The Secret's Out!

We have a Baby Shower coming up very soon here at The Hedge & guess what colour we all need to buy for...............PINK !! Son # 4 & his sweet girl Miss K have announced they are having a baby girl. And as you can imagine Nonna-to-be Millie is just a leeeeetle bit excited! So ideas please dear Hedgies for a fun Baby Shower night. Son #5's bride-to-be the clever & creative Miss A is busy making lots of gorgeous pink favours & decorations, but we're a bit light on in the fun & games department. Miss K is very well & has the nursery looking beautiful & Son #4 is delighted about being Daddy to a little girl. With 27 male children in just the group of my immediate family & closest friends, I went into a pink buying frenzy on hearing the news & haven't slowed down yet. The parents-to-be Facebook page has been out of control since they posted the news, my how social media has changed the pregnancy & birthing landscape since I was with child/children. Looking forward to hearing all your suggestions to help make the evening a truly memorable one.

Image: Thank you to the lovely Glenda's Pinterest board here

A Sense Of The Ridiculous

I'm glad our family has bred a bunch of practical jokers, who make it their mission to be constantly on the look out for the next opportunity to catch out the unsuspecting friend or family member. To ensure that any pretentiousness they see is immediately despatched to the sin bin. To send political correctness a big raspberry, as long it doesn't cause distress to an another individual. To make me laugh so much at their exploits I have to cross my legs very tightly or else. My fervent prayer is that they pass this same trait onto their own kids.

I couldn't bear to think what life would be like without a well-developed sense of the ridiculous. A few years ago I decided to deviate from the norm when filling out forms. DOB: 'Unknown', Current Occupation: 'Celebrity', marital status: 'None of your business', number of children: 'Many' & so it goes. Not once in the ensuing years have any of these answers on any forms been queried - not once.
Image: Malin Ngoie

Belly Button Bump

Love this pic of Heidi Klum & her son out walking. This is her 4th pregnancy & I think she's looking a little tired, but still most gorgeous. I'm sure the divine Mr. Seal is taking good care of her back at the mansion. Just seeing her Belly Button Bump brought back lots of memories. I think mine popped out at about week 8 of each of my pregnancies due to to the mini Sumo Wrestlers that I was acting as a temporary Holding Bay for! So to Clare & Tanya, both lovely long-time Hedgies who are 'patiently' awaiting the arrival of their precious new bambinos, this post is for you!

Image: Celebrity Moms

Triple Treat!

Charlotte, Lucy & Heidi

Lucy & Heidi

Lucy

Heidi

Charlotte

Charlotte, Lucy & Heidi

Charlotte & Lucy

Couldn't resist posting the latest pics of my cousin Sally's gorgeous new girls! They have just arrived home from hospital & are doing well. Sal's such a star she's twin feeding 2 of the girls & Pete's bottle feeding the 3rd. Then it gets rotated around next feed - I'm exhausted just trying to comprehend the logistics of that. I'd need to run a spreadsheet to make it all run smoothly.

Lucy the oldest & heaviest is now 2.66kg., Charlotte is Miss Middle & weighs 2.48 kg. and Heidi the youngest is a whopping 2.5 kg. & has overtaken her sister Charlotte in the weight race. Sal says they are really good & are sleeping beautifully between feeds - long may that continue!

Welcome Baby Finn

Mel, my hairdresser @ Smooth Hair on Unley Road & I have a relationship that is much longer (& at times much stronger!) than the one I have with MOTH. We have been through a lot together, including a dubious decision to go for the world's highest maintenance hair colour, Artic White - geez girl, what were we thinking!!!! I've kept this battererd old passport photo of that time to remind me so if I'm ever tempted again - DON'T!

Mel's a regular reader of The Hedge & on Monday she & Brad delivered a new baby boy Finn Edward & a much awaited brother for the boy wonder Max. Mel's mother was the late Janine Haines, the long-time National leader of the Democrats. So sweetie, love & hugs to you, I know your beautiful Mum is smiling down & looking at Finn with much tenderness & love.

Welcome Gorgeous Girls!

Look at what my clever cousin Sally has done! She & her husband Peter have just delivered triplets in Darwin. Lucy Kate (2.1kg.), Charlotte Alice (1.9kg.) & Heidi Madeline (1.7kg.) arrived 6 weeks early, but are doing very well. Sal says Heidi is the most energetic, the most active & the cheekiest, despite being the smallest (mmmm, we might just know another Heidi that fits that description!). Charlotte is a wriggler & Lucy just sleeps. The girls are Pete & Sal's first babies, so all the relatives from down South are planning a travel roster to help out when the babies come home. I'm planning a Northern Territory trip to see clients & the babies, once Not Dr. McDreamy has done his magic on my 'innards', which from a couple of conversations I had with him yesterday after my latest blood results will be very soon.

Naming Rights

Son # 5 arrived over the weekend with his new little four-legged 'baby' for a visit. She was still without a name, so he asked 'Mum, could I have a look at the Baby Book.' So we pulled it from the bookshelf & plonked down together in front of the fire to do some serious name research. The book was originally my Grannie's, then my Mum's & is now mine. I used it to choose all of the boy's names & when they were little, they always loved reading it on cold, rainy days & fighting over who could find the silliest name in the 'Choosing A Name' chapter. As this book comes from the 1950's, they always ended up finding something outrageous! How about Arnoldine or Lyonelle, Quintina or Xylia for a girl? Or Chauncey, Hanford, Lysander or Warford for a boy? Quaint to say the least!

Looking through it again on Sunday, I got to thinking about the meaning of names. Mine means 'A Pearl' & MOTH's 'Given by God'. With the boys we've got a 'Leader of Men', one 'A Crooked Nose', a 'Beloved', another 'Warlike' & a 'Dove' - no further comment from their Mother is required here!

The author of the book 'World of Babies' was Mrs. Betty Paterson & while her illustrations would be considered a little 'twee' these days, I couldn't resist including her interpretation of my star sign Capricorn - with my love for music her illustration is spot on, but the bit about being cautious & reserved puzzles me!

Do you know what your name means? Let me know & we can all have a giggle.

Oh & BTW - our little furry girl now has a name - Sascha (Warrior/Defender of Men). And it suits her perfectly as Son # 5 says even at just 10 weeks, her Border Collie instinct is well advanced & she uses every opportunity to try & round both him & his sweet girlfriend up & pen them into a corner!

All images from Betty Paterson's World of Babies (Thomas Nelson Australia Ltd.)

Two Little Gentleman!

Image Bodie & Fou

Image The White Company

Image Jolie Home



Image Freddie and Ella

Image Chamomile Barn

Image Jolie Home

Jake & Alex

We are celebrating the arrival of my niece Carly's new identical twin boys, Jake & Alex. They were born at 38 weeks, what a mighty effort Carls!! But wait, there's more! You see the new babies have 3 other siblings, aged 4, 3 & 18 months. Yes, that's right Carly now has 5 children UNDER 5!

As we are all in baby mode (even our boys have been into the Hospital to see the babies) I couldn't resist a baby-centric post today!