So Many Reasons to Smile

I have been a bit of a whinger of late. I have felt very sorry for myself but really I haven't got the right. (No- no gratuitous mummy guilt- bear with me!) So I am joining in with Kate Says Stuff with Thankful Thursday.
 Obviously anyone reading this has a lot to smile about compared to some of the (much smilier!) people in third world countries. what with having Internet access and all which assumes you also have shelter, can read and have access to clean water and easily accessible food. But really I have much more to smile about than my basic needs being met.
Today it is sunny which is beautiful and I intend to toddle about gratuitously in said sunshine shortly. Yesterday it was dismal and raining and I spent the afternoon wracked with pain in the hospital not having a baby, she was in the wrong position apparently but the good news is she is strong and hale and hearty and not in any distress and I am healthy too. I have beautiful funny, clever healthy strong children (who have started behaving like lemurs- did you know lemurs are VERY noisy?) that ask for vegetable and love reading books and doing physical activity (they also like having baths however I am less sold on them bathing when I see the state of the bathroom afterwards!). My husband is my best friend and is just wonderful- I get to spend each and every day with him as we run a business together. I can blog when I want in the quiet times.
Our CD player started working again so I can listen to all my old Cd's and dance which helps position baby and makes me feel good (Woo!)!
Here is a daffodil the boys planted:

All in all a lovely Spring is nearly upon us and we are about to welcome another strong beautiful child to the family. We are all healthy and well and resilient enough to take what life throws at us. There's a lot to smile about!

Wayward Solicitors and Vexing Babies

Here's my hot tip for today. Google your service providers before you pay them a retainer. Sometimes you might find something interesting. Like an article about your solicitor on a national news site. One where it details his alleged use of a Lesbian porn website called "Hot young girls with suntanned skin going at it" (hmm catchy) and the fact that he narrowly escaped being disciplined by the law society on a technicality and has been swearing in court and throwing documents about and that judges have variously referred to him as "incompetent" and blatantly stated that he has no credibility amongst other gems. This wasn't on a user reviewed website where anyone can write anything, but a newspaper with quotes from actual judges and magistrates. Hmm, no wonder we hadn't had much progress on our cases... One of our previous solicitors was being investigated because she took funds from a trust fund for some post baby plastic surgery and to buy a new boat. We just don't have much luck with solicitors!

Keeping things to a Dull Roar at our house at the moment involves lots of finger food in front of the TV for dinner as I keep having prolonged bouts of non productive contractions (Hello pre-labour! Aren't you just the thing?) and keep trying to plan for bubby's arrival which seems like it is never coming- I am not overdue yet- just worn out from so many nights and days of pains. I know labour will probably be fast but my last labour was 1.5 hours and I didn't need so much warm-up!

It's raining now so no walking. I think I will give myself a break and go fill the house with convenience foods (hopefully keep the costs down and the convenience and actual food up!) so the family has something eat if I ever go in to hospital or for the evening when I am huffing my way through more painful non-productive contractions.
 At least finding out about the solicitor has given me a much needed belly laugh for the day!

Here's a picture my dear husband took of me last night because he seems to love taking pictures of me when I am heavily pregnant and having contraction pain- I am getting quite a collection being on my third pregnancy. I am not sure what he likes about them but this one captures the whole feel of the moment I must say.

Living in Limbo...

It's a funny point in my life right now I am in the dreaded waiting place, do you know the Dr Seuss story Oh the places You'll Go? If you don't you must read it- it is wonderful and it mentions the waiting place:
... a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

And that's a bit how I am at present. With two weeks to go until baby's estimated due date and nigh on six weeks of pre-labour symptoms behind me I am just waiting, interpreting every little niggle as a sign of impending labour, packing and repacking my hospital bags and being generally grouchy and teary.
 The garden is in the awkward waiting place too. Stuck between Winter and Spring in the hungry gap the daffodils aren't blooming yet, the Purple sprouting broccoli is coming along but it takes as long to grow as a baby does to gestate (it really does!) The weather is bravely Sunny in enthusiastic spurts and the early Spring blossom is about to get our hopes up but the hills are snow-capped and it is still cold.
We have big developments in the pipeline and after many months of grindingly slow progress with paperwork and accountants we should be getting some definitive answers we can use to make some big decisions with but until later this week we are still just waiting...
We are an impatient pro-active family and being stuck in  limbo, in the Waiting Place is quite torturous!

Hospital vs Home Birth, musings from me.

I am heavily pregnant and I am (doing this for a third time), an informed consumer when it comes to birth. Hopefully. There is a lot of talk back and forth at present about the safety of homebirth and why you should or shouldn't have one and I have some strong feelings about this. I feel that every woman (and her partner who will be parenting with her) should be giving informed consent when it comes to her care during pregnancy and the delivery of her child. This means that she knows why she is taking tests, not just having them because they are routine and if the baby is delivered via c-section of induced mother-to-be knows exactly why this is happening and what the risks are on both side of the coin. Informed consent does away with judging c-section deliveries and all the other bizarre "mummy-judging" that is sometimes displayed by the loud unfortunate minority and then paraded around by those who disagree as an example of being a "Nazi". Informed consent gives control back to the parents and opens the door for informed birth choices. 
Scare mongering tactics seen by those opposed to hospital or home births have no power or place when parents to be are armed with information and supported in making informed decisions.
In Australia there has been a lot of debate about homebirth safety and personally I think they are safe and definitely the right choice for some people. I am not one of them. Why? It is not because of any perceived risk but our hospitals are well equipped with active birth policies, birth balls and pools, rooming in, breast-feeding support policies and Midwives who respect birth preferences and I have no great affinity with the peace of my home. It is messy and noisy and hard to get a moment's peace here sometimes and quite frankly neither of us want to deal with the logistics and mess associated with home births. The hospital can do that for us, they are well set up for meeting my requirements, and they will feed me and make sure I rest for at least two hours everyday. I won't be having a managed third stage, I will be having delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin with baby (hospital policy anyway!) and a variety of my other "non-standard" preferences have been looked over and given the nod, so I am confident they will be respected. I am choosing a hospital birth as I believe it is the best choice for me as an informed consumer and I hope one day that every woman can birth with the confidence she has made the right choices based on being informed. Information is empowering and it is my wish that feeling empowered features in every delivery.

Why Christmas in July?

It doesn't sound very thrifty or very "Dull Roar Philosophy" to suddenly add another Christmas to the calender, I mean Christmas is expensive and takes a lot of effort right? Isn't it just a commercially driven holiday? It can be, that's for sure but it is also a lovely time to come together as a family and our little men are impressed by very simple things so Christmas doesn't have to be over the top to be appreciated. A conscious effort has been made on our part to not spoil them so they still enjoy the wonder of the little things in life- not always successful as they have very gourmet tastes (hot smoked salmon and aged organic cheddar anyone?) but it does make celebrations easy to pull together.

So a creatively acquired little Christmas tree (it was growing in a ditch on the roadside) quickly decorated, Christmas crackers bought in March for $4, some fresh market vegetables scrubbed and roasted, mini Yorkshire puddings, a roaring fire and a couple of cheap toys (magnetic sketch pad and a tea set for teddy bears) and a very jolly night was had by all.
Christmas is not only the busiest time of year for our business (and I mean BUSY!) and Christmas is generally hot and dry here in Australia- hardly conducive to celebrating a Classic Christmas!
Christmas in July was a resounding success and much easier than a December Christmas (hardly any commercial pressure either) so it is going to be a family tradition from now on!

The crackers were interesting. they were "premium" which apparently means the paper is upgraded to cardboard which doesn't tear (not so great with small children with tiny hands people!!!) and the novelties were an odd bunch...notably a bulldog clip and a pencil sharpener (useful and much loved by strange son #1) and this thing:

I don't know either. If you can tell me what it is I will post it to you!