it's...a new car!

I'm still in a bit of a sewing funk at the moment, I just can't be bothered starting anything. I did need a new bag, though, because I like to travel light and can't bring myself to haul one of those huge nappy bags around with me everywhere I go. So, I made myself this "in-between" bag, which is big enough to hold a few baby essentials and my stuff as well. I'm liking it very much. Almost as much as my NEW CAR!!! (well, second-hand camry actually). Things were getting a little cramped in the laser, so I've joined the land of real parents and bought a stationwagon.
Now, the thing you need to realise about me is that I can be very stubborn, and I really like to do things differently from others (well, you probably already guessed that, yeah?), sometimes to the point where it becomes impractrical. I can't believe I'm admitting to that. When fin was a baby, I used only cloth nappies on him, and arran's favourite story to tell about my craziness is the one where we went on a camping trip for a week up the north coast with only cloth nappies, because I insisted that I didn't want any disposable nappies touching the precious bottom of my baby boy. Imagine us, the baby, the dog, all our stuff and a bag of dirty nappies in a van for a week. Don't worry, I did wash along the way! I also used to go on about how I would never own a mobile phone, because the world had functioned perfectly well for thousands of years without them, and I didn't like the idea of digital cameras, and wasn't real keen on computers either.
I went and got myself a mobile phone as soon as fin started pre school, because I couldn't bear the thought of them not being able to contact me. I now have my own digital camera and laptop. And I now have a car with an alarm, an immobiliser for god's sake and one of those push button thingies on your keyring that unlocks and locks all the doors (very handy with small baby in the arms). And you know what, I love it. I still wouldn't go so far as to say I couldn't live without these things, though. There are times when I still miss my old Hillman Hunter and taking photos on film and not having to buy mobile phone credit, but I must say, life is a lot easier with these little luxuries.

jasper's corner

so this is where the little prince lays his sweet little head at night, in the very same bassinet that his dad and uncle slept in (and I think his nanna too). He's actually about to move on up to the "little cot" (I like to do these things in stages, to prolong the "babyness"), because at 8 weeks, and by no means a small lad, he's really past the bassinet stage now. This picture probably would have been a lot better with him in the little bed, all tucked up and cosy, but he won't sleep in there during the day, preferring this option instead:

Known around here as the "happy camper". You may have seen these elsewhere, I discovered them whilst trying to find remedies for colic a few weeks ago. Showed mr.arran, and the next thing you know, he's whipped one up out of ply left over from the skate ramp, because, well, we couldn't just buy one, where's the fun in that? Yeah, we're equal parts creativity and tight-arse. I had never even thought about putting a baby in a swing (I'm a bit slow a lot of the time), and I must say, I fully recommend it. The motion works a treat for putting them to sleep, jasper spends lots of time in here, just hangin' around and looking out the window.

And, more importantly, sleeping.

portraits

great light in willow's room yesterday, so I thought I'd try a little self-portrait -in-the-mirror. This is about the only shot that I managed to actually get the mirror into, so that's about as good as it gets. Oh, and that's not me trying to look all mature-like, it's me trying to hold up jasper's head with my chin whilst trying to take a photo with my free hand whilst not being able to see the freakin' screen on the camera to make sure I was taking a photo of the right thing, that being us and not the opposite corner of the room. Not easy, I tell ya. But would you look at that sweet little face (his, not mine).

Then the pro comes along, so I ask him to do the honours, and the baby falls asleep. Still cute, though.

tuesday corner

i thought I might try to make things a little more interesting around here, well, for me at least, by joining in on "corners of my home". Not only will this serve to remind me of how nice my home can be when one pulls one's finger out and gives the place a bit of a tidy up, but it will hopefully encourage me to try to take better photographs. (Yes, I do realise that this one is blurry, but there is just so little time these days for such frivolities as setting up a tripod). The wee one has been a little, shall we say, difficult, tending more towards being awake than being asleep, and this has meant that there has been very little in the way of crafting going on, very little of anything really. Not that I mind, though, I'm feeling really relaxed about the whole thing and just taking it as it comes. If you do happen to come over to my house, though, please excuse the debris on the floor, because I can't quite seem to remember how to use my vacuum cleaner.

By a stroke of luck the other day, I discovered that children do enjoy cleaning, if you give them the right type of cleaning to do. I gave them a bucket of soapy water and an old toothbrush and set them to work cleaning the old duplo, which certainly has never been cleaned since we've owned it. Willow tired of the job fairly early, but fin stuck around until every last piece was cleaned, and categorised by shape and colour. Now, if only I could get him to put his shoes away.

big school

yeah, that's right, this blog's all about photos of my kids these days. Well, you didn't really think I could let this momentous occasion go by without a report, did you? Mr willow had his first day of big school today, and yes, I survived without him. I even managed to hold myself together this morning when we dropped him off, I think having jasper was the key. What am I going to be like when he starts school? I can really understand how people keep having kids, their just so darn irresistible. Not that I'll be having anymore though, cute as they are.
Apparently the day went well, although fin told me that he found the little man in tears in the playground at lunch time, because he couldn't find his big brother as arranged (oh yes, that did wonders for my already fragile state of mind), so now a suitable meeting place has been set up. And when I asked fin if he liked having his little brother at school with him, he said that it had been boring without him there. How sweet is that?