It's high time to ring in the new year

I'm not one to make new year resolutions. I figure if its not something I can achieve during the year, a change of date isn't going to make a spot of difference. I do, however, get very excited about the start of a new year. There's something strangely refreshing about leaving a year behind, and looking forward to what the next will bring.

2010 has been a mixed year of the very worst and very best my life has had to offer. After an impossibly horrid pregnancy I gave birth to my beautiful little girl Mathilda, whom I was certain was going to be a boy. My husband finally got to exclaim "I told you so!" in regards to my insistence that mothers have intuition about these things!

As 9 months of insomia, nausea, migraines and misery began to disolve, life couldn't have looked better. The adjustment to two babies wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be. From the moment he met his little sister, Oscar has been a very smitten very excited big brother. Thank goodness my fears of clingyness, tantrums and jealousy have not been realised. Nor have the endless sleepless nights (well not too many of them!), and hours of crying baby. How lucky I am to be blessed with two very placid little babes!

So as we ring in 2011 I'm holding a lot of excitement for what the new year will bring. It feels strange that I'll be celebrating with just a few champagnes, and hopefully catching up on beauty sleep as the clock strikes midnight. But that's the sacrifice you don't mind making in the name of mamahood. I'm actually looking forward to celebrating new years day for a change!

Wishing you all a very happy new year, see you in 2011 xx  

 

Our very merry Christmas

What a fantastic Christmas Day we had! Our babies were angelic, present opening was fabulous chaos, brunch delicious, afternoon snooze heaven, champagne cocktails divine, dinner mouthwatering and company fabulous. I was spoilt rotten and had a marvellous time hosting hubby's family.

Am I mad saying I wish I could do it all over again?

 
 

 

 

At the very least I will be making this drool worthy peppermint bark again, recipe courtesy of Kir from Little Red Writing Cook

I hope you and your families had a memorable day too xx

Merry Christmas!

 

How can it be Christmas Eve! A few weeks ago I thought I was organised, but with only 24 hours before our guests arrive I'm in a flurry of shopping, cleaning, cooking and wrapping!

I'm super excited about the big day though, I can't wait to see the joy on Oscar's face as he opens all his presents. It's been so much fun preparing for Christmas now that he understands something exciting is happening!

I hope you are making the most of your Christmas Eve, and you're a little more organised than me! Merry Christmas to you all, I hope you have a fabulous day with your families.

xxx

Growing up

Tonight was Oscar's first night in his 'big boy's bed'. We didn't hold much hope for a peaceful introduction to his new bed as the past two months has seen more tears, tantrums and nights in 'mama's bed' then ever before. You can imagine our speechless suprise then, when Oscar happily hopped into bed and said goodnight, with not a sound to be heard since.....! Perhaps there is merit to the opinion that when a child is ready to grow up, he will.

We've always had sleep issues with Oscar. From a young age he needed feeding, cuddling, rocking and singing to sleep. Often repeatedly. He started sleeping through at the age of 6 months, but it was short lived and he was fighting bedtime and waking during the night only months later. A quick feed and he would be back to sleep, but when I stopped breastfeeding we were left with minimal options. Delirious with sleep deprivation, we started bringing him into bed with us when he woke during the night. 

Gradually, 4am wake ups shortened to 2am wake ups, which shortened even further to refusing to go to bed at all. Often we were too defeated to argue with him, and he would climb exuberantly into bed with us for the night. I never complained though. There is something so precious about having your nose tickled by tufts of whispy hair, and a little body snuggling into yours during the night. In my opinion, children grow up far too quickly. Soon the day will come when Oscar doesn't need the comfort of 'mama's bed', and I'll find myself reminiscing the days spent sandwiched on an inch of mattress while my little monkey lay diagonally, little toes pressing into my ribs. 

I hope we have continued success and I get to enjoy having my side of the bed tonight. If not, well there's now a delightfully comfortable king single bed for Simon to retire to!

Sisters

I can't imagine life without my sisters. They are my mentors, my confidants and my best friends. They inspire me to be who I am and forgive me for who I'm not. They are the first people I turn to for advice, or to share news; whether good or bad. The wonderful part of having sisters is knowing they will always be there for me, forever. I feel so blessed to have such a close relationship with them both.

I hope that one day Mathilda gets to experience the joy of having a sister. In the meantime she is lucky to have the friendship of her cousin Amelie. I don't doubt they will grow up to be the best of friends; gossiping, playing tea parties and dressing up whenever they can. And just as I've grown up raiding my sister Kate's wardrobe, so too will Mathilda be lucky to get beautiful clothes and accessories passed down by her cousin.

This is my favourite outfit currently on loan from Amelie. I'm feeling quite nostalgic remembering she was once this small.

A photo sneak peek

When Oscar was 14 weeks old I had some beautiful portrait photos taken by Fiona Colvin. I loved the photos so much it took me 6 months to decide which ones to enlarge and frame! So it was without any consideration that I booked another appointment with Fiona to have Mathilda photographed at the same age.

I received the much awaited email last night telling me my photo gallery was ready for viewing. I had planned on an early night, but found myself up until well past midnight pouring over the beautiful photos and marvelling over how well she captures precious moments.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the photos from our session.

 And as a trip down memory lane, some of my favourite photos from the session I had with Oscar back in 2008. 

 

Counting down to Christmas

 I'm feeling unusually festive this year. My tree is sparkling and adorned with handmade ornaments, all my presents are purchased and most are wrapped and decorated with pretty ribbon.

We've been counting down to Christmas Day with this gorgeous advent tree I purchased from Etsy. Each day has a little box filled with delicious chocolate treats for us to share.

 

Today, Oscar and I plan to decorate a wreath for our front door. We've spent the morning trimming pieces of colourful ribbon and making origami from beautiful Christmas paper. It's so lovely having a little one to share the fun of the festive season with.

Creating the perfect nursery

With Mathilda's nursery now decluttered and painted, we are ready to decorate! We had a break in harvest on Tuesday, so hubby jumped into the ute and headed to Perth to purchase all our new furniture. 

First on the list was Oscar's bed, we chose the Willow King Single bed from Freedom. Yup, the time has come for my little boy to move from his cot and into a big bed. Am I ready? Well I guess that's an entirely new post! 

For Mathilda, we chose the Hemnes Chest of 8 drawers, Hensvik Changing Table and Poang Rocking Chair from Ikea to match the antique white cupboard we already have for her room. 

 

Once the furniture is assembled, I'll be able to start decorating with pretty wall decals, trinkets for the chest of drawers and photo frames of precious memories. I can't wait.

About me

 I love:

The smell of rain in summer, a pot of freshly brewed coffee and my favorite perfume.

The sound of a lightning storm, an old V8 engine and waves crashing on the beach.

The taste of my mum's delicious cooking, velvety smooth chocolate and fresh homemade bread with lashings of butter.

The feel of my babies skin, a soft wool jumper and warm sand under my feet.

I wish I had:

Learnt to play the piano, how to sew and how to sing.

Accepted myself a lot earlier in life and not worried so much what others thought of me. 

Listened to my mum when she told me to stay out of the sun and always wear sunscreen.

Appreciated my mum more when I was growing up and let her know how much she meant to me. 

Spent more time getting to know my Narnie and hearing about her life during the Great Depression. 

I wish I could:

Spend more time with my sisters and my beautiful little niece. 

Freeze time and savour all the precious moments with my little ones. 

Confessions of a shopaholic

My niece recently gave me a book to read, declaring the main character reminded her of me. 

The book: "Confessions of a Shopaholic"...

Now unlike Rebecca, I've never got myself into serious debt through shopping, nor have I compromised any close relationships or risen to fame. But I have shopped indiscriminately, without need and when I should be spending money on other things. I simply can't help it, I have to shop!

Living in the country does hamper retail therapy. There aren't too many stores that stock quality labels or unique designs. That is why I developed my love for internet shopping, and how I do love to shop online! You can browse and ponder until your hearts content, there's no need for rash purchases or pushy salespeople. I can shop for hours on end and not develop blisters or bunions on my feet.

My greatest love of shopping online - all the unique, handmade, superb quality clothes, decor and accessories you can buy, at a fraction of the cost you'd pay in store. My favourite online store is Etsy. I spend hours on end adding gorgeous items to my ever growing wishlist, and even more hours pondering what to buy next when everything is considered a need and not a want!

If you haven't already discovered the delights of Etsy, I suggest you pop on over. Here are a couple of my latest favourite finds:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 

For the first time in many years, my Christmas tree was aglow with lights and pretty ornaments on the 1st December. I'm normally one to drag it out of the box midday through December, if at all. I'm by no means bah humbug about Christmas, just very disorganised!

My enthusiasm this year can be attributed to two things; Oscar's love of pretty lights and my offer to host Christmas with my husbands family. Normally a daunting task, I'm really looking forward to having everyone here to feast, drink and celebrate Christmas Day. 

This year will be Oscar's third Christmas, and Mathilda's first. They have three young cousins visiting for Christmas, so in all there'll be five little ones under three excitedly unwrapping presents and emptying Santa stockings (or having little big brothers excitedly unwrap presents for them!). I can't wait to watch the joy on their little faces.

Let the renovations begin!

 

Funny the difference between first and second children. Amidst the excitement of preparing for Oscar's birth we had his nursery painted, furnished and decorated three months before he was born. We had similar intentions for Mathilda's nursery, but sadly the time flew by and the room remained unpainted, the furniture still on the wishlist and the junkpile still untackled.

As we headed to Perth to countdown the days to her delivery day we thought to ourselves "no problem, we'll paint and decorate as soon as we get home". Fast forward three months and Mathilda is still camped out in our bedroom *sheepish smile*. We say it's because she is such a good sleeper that we barely notice she's there...

With the risk of her still sharing with us when she's eighteen we decided this weekend was the one, declutter and paint or die trying! So on went the painting clothes and out came the paintbrushes. With her room now freshly painted I'm very excited about the next step, shopping for furniture and beautiful things to decorate with.

My little man Oscar Jaxon

I love: 

• riding my bike, sliding on my slide, bouncing on my trampoline and swinging high on my swing 
• hitting the pool with my little friends
• helping dada on the farm 
• playing with my tractors, trucks and header
• the BIG orange slide at playgroup
• bubbles
• helping mama cook tasty treats (and eating them too!)
• morning cuddles
• singing nursery rhymes
• my little sister Tilly

My little lady Mathilda Ruby

I love:

• sleeping!
• cuddles and kisses
• smiling and laughing
• flying like a plane
• pretty dresses, shoes and hair bows (well... mama does!)
• my big brother Ossie 

This farmer found a wife

 

Growing up, I'd always dreamed of living on a farm. There was something about the wide open spaces, fresh country air and hustle and bustle of farming life that appealed to this city girl. 

I spent a lot of my childhood visiting my aunty's farm. My sisters and I would spend our days knee deep in mud catching yabbies, trapsing through paddocks fossicking for treasures, and feeling the wind in our hair as we set off adventuring on the back of our uncle's ute. I have such wonderful memories of my childhood.

So it's only fitting that in 2007 I married my farmer and later that year we moved to the country. As a stroke of fate, his family farm was only kilometres from where we'd spent those carefree days visiting my aunty. We moved into an old farmhouse and spent the first year renovating, decorating and making the house, and the country, our home.

 

  

On the first day of spring in 2008, after one blissful year of marriage, we welcomed our son Oscar Jaxon into the world. He is the love of our lives and everything we could have hoped for and dreamed of. Two treasured years later we were blessed with our little girl Mathilda Ruby. She was born on the 25th August 2010, just one week shy of Oscar's second birthday. Full of smiles and laughter, we can't wait to watch her grow. 

We are now a very content little family of four, plus one cheeky golden retriever called Taylah. We live on 14 000 acres of stunning landscape and wake in the morning to the sound of sheep bleating under our window. How lucky I am to be living my dream, and so begins the story of A Country Wife.

Welcome

Hello and welcome! I'm very excited about finally joining the land of blog. I think the reason I've been putting it off for so long is not knowing where to begin. There's so much to say! 

Perhaps the best start is to share a little about myself and my beautiful family. Not that that narrows down my thoughts at all! So excuse me while I gather myself, pour a glass of wine and prepare to begin xx