photostory friday - thoughts on motherhood: A RE-POST

i've never re-posted before, but i just love seeing pictures of my girls when they were younger, and i figure there's no better time for this kind of sentimentality than on their birthdays, when we as mothers - marvel at how the years have flown by.

this is a re-post from when my [now] 22 year old was turning 19

i've added a couple of her most recent photos at the end.

my eldest baby is now living away from home, has a wonderful boyfriend, is close to finishing her degree in design where she is on track for FIRST CLASS HONOURS.

i'm so proud!

love you sweetie!!!

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19 years ago today, i was 3 days from becoming a mother for the first time. i was 5 days overdue thinking (like all first time mothers do) that this baby was never going to come! i had waited for this day for 26 years and was so full of hope and anticipation for what lay ahead.

ever since i was a litle girl, i had dreamed of growing up, getting married and having babies.

i'm sure there would be plenty of pioneering career women clutching at their chests reading this, but i for one believe it's an honourable profession to raise your children well and set them loose on the world in the hope that they will leave their mark on the planet, just as we hope we do.

as i looked through the rose coloured glasses of my final days of my first pregnancy i had no idea of the tiredness, angst, fret, exhaustion, worry, anger, happiness, pride and sheer joy that the next 19 years would produce, and i am constantly in awe of my daughters.

as i write this however, i am quite sick of my family! well, to tell the truth, i'm sick of the sound of my own voice: get in the shower, go to bed, shut the door, don't say shut up, did you brush your teeth, empty the dishwasher, say please, give me a kiss, don't slam the door - you get the picture!

come monday though, all that will be (temporarily) forgotten as we bask in the glow of yet another family birthday.

i think we've done pretty well with our first born. got her to 19 years OLD (to quote her!) with only a few cuts and bruises and i just wanted to share these pictures with you all.

i never would have complained about my clearly tidy little bump if i'd been able to see myself 9 months pregnant with my 4th child 8 years later!

i remember thinking what a beautiful colour she was. pulled from me (footling breech) arms flailing all 8lb 12 1/2 oz of her!

no words are necessary...

tripping climbing onto a kiddy chair was all it took for these 8 stitches.

she used to have such a high pain threshold she didn't even realise she'd broken her arm til a week later leaning on it, she thought 'it was a bit sore'!

apart from that - she's in pretty good shape, although she now needs reading glasses to go with her distance glasses. i have to laugh because when we went to the specialist together, she was CERTAIN i would be the one needing glasses!

yes, that's an american school she's standing outside of! i guess it was their open day?

first day of kindergarten. not sure what ever became of 'girl-who-does-weird-things-with-her-headband-'

fast forward 14 years, and all it takes is the blink of an eye...

happy birthday darling. love you lots!





and a couple of recent pics:

3 generations

me and my eldest 2 girls two weeks ago as we were heading off to the chocolate festival

oh yeah!!!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

wordful wednesday and my zumba peeps

i wonder if these guys know how much they mean to me

on one of our last nights together, i said to tara (before she moved away)


"i worry about how much fun i'm going to have without you"

sound selfish?

maybe, but when your 'go-to' girl moves away, it's a legitimate concern

well, it was for me

18 months later - while there will never be a replacement for my 'go-to girl tara' - my new zumba 'family' of friends are some of the most vibrant, fun, interesting women i know.

as well as zumba, we go to the movies, have morning gatherings (like the one in this pic) - and we're planning a girls' night of cocktails and dancing.

tara really is my only friend who could stay out til the wee small hours ripping up the dance floor, and
while it's not going to be the same without her, i'll be more than happy to have a 'boogie' for her with these gals next month.

...and in case you're wondering - we're posing a move from one of our latest zumba tracks!!!

    

photostory friday and 'that day it snowed in wellington'

and KEPT on snowing!

i've lived in wellington since december 1983 and it's snowed ONLY ONCE

i remember this ONLY ONCE, because when we arrived back to nz after living in atlanta for a year and a half, miss 21 (who was 6 at the time), said "mum, does it ever snow in wellington?" (because we had experienced some extreme weather in hotlanta, ie snow where snow is a highly unusual occurrence) -

and i said "NO, it NEVER snows in wellington"

fast forward to august 14, 2011

miss 13 and i were at a learn to row meeting at their school when it started to snow

and MAN did it snow.

it was the most treacherous 1.9 MILE drive home of MY LIFE

it was not helped by the barrage of questions from miss 13

"does snow melt on the road"

"will school be on tomorrow?"

"do dogs like snow?"

...you get the idea...

at one point i just said 'please stop talking', and it was obviously in that serious 'mother tone' that means please stop talking.  actually.

me and my poor little 1.3cc car barely made it home

it simply gave up at the bottom of the drive

once home safely, there was nothing to do but photograph this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and simply enjoy the beauty of the situation

our driveway - before i completely destroyed it trying to ascend it in the car!

they be boobs, not stumpy arms

my daughters clearly have their mother's sense of humour!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli


that first photo has made it to the TOP 10 in our local paper
you can vote for it here!

wordful wednesday and the middle-age planker

this post could alternatively be entitled:

"the strange things 4 women get up to on a girls' weekend in sydney"

i don't even know how we decided to start planking in the middle of this building

we were making our way back to the hotel from darling harbour - wending our way through overpasses and hotels and buildings and came upon these big fat chairs

of course WHEN you SEE a big fat chair - you MUST plank on it!

i had wanted to lay across the top of some stairs, but the more sensible in my group suggested being slightly closer to the ground...

it wasn't until a few days later, that we discovered that australian prime minister julia gillard had recently made planking a FEDERAL OFFENCE!!!

yep, i'm a rebel

my crime

MIDDLE-AGE PLANKING

    

photostory friday and a true love story

these are my in-laws on their wedding day

1948

2002

my mother in-law birthed SEVEN children

enough for a netball team

or a band

(that's mr scrappy in the red)

for them it's always been about family

17 grandchildren

6 great-grand children

a life totally devoted to family

(on the occasion of their 80th birthday)

the past few years were tough

old age can be harsh and unforgiving

but there are so many happy memories

 

born 2 months apart

married for 63 years

they died within 3 weeks of each other

and it's been a privilege to know them for the past 30 years

they will be missed

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli