Time in the gym

Can you believe the Little Prince is happily snoozing while two under-10's basketball teams train noisily just feet from his pusher! I thought I'd be a conscientious mother and actually stay to watch training. Ginger Ninja and Possum disappeared from the carpark and spent Briar Rose's training shooting hoops down at the middle school court, where they were joined by Ginger Rose after ten minutes spent exploring the bleachers, ten minutes exploring the toilets and change rooms and ten minutes meandering down the path to junior school.

Off to Paint and Play

Our Tuesday morning special event. Ginger Rose is getting quite good at knowing what each day of the week means - Monday is work at the clinic, Tuesday is Paint and Play, Wednesday is playgroup day, Thursday is errand day, Friday is the day the TV goes back on again once the big children get home from school.

Credits: The Little Prince is dressed by Grandma E in a very sweet outfit that is just perfect for daylight-savings induced cold mornings. Ginger Rose is in hand-me-down clothing that won't be missed if the paint doesn't make it to the paper!

More handknitting...

I couldn't resist trying on the wonderful matching outfit from Grandma L, who not only knitted these longies and jumper, but also spun and dyed the wool!

The Little Prince enjoyed being a model, and we decided that the outfit should still fit in autumn and winter next year but is just perfect for cold late spring mornings!

Ginger Rose drinks coffee

Wow - that girl knows how to make a babycino a full body experience!

She really enjoyed being the only one to come for a coffee with Mum and Dad :).

4 weeks

A quick record of a 4 week old Little Prince. Shown wearing a minkee cover over a flannel fitted nappy.

New Pram

Well, of course it's not brand new, but I'm very happy with this bargain!

Ginger Rose won't need it for long, but isn't big enough to walk to the shops and back yet.

The Little Prince fits nicely even if he doesn't look overly impressed with the above-the-head shoulder straps!

Who's holding the baby?

Grandad D enjoyed his first cuddles with his youngest grandchild this week.

Watched admiringly by his youngest grand daughter!

Industrious home or slave labour?

Possum has had a particularly busy week. Last week, he arranged to start a pamphlet run - 390 houses, and so far they've each needed 19 pamphlets delivered! It's been a pretty tough beginning - we didn't realise how much work would be involved, but Dh has worked out a system that should make collation and delivery much more streamlined.

Fortunately, we have enough hands in this house to make the work a little lighter, and we were also blessed with Grandad D's help as a driver and chaperone for Briar Rose. We think the pamphlet run will be a great family team building opportunity...

Possum also sang at Parliament House with the school choir and represented the school on the (winning) school team at the local school basketball competition, so missed 1 1/2 days of "real" school as well as dealing with the extra pamphlet delivery workload!

Party at paint and play

And another party for Ginger Rose - Paint and Play provided balloons, cakes and face painting for all this week.

Ginger Rose thought it was great fun, but missed her good friend, B, and was unusually easy to persuade home!

The Little Prince slept through the party, waking only for quick drink.

Guess who's another year older?

Dh had another birthday this week! We all celebrated with a last-minute cake made of lamingtons topped with whipped cream, chopped chocolate-mint sticks and candles (entirely my fault for not realising that the local store no longer sells cakes)! The Little Prince is just visible partying on in his dreams in his rocker behind Dh.

This week is also memorable for my almost total reliance on slow cooker cooking - we're all particularly pleased with my mastery of this recipe for a chocolate pudding cake:

Crockpot chocolate pudding cake

1 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 T cocoa
2 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup milk
2 T veg. oil
1 T vanilla

Sauce
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup hot water


Rub the inside of crockpot with butter. Put all cake ingredients in med. bowl and mix till smooth. Add to crockpot.

Put sauce ingredients in jug and mix till smooth.

Pour sauce evenly over the cake batter. Do not mix.

Cover and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or till your toothepick is clean when inserted. When done, turn off crockpot and let sit for 30-40 minutes.

The sauce will be at the bottom. Spoon a chunk of cake on a plate, spoon over some sauce and top with vanilla ice cream. Delicious! And if you make a double helping and leave it for another night it's even tastier!

Three weeks old today!

It's hard to believe the Little Prince is already three weeks old! It's been a glorious babymoon, and he is the most delicious baby.

But just in case anybody thinks having a newborn in the house has been a bed of roses I'll just record a few of the challenges here! Our little one is hard to settle, possibly because it's been a very noisy entry into the world with school holidays and four very loud older siblings. Whatever the cause, the Little Prince is prone to spitting up messily and complaining loudly if he's not being held, preferably with ready access to his milk supply.

He's still a bit of a night owl, preferring to have a longish four hour plus sleep during the day, preferably just when I'm ready to go out somewhere. A long spell during the day has given me the opportunity to catch up on some paperwork and get some housework done - the slow cooker has been our saviour because I can start dinner in the morning, and still have time to catch up if we're not finished by lunch time! (And, for the record, I successfully cooked a chocolate self-saucing pudding in the slow cooker this week - a very popular recipe!)

Being a boy, he goes through a lot of nappies. We're using cloth nappies 24/7 this week after finishing off Auntie C's donated newborn nappies and a packet from the supermarket. The Little Prince is now wearing medium/large size nappies and has no objection to pretty pink, but even my enormous cloth nappy stash is struggling to keep up with the demand in addition to the usual laundry created by a large family (back to school this week so with sports uniforms now added to the mix) and the extra washing required for a slightly messy baby. Oh, and did I mention the extra washing created by the lovely over-supply issues?

We've had colds, coughs and threatened mastitis in the house this week, so our tolerance levels have been a little low - it probably wasn't the best week for Possum to start a pamphlet delivery job! But we've made it through another week and each week's still a joy with such a wonderful family :).

Homespun baby

Finally, a photo of Grandma L's shorties getting some good use! These are fantastically comfie to put on, and are just the right weight to keep a little man's privates aired in the warmer weather without getting the bedclothes damp.

Brothers!

Possum lying down on the job, but the Little Prince seems content enough.

Bonding time with the Ginger Ninja.

And a gratuitous baby shot to show how fast he's growing! Thanks to Grandma L for the cute romper!

Another day...

Ginger Rose is very conscientious with her dolls, when she's not leaving them around to be trodden on! We went on a picnic earlier this week and Sophie (pictured above) was left "dead" at the bottom of the slide, while the baby kittens were abandoned nearby. But that's the exception - she really is very kind to her toys.

The Little Prince has daily sun kicks to try to clear up some nasty thrush - well, and because it's fun!

Ginger Rose is SO happy to have her new Teeniest Pet Shop toy with little kittens. The sweet little kittens, about 2cm tall, lasted for four whole days before she lost one!

Isn't he growing up? And the older children are getting to play with him more, which is a big help - especially at dinner time!

Sisters!

Briar Rose is such a wonderful big sister!

Transitioning to being a middle child can be tough, but Ginger Ninja and Briar Rose are doing a great job reminding Ginger Rose that she's still precious!

Fortunately Ginger Rose is mostly happy to watch Briar Rose's choice of movies.

And while we're talking about sisters, I have to say a BIG HUGE ENORMOUS thank you to my wonderful little sister who has looked after me so well with this baby! She's not only provided mountains of baby clothes, wraps and the sweetest little nappies, but has even provided me with two out of the three tops that respectably cover my post-baby bulge!

I hope my daughters can have such a close relationship as they grow up!

Grandma L boosts the stash!

Wow - when Grandma L knits up a storm, she really knits up a storm! We have no less than THREE different types of shorties to add to the nappy stash AND two gorgeous co-ordinating jumpers to go over the top! I need to do a quick wash and lanolise then should be displaying them on the model himself shortly!

2 weeks old!

Ginger Rose came home from an overnight visit to Grandma L's looking exhausted, grubby and very very pleased with herself! She had a great time, but was pleased to be home.

It's hard to believe that the Little Prince is already a fortnight old! This will be the last week he fits the gorgeous XS sized Bubble Bubs nappies on loan from Auntie C - and while they still fit, they definitely don't last for long! He eats a lot and puts out an equivalent amount!

He's already so grown up - he sits up and looks around very attentively, and is turning into such a little snuggle pot!