each baby I've wanted to breastfeed, but once it reached a painful stage, I couldn't take it. Then there is the campaigns out there that are thrashed into our heads - "Breast is best"

I know that breastfeeding is probably the best option nutritionally for my baby, it certainly is easier than having to sterilise, boil and re-heat for bottle feeding not to mention cheaper too!

But what about emotionally too, what about me? Sounds a little selfish when I say it like that but seriously, what about me!

I remember with Mathias I really wanted to breastfeed and it started off pretty good, then after about three weeks there were cracked nipples and blood and pain and when he would cry to be feed, I would cry because I didn't want to volunteer for that pain. And the guilt! Having to wrap my head around knowing that I was depriving my baby of what was best for him! I couldn't handle the pain, so we started bottle feeding him formula and I had to assure myself that if breastfeeding him was stressing me out, it stressed him out, so I did what I thought was best for both of us. I am jealous and admire any woman who breastfeeds their baby, because it's something I haven't been able to do.

So far with Carter, it is going good, I just really hope it stays good! Because I know from bottle feeding my first two it would be so much easier, cheaper and less time consuming than bottle feeding. I guess I’m not holding my breath though due to my track record, but, here to hoping!!


It has been nearly one week now since I gave birth to my third baby and we’re getting there. I came home from the hospital the same day he was born, all the midwifes seemed happy enough to let me go home seeing as he is my third and ‘I know what I’m doing’

I was glad to be home and have Kerry with me. Taylah-benet and Mathias were staying with my sister – as long as I needed her to keep them. So it was nice to have just the three of us at home.


I did feel a bit ambitious the day after he was born. I went out to a teacher presentation at Taylah-benets school, and then went shopping. I was exhausted after that, so I promised to stay home the next two days and rest.

Carter took his time getting into the whole feeding scene. He practically slept for the first 24hrs even after being passed around, he would just sleep. That was great for me!

His second night he slept 7hrs as well. Then from the third day he clicked that he wasn’t in my tummy anymore and is now feeding about every 3hours, yay for me! I have found I am a lot easier going with him. And he seems to be quite a content laid back little guy, he loves to stare! And I love staring at him.


Mathias was getting homesick so we brought him home on Wednesday night. He got a ‘big brother’ present from Carter – a nerf gun, which he loves. He loves Carter and he really is quite gentle when he gives him hugs and kisses. He thinks Carter eats my boobies, and every time he cries he thinks Carter is sad.


Taylah-benet wanted to come home on Thursday, but her daddy bargained with her and promised five ‘big sister’ presents if she stayed one more night. So she came home on Friday night, very happy with her five presents. And even happier to have baby Carter out.


Mummy is taking it one day at a time, the afterbirth pains have eased off, milk has come in, sleeping when Carter sleeps, and each day feels a little bit more human. Well, human enough.


I have been overwhelmed with the amount of love and support our little family has received. We have had beautiful meals cooked and delivered for us – such a huge help! – and today Kerry came home from church with two big shopping bags one is filled with half a dozen packets of biscuits and the other with yoghurts and milk!

He's Here!

Finally, He's here! Mr Carter Mason Cole Pemberton arrived safe and sound and in his own sweet time on Monday morning and now I am feeling human enough to jump on the laptop and tell you his entire story.

So as you already know from my previous post, I began having contractions about 9pm Saturday evening which stayed the same all day Sunday! So, I resigned to my bed with the idea that I would be ringing the hospital in the morning to go in and be induced, But, I woke up at about 4am and could no longer sleep as the contractions were all of a sudden stronger and closer. I ran a warm bath and timed my contractions for an hour before I woke my husband to tell him they we're getting stronger and stronger! We then phoned my mum - I have her come in during all my labours - and told her we we're going to go to the hospital, we waited until she got to our home, then drove up to the hospital.

It was about 6.45 when we arrived at the birthing unit and were showed to a room. By this time my contractions we're just getting stronger and I wanted the gas! But I knew they would have me on the monitor first to make sure the baby was ok so I continued to breathe through each painful contraction.

Now with all my frustration leading up to this labour, I was determined to do all I could to make the labour as quick as possible. They had me strapped to the monitor for nearly an hour - my contractions were 4 mins apart and I was 4cm dilated. As the midwife took the straps off me she mentioned that they re-access me every 4-5 hours. I had to laugh a little and tell her that my babies have a habit of coming out fast. Now there are three stages during labour, stage one is basically the dilating. The cervix needs to dilate to 10cm for the baby to make its way out. The second stage is the actual pushing the baby out. Then the third is delivering the placenta. It is the second stage that happens very quickly for me, I have never had to push for longer than about 10-15mins before my babies come out. I have heard of others having to push for hours! And that is such a strange concept for me, but quite frankly, one I'm glad I haven't experienced.

I also asked her for the gas, but she didn't let me have it! Don’t you hate it when they do that! I do! She offered something else but I wouldn't have any of it, I just wanted the gas. So I had to tough it out - I got off that bed and walked, and walked, back and forth. Gravity was going to help me get this baby out. Kerry walked beside me and when each contraction came, because I didn’t have the gas, I squeezed his arms and tried to breathe each one away. I couldn't bare it any longer so we buzzed for the midwife (I hate buzzing someone) and a different midwife came in and had no problem giving me the gas! Kerry could keep his arms!

When I couldn't walk anymore I leaned on a bean bag that was placed on the bed. Then when I couldn't stand anymore I knelt down on a mat and leaned on the end of the bed. That all too familiar pressure of the baby’s head heading down was becoming more and more apparent, I was surprized and glad that I could recognise it and that it was happening so quickly. I don't know how long I was kneeling for but as each contraction brought more pressure and gradually the urge to push, I knew it was time to get this baby out and as painful as it was, the light at the end of the tunnel was looking so good, I was staring straight at it, that beautiful feeling of sweet relief!

To share my full experience I have to confess that I do scream. There I said it! Yes, I have no idea how some women can 'ooooh' and 'aaahhh' as they push a baby out because it freakin' hurts. Within minutes my baby was out and I had it...that sweet relief that he was out and I was so relieved I cried and cried and I hadn't even seen the baby yet!

They place him in front of me so I could meet this tiny little purple boy. My Carter was finally here.

9 Days over due - Monday 13th February 2012, 9.24am weighing in as my biggest 3.725kg (8pounds3oz) and my shortest 50cm.

Unpredictable

Last night at about 9pm I started to feel contractions. About three weeks ago I had a similar experience but the contractions stopped by midnight, I went to bed and had no further contractions after I woke up the next day. This pregnancy has been so unbelievably unpredictable for me that when I began to feel contractions last night I couldn't be sure I was going into labour. They were about ten minutes apart so I phoned around my family just to let them know what was happening, I stayed up until midnight again then went to bed to try and sleep. Thankfully I was able to get some sleep, each time I woke I could still feel the contractions and even when I got up in the morning they were still there. I was frustrated because I don't know what is going on with my body, if I actually am in labour or not, yet I was still experiencing these contractions that didn't seem any closer and only slightly and occasionally a little more intense than the night before. I needed space to clear my head of these frustrations and relax so Kerry drove the kids over to my sister, and I politely suggested he take his time to come home - I needed some alone time!

To cut the long boring story of my day short, I am still having contractions but they are not any closer and little irregular.

On a brighter note I did buy the fabric to make Baby C's Blessing outfit today!

I am checking into hospital tomorrow to be induced, Wish me luck! Xx

Just the begining

First things first, yes, I am still here and yes I am still in one piece! This baby must be way too comfortable in there because there is still no sign that he's coming out anytime soon. But I now have a finish line in view! I am going into hospital on Monday to be induced - he may very well be a valentines baby, Sorry Husband, I'll have a new valentines from then on!

'Crazy, Stupid, Love' was a good movie after all that AND last night my big sister kindly offered to watch my kids so the husband and I could go and see 'The Vow' Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams...need I say more! I love Rachel McAdams! The movie was great, I had a good cry in the cinema and when I went to sink into husbands shoulder I'm sure I heard a few snuffles coming from him - I don't think I'll get him to proof read this post!! sorry hun! us girls know men are all really big softies on the inside!

I filled you in on how the Mr and I met, but that was just the beginning! I also forgot to mention that he is two years younger than me and was only 17 when we met! So, I left New Zealand in September and two weeks later Kerry came as well. Now I've seen this photo floating around on the net that I just loved

I love this because in 'our story' we made quite a few wrong choices that have helped shape who we are and led us to the right place! I sometimes like to read back over old journal entries and some make me cringe and I'm tempted to rip those pages out - but I don't because I believe in order to truly know who I am, you need to know where I came from. Taking the good with the bad - because my whole journey is what makes me, Me!

Without going into too much detail, I'm sure you can fill in the blanks, Kerry and I were not able to be married in the Temple. I was 12 weeks pregnant on our wedding day and 7 months later we welcomed our Beautiful Taylah-benet into our family. Kerry and I were made for each other, even though we could not overcome moments of weakness we both have testimonies of the gospel. When Taylah-benet was 10 months, 20th September 2007 we were blessed to be sealed for time an all Eternity in the Sydney, Australia Temple.

The following month we received another great blessing, a mortgage! ha. It is small and we'll now be a family of 5 in our two bedroom unit, but it has given us a place to call home for the last 4 years and will hopefully allow us to buy a bigger house in the future.

Our journey is still going, although we made some wrong choices, I can't say that I would change any of it because it has brought us to a place that feels so right. We are more in love today, than the day we married, we have the greatest blessing of being parents to two very unique sweet spirits. And we have Heavenly Father on our side as we strive to live righteously.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

The plan tonight (after the kids are fast asleep) is to watch a movie called 'Crazy, Stupid, Love.' I should probably tell you now that we don't have television in our home. It came about by choice at first, then by circumstance, and now it's both, but I love it. We do have a television in our house, we just don't get free to air TV on it, so we just use it to watch movies and the husband plays an occasional game - and by occasional I mean most nights. I Love it because it makes it so much easier to filter the media that comes into my home and that my children and myself are subjected to ex specially when the moral standards of what is acceptable today are far below what I believe in. So we watch movies or TV series we choose once they are available without the distraction of advertisements. Anyhow, the movie choice tonight is about love, and I love a good love story. Especially my own!

2005, 19 years old and working as and assistant in nursing at a nursing home for elderly - A job I didn't like very much but it made money! I was living with my eldest sister, her husband and their then baby girl who I absolutely adored, I had my own car and was actively involved in the young single adult programme at church, my life was all good. Then in March my mum received a phone call from my brother in New Zealand - he had been diagnosed with Leukemia, it was so developed that the doctors wanted to begin chemo therapy straight away. Within a matter of 3-4 days of receiving the news my mum packed up her life in Sydney and flew to be by his side. A few weeks later I made the choice to go with her to work in New Zealand so she didn't have to, however when I arrived we had no where to live! It was through the Latter Day Saint 'grapevine' that we ended up on the doorstep of the presiding bishop of the area. I will never forget how willingly they opened their home up for us even though they had six children - all teenagers, one of which was not theirs, living at home also. They helped us find a small unit to rent which conveniently was 2 houses down from them. Their children befriended my sister and I, and before long, the one that wasn't theirs was visiting my place more and more often! If  you ask him he'll probably tell you his own 'version' of how it happened but I'll tell you the truth ;) one of their daughters and Kerry came by to visit one night and watch a movie, but it was getting late and the daughter wanted to go home. So we stopped the movie and Kerry walked her home, and 20mins later he came back! That was the first sign for me, we watched the rest of the movie and pretty much from that moment on we were inseparable. After 5 months of chemo my brother went into remission and I came home...and Kerry followed.

The choice to be in New Zealand and put my life in Sydney on hold, was a difficult one for me. Not because I didn't want to help my mum, but because I loved where my life was at. My eldest sister was like my mentor, if I was having problems with anything, she is the one I could talk to. I had my friends and my family, so the time I spent in New Zealand was difficult for me. Before I left I knew that I would find my Eternal companion while I would be in New Zealand - and that I did. He was more than a boyfriend for me, he was a great source of strength, a shoulder to cry on (which I did ALOT) and he loved me.

We have our fair share of 'disagreements' and fights but I would rather be fighting with him, than making love to anyone else. The thing that never ceases to amaze me is that he knows and experiences first hand the worst side of me, and he's still here, he still loves me even when I have no idea why. He thinks I'm beautiful when I feel my lowest. He makes me laugh until it hurts to breath. I can be stubborn, difficult and down right demanding, but he is still here and he still loves me and for that I want to be the best wife for him I can be. I am far from perfect, but somehow, he sees perfection in me. I look forward to spending all Eternity with him and our children.

I know it's early but I may be having a baby pretty soon, so Happy Valentines Xx

Paranoid Parent?

My husband says all the time that I'm paranoid, and I admit it, I am! But honestly, what mother isn't? I need to know where my children are at all times, if they are in someone else's care I need to know what they'll be doing, when, and if I can contact them at any given moment. With my son in particular - If I can't see him, panic begins to set in, because I know he's not fully aware yet and has been known to just run and walk where ever he pleases weather he can see us or not, and that scares the crap out of me! I can not imagine how I could ever survive in this world if anything was ever to happen to one of my children, so I am the kind of mum that might exaggerate a little. Like 'If you don't wear your seat belt you'll fly out the front window...and die' or 'you can't run up to and pat any old dog you see, they might bite your hands off...and you'll die' and 'don't talk to strangers, strangers are people you don't know, you never know if they are nice people or naughty, and they could snatch you away...and you'll die' Ok, ok I know I sound like I just stole the gym teachers script from 'Mean Girls' but you ask my husband and he'll tell you the truth, when I want to scare my children into listening to me this is what I'll say...'you will die'

I found that when I became a mummy, the world became 1000 times scarier. I'm sure it didn't change in any way, shape or form, It was just that now I have these beautiful sweet spirits sent down for me to care for, love and protect, and I began to notice all every little thing that could potentially hurt my children weather it be physically or emotionally. Every person I don't know is a threat. I find television a threat, even cars traveling on the road seem bigger and faster. So I worry that if I am not watching my children, who is? I needed to trust the world a little more? or rather trust in the Lord and that I can teach my children correct principals so that when that dreaded day comes when they grow up and leave home, they will be able to determine for themselves what is safe and sensible and what is not, what is right and what is wrong.

I'm rambling off track here, the reason I started this post in the first place. With Taylah-benet starting school it brought to surface a whole lot of new concerns and fears for my little girl. When I dropped her off to school yesterday morning I witnessed one of them first hand. We placed her bag with the rest of her classes bags then I took her over to the large open play area, where the children can play until the morning bell rings for them to line up in their classes. I watch as Taylah-benet wandered onto the play area looking around at first as if she were looking for a friend to play with. The whole time I watched (abt 5-10mins) she wandered around by herself and my heart ached a little wishing  and hoping that some little friend would come a play with her. Then the bell rang and she went off to class.

I am glad that she is attending a school where she has two big cousins to keep an eye on her. I'm grateful that even though I can't be with her every second of the day, that I know that our Heavenly Father is watching over her always.

School is in session

Along with waiting for the arrival of our third baby, last week we sent our eldest baby off to 'Big school' A milestone in any parents life, sending each child off to school but there is a first for everything and this was ours! Being due to have a baby the same week Taylah-benet started, I spent weeks even months trying to make sure I was as prepared as possible for whatever may happen. I never doubted that she would be more than happy to stay at school, from the time she was 8 weeks old I have left her with family as I have gone off to work. When she was three she entered into pre-school one day a week with ease. And over the last six months I had been noticing the tell tale signs that my little girl was ready for big school.

For starters, she has always been a little on the quite side, didn't talk too much to anyone and quiet happily went about doing her own thing. As the end of 2011 approached along with her 5th Birthday - I could not seem to get her to stop talking! she entered the "why?" phase which drove me up the wall trying to answer all her "but, Why mum?"  and it seemed no matter what answer I gave her she had a never ending supply of "Why?" Thankfully that has passed!
Another change my husband and I began to notice was that she was remembering things, and could relay to us stories, or lessons, or the odd thing here and there.

Last Wednesday we woke up and began the 'school morning routine' I had put together for her, laminated and stuck on her bedroom wall for her to have some sort of guidance as to what she should be doing each school morning. I have found it very helpful not only for Taylah-benet but myself and Mathias as well. Of all weeks to start school, It was raining! the week earlier I had been on the lookout for a 'school mum' umbrella, the sturdy umbrella that all mums seem to have specifically for rainy school drop-off and pick-ups. I hadn't found one yet, but thankfully was able to pull into my sisters and borrow one from her. We walked all the way into her classroom she sat at a table that had puzzles set out on it and that was that! Mathias wanted to stay and play with the puzzles too, but once I got him off the table he gave Taylah-benet a kiss and cuddle and waved goodbye. With all the pregnancy hormones floating around my body at the moment I was strangely surprised at how 'ok' I was with leaving my little girl at school, I was excited for her, knowing how excited she was to be there, but I had no anticipated anxiety about leaving her.

Now she is into her second week of school and is still loving it. I love picking her up and asking about her day, who she played with and what she did in class. I love how much she is learning and how much she takes in and remembers.

Today was the sound 'b' and the rhyme 'Bounce balloon b, b, b'

40 + 1 ....

Yes, That's right, this baby is officially over due and the longest I've carried. My 'Estimate Due Date' came yesterday..and passed, makes for a not very happy Ardeth!

This evening my sister asked about my children's names, being a girly girl growing up I was always making lists of 'names I would give to my children' The list quite often changed as fads came and went. After I finally got married and pregnant the reality set in that it was not just up to me, I had to consider my husbands wants and needs! Luckily, we have similar taste in names, there are the few that I absolutely 'must-have' love and he flat out refuses, but I poke and I pry until we can reach some sort of compromise or agreement.

Our first child's name came with little difficulty, A conversation over dinner, with a pen and paper to play around with the names we were discussing. We both liked Taylah for a girl, which I was sure we were having, then we thought of Benet, the surname of one of our favourite singers. I had already put my foot down that our daughter would have the middle name Alice, after a close friend of mine that passed away earlier in the year, and conveniently is my mothers middle name. So we produced our First born Taylah-benet Alice...

Then child number two was up - I knew this one was a boy from the get go. When we started thinking about names we would came up with some we liked, but none that stood out that we just loved. Middle names seem easy to pick, I wanted Eric - my late Grandads name, and we thought we'd continue the theme of including a musicians name so we chose Maxwell, which was bordering becoming the first name. I was researching my husbands genealogy at the time and was intrigued by his great grandmothers line Morwen Mathias. We both quite liked her surname so we had our second beautiful child, Mathias Eric Maxwell...

So...When the name game began for baby number three, we were on the hunt for another boys name we both love and could agree on. I found a name that I love - Mason, but the husband was not liking it at all, so I convinced him to let me have it for a middle name, to which he agreed. One day while at work I came across a clients surname that intrigued me - Carter, when I suggested it to my husband he loved it, "you know why?" he said "Dan Carter" ... me: "who's that?" husband gives the 'are you serious' laugh "he's an All Black". So we had it from that moment on. Hi, my name is Ardeth and I like to give my kids four names. Yes, I don't know what it is but I do, so seeing as we had a first name. a middle name, I turned to my genealogy, picked out a couple of names I liked and narrowed it down to the one - Cole.

Taylah-benet Alice was born at 12.40am on her due date.

Mathias Eric Maxwell was born at 6.20am 6days before his due date

Carter Mason Cole is still sitting in my womb at 40weeks and one day over due!!

Keep watching this space ...

I am Ardeth...

Hi...I am Ardeth. Original, I know, but there it is. It was the name given to me by my parents and with no say in the matter, I have learnt to accept the fact that I have quite a unique name.

So, by way of introduction and to get the boring stuff out of the way - I am 26, Married, and have two Beautiful children and one on the way (due today actually!) I usually work, when I'm not about to have a baby, for a Family History business doing mostly data entry and all-round office duties. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. I am one of Five children, I have one Brother and Three sisters. I was born with a Clef-Lip and Pallet which was repaired when I was 7months old.



4th February 2012 - Carters' due date

I'll fill you in on the rest as we go but for now...Welcome to my world!