Bec's Brain

The New Church

2012-01-27T17:21:00.002+11:00

Over the last few months Aston has been fascinated by the story of Barneys. It started when he heard me mention to a neighbour that the church had burnt down.

He watched the latest video update of the progress of the new building and was inspired to compose his own song about 'The New Church'

Roommates

2011-12-29T19:14:00.001+11:00

It's 630pm and my two little boys are fast asleep. In the same room!

In the last month or so we decided to take advantage of the various sleep disruptions over the holidays and move Zachariah into Aston's room. I didn't think they would go to sleep so easily though.

They shared a room at Nana's over Christmas and didn't bother each other too much. I think Zach enjoyed the extra room in the portacot, he's been a bit unsettled and harder to put to sleep in his bassinet since we got home. Tonight I wrapped him, put him the portacot in his new room and he went to sleep all by himself.

Aston has been a nightmare lately, he's dropped his daytime sleep but gets so tired and cranky in the afternoon. Today he had an early bath and dinner and was in bed by 545! Hopefully he won't wake up too early in the morning and both boys sleep well through the night.

Washing Baskets

2011-12-20T10:25:00.001+11:00

Me: 1978

Aston: 2009

Zachariah: 2011

Christmas House of Ginger

2011-12-12T17:04:00.001+11:00

One of our Advent activities is to make a gingerbread house, or 'ginger' as Aston calls it (I think he is just too lazy to finish the phrase).

I had a moment of wondering if I could bake my own gingerbread but decided it was too much work and bought a kit from Coles with everything included. Unfortunately the lollies which look nice and colourful don't taste very nice.

I shall put more photos on Facebook for those of you who want to see it from all angles!

Advent 2011

2011-12-02T20:49:00.001+11:00

Last year we followed the countdown to Jesus' birthday with our new adve nt calendar. This year it's out again, the plan is to read a portion of the Christmas story from the bible and do a Christmasy activity each day. To fit with my disorganization and in an effort to stay flexible I've made a list of activities to chose from each day.

So far we've just managed to add pieces to our felt nativity scene to build a stable.

Stay tuned for more advent fun!

Kayler's Birthday Cake

2011-11-26T15:37:00.001+11:00

This week I got to exercise my cake making muscles and make a cake for Aston's "best friend" Kayler.

Kayler loves all kinds of vehicles so I decided to go with a digger theme. Stu came up with the idea of creating a number 2 made out of 'dirt'.

This is how I made it:

Bake the cake (Aston 'helped')

Plant some grass

Make some dirt

Create a number 2

Add Bob, a digger and other essential elements

The Birthday Boy (in black) and his cake

Uploaded - 26\11\11

2011-11-26T14:46:00.003+11:00

Testing

2011-11-26T14:46:00.001+11:00

Trying out a new blogging app

Breastfeeding

2011-10-27T15:57:00.000+11:00

Before I became pregnant with Aston I hadn't thought much about breastfeeding, I assumed it was something that came naturally to most women and although I was aware that not everybody did it I didn't really know the reasons why.

Breastfeeding however is not always easy and it can take quite a while for both mum and bub to learn what they're doing. Sometimes they can't breastfeed at all.

Aston loved to breastfeed and other than sore nipples at the very beginning we had it mostly under control quite quickly, he loved it so much he developed a sleep association with feeding that made life miserable for all of us. You can read about that here. (NB. This was a problem for us, for others this kind of sleep association may be a more positive thing.)

I think I was expecting Zachariah to be like his brother, in fact I was a bit worried that as he got older Zach too might develop a similar sleep association. At the moment there is no chance of that.

Most of our feeding sessions are quite stressful and often accompanied with much crying. Poor Zach just can not get comfortable. I need to use two hands, one to support him and the other to support my breast otherwise he won't stay latched on. As well as this, my milk was coming out too fast and causing him to choke and gulp and upset his tummy, after a few weeks it settled down and now I think he struggles to cope with how hard he has to work to get his dinner.

After watching a feed the early childhood nurse said "it's not very relaxing or comfortable for either of you is it?" It was comforting to have someone else acknowledge how I felt. She suggested swapping sides every time he got upset which does help. After the first day of doing that Zachariah was a lot more settled during the day and did lots more poos which made me worry that I'd been under feeding him for eight weeks!

I also spoke to an Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor who encouraged me to stay calm during feeds despite the screaming, to remember that it's Zach's problem not mine and if I am calm he will feel calm(ish) too. Sometimes this is easier said than done.

It is frustrating to not have an easy answer but we are soldiering on. It's not all bad, sometimes we do have a decent breastfeeding session with minimal crying and just this morning Zach stopped sucking and looked up at me with a very cheeky smile! :-)

A possible alternative to breastfeeding?

Fireman Love

2011-10-07T17:18:00.001+11:00

Aston has had a "baby in my tummy" ever since we told him I was pregnant with Zachariah, I thought when Zach was born that Aston's baby would be born too. It seems however that Aston's baby was younger than Zach as he was born today.

He has been named "Fireman Love", I have no idea why although I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Fireman Sam, and has gone everywhere with us today. We gave Aston this doll for Christmas and until now he has been called "Baby".

Here is Aston with Fireman Love in a carrier

And here he is giving Fireman Love some milk

Two Boys

2011-10-03T20:26:00.001+11:00

My two boys are so very different, I know I shouldn't be surprised but I'm amazed at how we can tell the differences in their personality at such a young age.

Aston was a very laid back baby, he would cry when he needed something and had moments of unsettledness but he definitely wasn't a 'screamer'. Zachariah is not a 'screamer' either but he does make a lot of noise when he wants something.

Zachariah is still working out how to breastfeed, he's getting a lot of milk but we're still learning what to do. By this time I'm pretty sure Aston and I had worked things out. Aston loved to feed too- he had milk every 2 hours or so and would take it every time it was offered. Zach eats every 3-4 hours and does not comfort feed, if I offer him a feed when he's not hungry he will cry!

Aston did not move very much at this age, Zachariah is always trying to move, he pushes himself up to stand when you hold him on your lap. He even tries to crawl during tummy time!

They look very different, Aston had a very round chubby face at this age and blue eyes, Zach is slimmer and has dark eyes- I think they are turning brown.

They have some similarities too, they both love being in the bath. They both have (Aston had at this age) a longish sleep period of 4-6 hours in the evening and lots of cat naps for the rest of the day.

I'm really enjoying seeing both my boys grow and learn and I'm looking forward to seeing them continue to grow up together.

Zachariah George Spires

2011-08-24T11:21:00.001+10:00

Born 7.47pm on 19th August 2011, 4.020kg, 52cm long.

He is long and skinny and has a very round perfectly formed head. He even has a little tooth peeping out from under his gum!

At the moment he has two main states of being, asleep and dopey or screaming for food. Occasionally he is happy to sit and look around but very very rarely.

He loves to suck, I was determined to wait for a few weeks before giving him a dummy but neither of us would get any sleep without it!

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Waiting for Baby

2011-08-18T08:33:00.001+10:00

Today I am 40 weeks and 6 days pregnant, that's theoretically 6 days overdue. This shouldn't surprise me as Aston was 9 days late but it is starting to get a bit tiresome.

I know the baby will come when he's ready and I know that technically full term is anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks. However I'm well and truly ready to have this baby!

This afternoon I have my "postdates" appointment at the hospital where we will probably be booked for an induction. I'm not terribly keen to be induced especially if it means being confined to a bed strapped to monitors. I'm also not terribly keen to have a 2 week overdue baby who weighs almost 5kg!

I've been praying for baby to come and praying for patience and I know that in 2 weeks time all this worry and stress will be irrelevant but I just want to get on with it and have a baby!

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Aston's Birth (Part Two)

2011-08-01T14:24:00.002+10:00

As mentioned in Part One I've tried not to include too much information but this is the nitty gritty bit so apologies if you're not into this kind of thing...

We were put into one of the birthing rooms and left to it, I’d decided beforehand to do as much as possible without pain relief and the midwife seemed pleased with that. In fact, the whole time I felt like she and I were on the “same page” which was really nice and I hope that happens again.

I don’t remember much about the next few hours, I felt bored but also couldn’t concentrate on reading or watching any of the movies we’d hired from iTunes. The contractions became stronger and more frequent. At one point I freaked out because I felt like I needed to go to the toilet and remembered my sister telling me that she had that same feeling but she didn’t need to go, she needed to push a baby out. The midwife told me that was a good sign but I wasn’t quite ready yet. After that I spent some time in the shower and moved onto the bath.

The bath was amazing, it was somehow relaxing even while being in intense pain, I was a bit out of it by then, I kept dozing off but was somehow still aware of what was going on around me. I’m not sure how we got there but soon it was time to push and I was back in the real world and thinking clearly again (well kind of clearly). At one point the midwife told me “3 more pushes and we’ll have a baby!”

Not quite…

I was pushing but Aston was being stubborn and kept creeping back up the birth canal. I got out of the bath in the hope that changing positions would help. After about an hour and a half of pushing, they decided to give me oxytocin to try and increase the intensity of the contractions. It worked! I felt like I needed to push non-stop but Aston was still happy to stay where he was. I was becoming more and more tired and frustrated. Everyone kept telling me what a good job I was doing and I remember thinking “If I’m doing such a good job, why isn’t it working!”

After 3 hours of pushing, it was decided Aston (and I) needed a bit more help and we would proceed with a ventouse delivery (aka vacuum extraction). At this point the whole mood of the room changed.

Up until now it had mostly been Stuart the midwife and I on our own with the lights dimmed, we’d been visited by a few other midwives at different points and the obstetrician on call as well but on the whole it had been pretty private and quiet.

Now there were about 10 people in the room, midwives, pediatricians, the obstetric registrar and her supervisor. The lights had all been turned on, equipment had been wheeled in, it was busy!

They gave me a local anesthetic as I’d had no other pain relief and before I knew it Aston was born, I didn’t even realize his head was out until someone told me. They put him on my chest but he was still unresponsive so they whisked him away to be examined by the pediatrician.

The next few minutes were the most emotionally taxing for me, lying naked and exposed while being stitched up and seeing my baby at the other end of the room surrounded by strangers. Having stitches was also quite traumatic, I’m not quite sure how to explain it but it took me a long time to come to terms with the physical damage.

Aston 1 day old

However, all was well with Aston, soon he was having his first breastfeed and we were trying to decide if we would actually name him after a car!

Aston's Birth (Part One)

2011-07-29T22:11:00.001+10:00

Over the last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time preparing for our new baby, however, I haven’t done much to prepare for the actual being in hospital and giving birth part of the process. I feel as though no matter how much you prepare, you are never really going to know how it will all turn out, I’ve done it before, theoretically I should know how to do it again but it will probably be completely different anyway so I shouldn’t think too much about it… I’m not sure any of that makes sense to me either.

As part of getting ready to give birth again I thought it might be helpful to write Aston’s birth story, I don’t think I’ve included too much information but I know some of you might find it a bit awkward to read so feel free to skip these posts.

In the week or so before Aston’s official due date (11^th March 2009) I was pretty laid back and calm, I was enjoying being pregnant, I wasn’t too uncomfortable, I was happy for him to decide when he wanted to arrive. His due date came and went and my relaxed, laid back attitude started to disappear. I was still keen for Aston to choose his own birthday but I also wished he would hurry up and do it!

At my 41 week appointment at the clinic (that’s one week after the due date), the obstetrician declared that if I ended up being 10 days overdue I would need to be induced. She booked me in for the induction and performed a “stretch and sweep” (stretching the cervix and sweeping the membranes with her fingers) without asking, something I was a bit cranky about.

The stretch and sweep must have worked though as the next day I had a couple of signs that perhaps labour may be happening soon.

The night before my induction appointment I woke up a few times with stomach cramps, they went away when I moved around and each time I was able to go back to sleep so I didn’t think much about them. At 5am I woke again and this time found it hard to go back to sleep, I thought the pains may be real contractions but they weren’t as painful or overwhelming as I thought they would be so I wasn’t sure. I decided to get up and have a shower as we were due to be at the hospital at 7am. It was 20^th March 2009.

While in the shower the contractions continued, they were occurring fairly frequently so when I got out I decided to time them, they were 4-5 minutes apart.

At the hospital I told the midwife who was going to break my waters in order to induce me that I thought I might be in labour, however I didn’t think the contractions I was having were painful or strong enough to be real, they were just very frequent. She told me that I didn’t look like I was in labour. She hooked me up to a machine that monitored the baby’s heartbeat and my contractions, when she saw the readings she changed her mind and told me they were real contractions, I was also 3cm dilated so the induction was called off.

To be continued...

Bec's Prayer Letter - Special Blog Edition

2011-07-14T14:35:00.002+10:00

Dear Blog Readers :-)

I'm sending this in my second week of leave from Credo, as predicted I didn't quite get everything done before I finished work including sending this update! I'm currently 35 and a half weeks pregnant and enjoying the break at home, although I feel like there is still a lot to do before baby arrives.

Credo News
My Credo colleagues are currently in the swing of Mid Year Evangelism (MYE), there are teams leading HSC study camps, kids clubs, ministering to International Students and even a mission trip to Taiwan! Please pray for them, that God would be glorified.

Credo is also gearing up for our biennial mission in August "More" www.more.org.au baby is due around this time so I will be watching mission activities from a distance via email and the website.

Spires News
We are enjoying a bit of a break at the moment, Stuart is on uni holidays and it's been really nice to relax as a family. Baby Number 2 is due in 4 and a half weeks and we still have a few bits and pieces to organise before then, including finding a name!

Please be praying that all would go smoothly, that we all adjust well to being a family of four and that baby ends up with a name!

Thanks for your continued prayer and support - stay tuned for news of Baby Number 2!

Love From

Rebecca, Stuart and Aston

Crafty

2011-07-09T15:27:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday I took my neices to a Craft Workshop at Gleebooks in Dulwich Hill. The workshop was run by Kelly Doust who wrote "The Crafty Kid" and "The Crafty Minx".

Aston was supposed to come too but he was too sick. After Chloe and Meg had finished creating their craft, (Meg decorated a singlet for her new baby cousin and Chloe created some fabric art to hang on the wall). They wanted to choose some fabric to give to Aston, one of the pieces they chose had a picture of a camera on it.

Aston likes to pretend to take photos so I thought I would attempt to be crafty and create a fabric/pillow camera for him to play with.

First I cut out the camera shape with a piece of backing fabric the same size and pinned them together inside out.

Then I sewed the two pieces together. I had a lot of trouble with the sewing machine - not sure if the problem is me or it- but I got there in the end.

Next I cut up some old PJ's from the rag bag into strips for the stuffing.

Then we stuffed our pillow

And here is the finished product!

Say 'cheese'

Medicine

2011-07-07T14:24:00.001+10:00

Aston has been sick. We took him to the Dr yesterday who said both of his eardrums looked as though they were about to burst! He was so miserable, hot and shivering and only wanted to sit and have cuddles. His cousins came over and he didn't even want to play with them which is really unusual!

Stuart and I were not looking forward to having to give him another course of antibiotics.

He used to like having medicine until a few weeks ago when we ended up in RPA's emergency department. We were sent there by a GP who was worried Aston's cough and rattly sounding chest were signs of pneumonia. After enduring attempts by 3 different doctors to take a blood sample while being wrapped in a sheet and held down, Aston spent the next week or so objecting to anyone trying to do anything to him. Including brushing his teeth and giving him medicine.

It would take two of us to squirt antibiotics into his mouth which he would then spit out!

This time around it was the same the first lot of antibiotics were painful and we managed to get him to swallow less than a third of the recommended dose of panadol. I bribed him with chocolate the second time which worked for the antibiotics but again he only had some of the panadol.

This morning he woke up feeling much better with no fever and ready to play. Stuart told him it was the medicine that made him feel better and Aston seemed to like that idea. At breakfast he said his ears were sore and actually asked for more medicine!

Since then he seems to be coping with having to take it, it still takes a bit of coaxing and the occasional bribe but we no longer have to force feed him!

Work

2011-07-02T21:38:00.002+10:00

I'm realising more and more how much information Aston absorbs without us deliberately trying to teach him anything.

Here is a conversation I had with him about work.

A: I am a lady
Me: What are you doing?
A: Going to work
Me: Men go to work too
A: Daddy is a man (in a tone of voice as if to say 'but daddy doesn't go to work')

In another work related conversation, I was trying to get Aston to stand up so I could lift him out of the bath. His response was "no, I'm doing work!" which is what he gets told when he wants one of us to play with him while we're working...

Aston not doing work...

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Sibling Rivalry

2011-06-18T16:39:00.001+10:00

Yesterday Aston was sitting next to me with his head on my tummy when suddenly he jumped! His little brother had kicked him in the face!

I think it was the first time he's actually felt the baby move, he often puts his hand on my tummy but doesn't have the patience to leave it there until he feels something.

Only 8(ish) weeks to go!

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I "Heart" My Slow Cooker

2011-05-22T13:15:00.001+10:00

This is my slow cooker, it was a wedding present that sat in it's box for about five years before I decided to give it a go. I used it once or twice but didn't really get into the groove until this year.

I love being able to prepare and throw all the ingredients into the pot in the morning (or the night before!), and know that at dinner time it will be sitting there ready to eat. You can even leave the slow cooker on while you are out.

So far I have cooked: roast lamb and vegies; dhal, chilli con carne; vegetable soup; braised chicken; and spicy carrot and pumpkin soup (pictured). For most of these I haven't really followed a recipe, I usually do a google search, read a few recipes online or from my cookbooks and then combine them to end up with the finished result. This has worked most of the time. Unfortunately this means I can't always reproduce something I have made before. I think I need to start writing down what I do.

One of the advantages of using google to find recipes is being able to do a search based on the ingredients you have in the fridge or cupboard and ending up with a yummy meal at the end!

If I am organised the next time I cook something yummy in my slow cooker I will post a recipe for you to try too. And if you have any good slow cooker recipes, feel free to share!

No!

2011-04-30T15:13:00.001+10:00

YouTube Video

Testing the video feature on my BlogPress app...

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2011 So Far

2011-04-29T14:38:00.000+10:00

It has been quite a while since I last blogged. Life has been pretty busy, and my laptop screen has died which has been extremely inconvenient.

I'm writing this on my iPhone using a wireless keyboard. It's rather weird because my phone is about a metre away from me charging on the kitchen bench while I am sitting typing at the kitchen table.

The main reason for my lack of blogging is our new 2011 routine, Stuart started a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning this semester which he really enjoys (yay!) and I am now working 3 days a week. I really don't know how families survive with two full time working parents, the two of us are 'working' part time and it feels like every day is an effort.

I was at Credo's Easter Conference (ETC) over the long weekend - there were some amazing talks on "the End" by Murray Smith, it was exciting to look towards the New Creation and know that we are part of it now through Jesus' death and resurrection.

ETC was followed by a few days off, mostly just hanging out at home, doing a bit of shopping and yesterday we took Aston to the Powerhouse Museum. There was lots of fun stuff for him to do and he had heaps of fun!

I'm really not looking forward to getting back into it on Monday

However it's not all bad, I am constantly amazed at how good God has been to us. After a year of being unemployed, Stuart is doing something he enjoys and that will hopefully help get a job he enjoys. I love working with Credo and an extra day a week is not painful at all - the extra money has been helpful too. We both get to see Aston when he is awake and spend one-one time with him and God has provided some amazing friends who love looking after Aston on Mondays - he loves them too!

The manic rushing around will be over soon, only two more months until the end of semester and my maternity leave. Hopefully I'll have a month of rest before baby number 2 arrives, and then a new type of craziness will begin!

Aston and Stuart at The Powerhouse museum

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Blue Drum Cake!

2011-03-22T09:48:00.000+11:00

Fish Care Fail!

2011-03-16T13:52:00.000+11:00

You may remember this little guy, I wrote about him here. Today I noticed he was missing and realised I haven't seen him in the tank for quite a while.

Hopefully he has been abducted by aliens who are taking good care of him.

However it is much more likely that he died, got tangled in the plant and I just didn't notice. I feel quite guilty and sad about that.

Greenkids

2011-02-23T14:00:00.001+11:00

We use cloth nappies, at the moment only for sleep times - yay but when the new baby comes the box of nappies will be unearthed from the garage and put to good use again.

Our favourite nappies are Greenkids and they are having a sale 20% off storewide! Check them out!

Aston in his Greenkids Froggy Funtime nappy

Pottering and Prayerletters

2011-02-16T15:23:00.000+11:00

I've been tweaking a few bits and pieces on my blog, finished labeling all my posts and added a countdown widget for the new baby.

It's been fun looking back over the things I've written in the past - feel free to do some browsing yourself.

For those of you interested in current news here is my most recent prayerletter - I would love you to read it even if you are not a praying person.

A fun picture to make this post a bit more exciting!

What I Write About

2011-01-28T14:44:00.000+11:00

This week I have been adding labels to my blog posts. I'm not sure why I haven't been doing it until now. In the label cloud on the right you can see all the different topics I have written about over the past few years.

I haven't finished yet, I'm up to 2008... I was surprised that I have only written 151 blog posts in the last 4 years but it is taking a very long time to label them all!

Competition

2011-01-22T11:30:00.001+11:00

I do like a good competition, here's one run by my friend Erin, check it out:

mama who mops

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Bye Bye Nappies!

2011-01-21T09:37:00.002+11:00

Yesterday we put most of Aston's nappies in a box and now he wears Big Boy Undies!

We had talked about it for a few days, he was quite keen on the idea of getting rid of the nappies but as I placed the box on top of my wardrobe there were a few tears.

Day one wasn't too bad, there were a few accidents, lots of trips to the potty with no results and one decent wee... I think he still needs some practice but that's ok

We attempted toilet training a few weeks ago and at this stage I was quite discouraged. Since then I've read "The No Cry Potty Training Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. She says learning to go to the toilet is like any other skill, you wouldn't expect a baby to know how to walk perfectly after one day so why expect him to know how to use the potty perfectly after one or even three days?

It makes perfect sense and I don't know why I expected Aston to unlearn almost 2 years of nappy training in a just few days!

So, here we are again, there may be wet undies and wet floors but day by day Aston is learning more and more!

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2011-01-15T13:09:00.001+11:00

Apologies to those who read the last post while it was formatted wrong. It's fixed now!

Playdough!

2011-01-15T11:33:00.002+11:00

1.5 cups of flour and 0.5 cup salt

Mix together

Add 0.5 tablespoon of oil

Some water

Food colouring

Mix and knead to form a soft dough

Play with dough!

What do you do with Christmas leftovers?

2011-01-04T20:24:00.001+11:00

Make turkey pies!

First, cut/pull/chew most of the turkey meat off the carcass. Put the bones, some carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a big pot, cover with water, then boil with the lid on for half a day.

Strain the mixture, throw out the chunky bits and put the liquid in the fridge until you are ready to make pie.

To make pie:
Fry chopped onion in a pan, push it to one side and melt some butter, add flour and cook till light brown. Throw in some chopped turkey, ham, grated carrot, corn kernels and anything else you fancy.

Scoop the fat off the top of the cold stock from the fridge chuck it out and add the fatless stock to your mixture. Let it boil until the liquid thickens to a nice pie filling consistency. Take off the stove and cool down.

Place a sheet of pastry in a pie dish (I used frozen puff pastry). Ladle in your cooled pie filling, add a pastry lid and cook until the pastry is nice and brown!

I made 4 pies, we ate one and froze the other 3 for later. Yummy!

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Advent (Day 25) It's Christmas day!

2010-12-25T15:42:00.001+11:00

With Nana :-)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

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Advent (Day 24)

2010-12-24T15:03:00.001+11:00

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we might receive adoption as children.
(Gal 4:4-5)

The blurry thing in Aston's hand is a My First Christmas baby dog tree ornament. Grandma gave it to Aston last year.

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Advent (Day 23)

2010-12-23T16:26:00.000+11:00

We had trouble getting a decent photo today... Here we are with Aunty Belinda

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matt 2:12)

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Advent (Day 22)

2010-12-22T20:55:00.000+11:00

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(Matt 2:11)

With Aunty Liz :-)

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Advent (Day 21)

2010-12-21T10:48:00.001+11:00

Today we are at Grandma and Grandpa's!

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. (Matt 2:9-10)

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Advent (Day 20)

2010-12-20T20:43:00.001+11:00

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem,
saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." (Matt 2:7-8)

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Advent (Day 19)

2010-12-20T07:10:00.001+11:00

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" (Matt 2:5-1)

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Who's in the tank (4)

2010-12-18T16:28:00.001+11:00

The plant has flowered! I've never seen an aquarium plant flower before.

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Advent (Day 18)

2010-12-18T14:49:00.001+11:00

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
(Matt 2:3-4)

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Advent (Day 17)

2010-12-17T17:43:00.001+11:00

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its
rising, and have come to pay him homage." (Matt 2:1-2)

Advent (Day 16)

2010-12-16T21:56:00.001+11:00

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)

Stuart spent ages last night checking the lights on the tree one by one to see which were blown! He replaced 10 bulbs!

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Advent (Day 15)

2010-12-15T17:00:00.001+11:00

...and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:18-20)

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Advent (Day14)

2010-12-14T19:59:00.001+11:00

I'm starting to realise I should have put more thought into which character goes with which verse.

Today we met a Wise Man

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child…(Luke 2:16-17)

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Advent (Days 12 & 13)

2010-12-13T21:02:00.001+11:00

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" (Luke 2: 13-14)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." (Luke 2:15)

Advent (Day 11)

2010-12-11T10:25:00.001+11:00

Stuart got the present from the calendar today as it's his birthday :-)

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12)

There was also a shepherd boy to add to the nativity scene.

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Advent (Day10)

2010-12-10T20:01:00.000+11:00

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:8-9)

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Advent (Day 9)

2010-12-09T16:21:00.002+11:00

Today we have a video taken with my new iPhone4! (edited by Stuart)

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6-7)

Advent (Day 8)

2010-12-08T19:16:00.001+11:00

The blurry thing in Aston's hand is Mary.

All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of
David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. (Luke 2:3-5)

Advent (Day 7)

2010-12-07T09:26:00.000+11:00

Today we got to meet Joseph (aka to Aston as Jofess)

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)
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Advent (Day 6)

2010-12-06T08:56:00.001+11:00

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. (Luke 2:1-2)

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Advent (Day 5)

2010-12-05T08:32:00.000+11:00

Last night while Aston was asleep, we put up the Christmas tree. He was suitably impressed this morning.

"ooh, wow, pretty!"

Today we put the star from the calendar on the tree.

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. (Matt 1:24-25)

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Advent (Day 4)

2010-12-04T13:13:00.000+11:00

Today Aston asked to "look calendar" it's exciting to see that he is looking forward to our morning ritual.

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord
through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." (Matt 1:22-23)

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Advent (Day 3)

2010-12-03T08:54:00.000+11:00

She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt 1:21)

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Advent (Day 2)

2010-12-02T12:05:00.000+11:00

Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (Matt 1:19-20)

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Advent (Day 1)

2010-12-01T21:40:00.000+11:00

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (Matt 1:18)

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Advent

2010-12-01T19:37:00.003+11:00

This is our new advent calendar, I bought one for a friend and liked it so much I decided to buy one for us. (And thanks to the nice man at Kikki K Broadway, I got both for 20% off and possibly the very last one in stock in Australia).

I don't know much about Advent, I really like Byron's explanation here, and I think using the calendar each year will be helpful for us to remember that Christmas is about Jesus and not stress, presents and craziness.

In each pocket there is a bible verse telling part of the Christmas story and a piece of a nativity scene or a decoration for the Christmas tree.

I'm planning on blogging our advent adventure each day so that you can all join in :-)

"So Christmas presents are kind of like birthday presents, Elmo never thought of that"

2010-12-01T10:10:00.003+11:00

Who is in the tank? (3)

2010-11-12T16:19:00.003+11:00

Ancistrus cf_cirrhosus

This is Mr Bristlenose, you can see he has lots of tentacles on his nose, Mrs Bristlenose also lives in our tank, she has only a few small tentacles. The Bristlenose's like to hide, they hide in the piece of driftwood under the plants, they hide behind the statue, they even move ornaments and dig under the gravel to create new hiding places!

They have big sucker mouths and use them to stick to the glass or the statue and the underside of the leaves.

I think the Bristlenose's are very cool.

In other fish news - we have babies!!!! I noticed them hiding amongst the leaves of the plants a couple of days ago...

First Casualty

2010-11-06T13:58:00.001+11:00

Warning: this post contains images that may disturb some viewers

Last week I noticed one of the fish was swimming strangely, it seemed to be struggling to stay upright. On closer inspection I discovered it was quite bloated and had a large bruise on it's belly.

A while later when I looked in the tank the sick fish had disappeared. I thought it may have gotten stuck on one of the plants or rocks and knew I should look for it but it was late and I was tired...

The next day I found this

I'm pretty sure the dead or dying fish was discovered by one of the catfish who was excited to have such a yummy snack!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone and edited on the computer - apologies for my bad spelling - I blame iPhone predictive text!

Is My Brain Being Rewired?

2010-10-26T14:34:00.002+11:00

I've noticed lately that my attention span is shrinking, I get increasingly bored when I have to do something for more than 2 minutes at a time. I sometimes even struggle to watch a half hour, not very intense, TV show, which means trying to concentrate on important things like sermons and conversations with friends is a real feat.

Some would say that perhaps it's "baby brain" I've heard that can stay with you for years and years after pregnancy and kids and there probably is some truth to that. It's definitely hard to concentrate on a conversation when Aston is in the room wanting attention or doing something he shouldn't.

I mentioned my problem to Stuart who suggested that part of the cause may be due to my constant iPhone usage. I love my iPhone, it has so many fun apps on it I don't ever have to be bored, I can even play games with my friends who also have iPhones, (Words with Friends is a favourite at the moment).

According to this article by Nicholas Carr, as you spend time jumping from one thing to another on the web, a computer or iPhone your brain rewires itself to get used to quick topic changes and notice distractions. This is great when you need to find something quickly on the web but not so good if you need to read and concentrate on a big slab of text. This article in the New York Times says that only 3% of people can effectively multitask and actually process what they are taking in. They profile a guy who is always on his computer, iPad or iPhone and is so bombarded with information he forgets things and has missed really important emails and messages - I felt quite sad reading about him and his family.

So, I think it's time to take some action, I've come up with a few ideas to decrease the jumpy-ness of my iPhone usage, feel free to add suggestions.

1. I won't use my phone or the computer while eating with Aston, or when he's in the bath, or when I've said I will play with him
2. I've turned off the push notifications for my email, Facebook, eBay and Words with Friends
3. I won't use my phone while watching TV (unless it's live TV and there is a really long ad break - which doesn't happen often as we mostly watch things that have been recorded).
4. I will read long articles and blog posts slowly, I've noticed that I often skim read and my eyes rush to the end of the page before my brain has really taken in what I've read.
5. I think (although I haven't completely decided on this one) I shall deactivate my Twitter account
6. I will embark on an intensive Facebook friend cull
7. I will try to only check Facebook on my phone every 2 hours
8. I have started a Bible Reading Plan, that means I will read the whole bible in a year, to do this I need to read 2-3 chapters at a time so hopefully as well as getting to know God more I will also be increasing my ability to concentrate

Well, this was a long post but I managed to concentrate for the whole thing. Perhaps writing it while procrastinating at work made concentrating a bit easier (sorry Paul).

Who is in the tank? (2)

2010-10-23T14:32:00.004+11:00

These little guys are Black Neon Tetra's they tend to stick together and seem to be a bit calmer than most of the other fish in the tank.

The majority of my fish are guppies, on the right you can see some female guppies swimming around, they are bigger and not as pretty as the male guppies. You can see a couple of male guppies in the photo below (sorry it's not a very good photo). They have big colourful fan tails and fins.

There are 16 guppies in the tank, 2
of them are babies - apparently female guppies are always pregnant! I hope these ones don't breed too often, I'm not sure my tank can cope with two many more fish!

My next goal is to take a decent photo of the two catfish and write a post about them. It may take a while as they are very good at hiding!

First water change

2010-10-21T20:46:00.001+11:00

I've just performed a small water change, it's been 6 days since the fish were introduced into the tank and all the stats are looking good. Thankfully so are the fish! They tried to eat my fingers as I was holding the siphon in the water, it's a very strange feeling having fish nibble your fingers.

Fish stats
15/10
pH 10.4
NH3 0ppm
NO2 0.25ppm
Fish introduced

17/10
pH 9.6
NH3 0ppm
NO2 0.25ppm

21/10
pH 9.6
NH3 0ppm
NO2 0ppm
Water change

Ideally the pH could be a bit lower but 9.6 is ok, I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

I think buying the used gravel helped in starting off the biological filter. Ammonia levels at 0 mean that the fish waste had been converted to nitrite. Today's nitrite level was 0 which means the second part of the biological filter has kicked in. Yay for bacteria :-)

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Who is in the tank?

2010-10-16T14:16:00.005+11:00

This morning I've been attempting to take pictures of the fishies - it's a bit tricky as I have an old digital camera that doesn't have a lot of settings to play with. I will gradually post some of the photos that look ok.

This little guy is a Southern Platyfish, he is the only one in the tank and is a funky red colour with a black splodge on his middle.

Fish - Day One

2010-10-15T20:52:00.004+11:00

I set up the tank a few days ago, I was a bit worried that there wouldn't be enough time for the water to mature or cycle properly before I had to out the fish in. So, in order to help the whole process get started I bought some used gravel from the pet shop, the gravel should already be home to some of the bacteria needed to get biological filtration happening and give the tank a head start. I also bought a carbon sponge and added that to the regular sponge in the filter, the carbon should help to neutralise any toxic chemicals, a job the biological filter will do once it matures.

Above is the tank with no fish, the plant in the middle is a new addition today, it came from the same tank as my new fishies.

I think there are now 22 fish in the tank, most of them are guppies, 2 are really cool catfish (I need to do a bit of research to find out what types) and there are a few others I'm not sure of. Stay tuned for updates as I work out what they are.

Here are the fish in their bags waiting to be released. I let the bags float in the water for a while so they got used to the new temperature, then I put some of the water from the tank into the bags so the fish have a chance to get used to the new water.

Now they are all in their new home and hopefully happy. I don't have a photo of them as it's too dark to take one but I will upload one soon,

Fish!

2010-10-15T20:32:00.002+11:00

Those of you who know me will know that I have a soft spot in my heart for fish, not eating fish, but any fish I can watch swimming around doing it's thing in the water. I have, at various times kept fish in a tank inherited from some friends years ago.

Earlier this year our last surviving goldfish Nemo died. Since then we have wanted to buy some more fish but haven't managed to her around to it. Last week one of my friends posted on Facebook that she had some fish that nobody wanted and she was thinking of euthanasing them. Knowing we had a tank sitting in the garage waiting to be filled again and not liking the thought of a few little fishies dying because they were unwanted, I offered to take them.

I thought it might be fun (and slightly nerdy) to document for you all the progress of my new tank of fish so, here goes...

Toilet training?

2010-10-10T22:00:00.000+11:00

Today Aston asked me to change his nappy a number of times (even when it didn't need changing). He's never asked me to change his nappy before, usually he fights and protests when I suggest it but today he came up to me, said "change" and was quite happy to lie down on the floor and have his nappy changed.

We also had to change Baby's nappy.Baby is a Teddy that Aston has been treating like a baby- changing his nappy, giving him pretend baths, putting him to bed etc. I can't remember how it all started but now Baby gets five star treatment! Today at Nana's house Baby even went to the toilet.

A while after Baby went to the toilet Aston started to say "poo, poo" and ran to the bathroom, it seemed that he wanted to go to the toilet too. I put him on but nothing happened. I'm wondering if this means he's ready to start learning how to use the toilet.

I'm not sure I'm ready yet...

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Morning Conversation

2010-10-03T08:21:00.001+11:00

Me: Aston, it's Sunday today, where do we go on Sunday?
Aston: Woo Woo
Me: no, we're not going on the train, we're going in the car. Where are we going?
Aston: moon!
Me: we're not going to the moon, we're going to church.
And what do we do after church?
Aston: lunch! Nom nom nom
Me: yes we have lunch and then what do we do after church?
Aston: Tah!
Me: yes, we see guitars at church but where do we go in the car after church?
We go and see Nana
Aston: NANA!

!

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18 months of learning...

2010-09-06T10:01:00.000+10:00

I am constantly amazed at the things Aston has learnt in just 18 months (well 17 months and a couple of weeks). He's gone from a squirming little blob like thing to an upright walking talking little boy!

It's his talking that amazes me most at the moment. Everyday he says a new word or two and he uses them in completely the right context!

Last week he found a straw in one of the kitchen draws and said 'straw' I've never heard him say straw before and I couldn't even remember the last time he'd even seem a straw! He managed to outdo himself the next day by pointing to a strawberry top and saying 'straw berry'.

The strange thing is that he seems to have forgotten his first words, he used to point at things and say 'look', now he points at things and says the word or, in the case of animals, makes the appropriate sound.

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Barneys Seven Churches Walk

2010-08-31T13:59:00.003+10:00

The Spires are walking to help rebuild Barneys! Our church has been without a permanent home for over 4 years!

Click here to find out more and sponsor us!

Time for a new look

2010-04-16T09:52:00.000+10:00

Enjoy :-)

Aston learns to sleep

2010-04-15T09:54:00.002+10:00

I thought after my last post I'd come back and update you on Aston's sleeping progress, amazingly he is doing really well! He now goes to sleep most nights within 10mins of being put in his cot without crying and sleeps until 5-7am! It's still quite strange but really nice.

So, what did we do?

I'd worked out quite a while ago that Aston's main issue was based around his sleep association with breastfeeding - basically, he didn't know how to go to sleep unless he was feeding. This meant I was feeding him to sleep, putting him in his cot and leaving the room without him realising. Every time he woke during the night he would freak out because mummy had disappeared, he was alone in the dark and couldn't get back to sleep without a breastfeed. To add to the problem this also meant he was afraid to go to sleep or be alone in his cot awake because every time he went to sleep mummy disappeared. This meant bedtimes were often 1-2 hours of crying, multiple breastfeeds and frantic rushing about (he refused to stay still) until he would eventually fall asleep on the breast completely exhausted, only to wake a few hours later crying for a feed.

After reading a number of books and websites, I tried so many different things to try and calm him before bedtime and stop him needing to breastfeed to sleep, a few methods would work for a little while but soon he would regress again. We got to the point where I was willing to give up on all my ideals and just let Aston cry himself to sleep.

Enter 'Dreambaby Guide' - I had seen the author Sheyne Rowley on Sunrise and she hadn't impressed me all that much but she made great claims about teaching babies to sleep without using controlled crying. I checked out her website, again, not terribly impressive but i decided to borrow her book from the library and see what she had to say.

The book is quite thick, possibly because she often repeats herself but I did manage to find a few things in it that seemed to make sense. The basic methodology is here. We haven't followed her method to the letter, her focus on routine is very strict and just doesn't fit into our way of life and I'm not convinced by a lot of the things she has to say about food and restricting breastfeeding.

We spent a few weeks (as long as it took to read the book) doing our homework which included:

Using preemptive language and developing cues for Aston eg. "very soon it will be time to change your nappy/go to sleep in your cot" etc, being careful to use the same words every time ie. not "change your nappy' one day and then "get clean pants on" the next so Aston always knows what's happening next and doesn't get upset because he's happy playing and I pick him up and dump him on the change table with no warning.
Developing independent play - helping Aston learn it was ok for him to be by himself in the cot or just playing with his toys. I use the cue "I'll be back" before I leave the room so he knows I am leaving and will come back. We spent time with him playing in his cot and leaving him for longer periods of time on his own.
Creating a new bedtime routine, before each sleep we have a breastfeed, read some stories, (at nighttime we pray) in the lounge room then we go into Aston's room with the light off, shut the door, sing "Jesus loves you", put him in his cot, say our sleepy cues "close your eyes and go to sleep, mummy and daddy love you, nigh night Aston" then I (or Stuart) leave the room and shut the door.
We also have a wake up routine, this helps to lessen confusion about when it's time to get up so Aston knows he won't be taken out of the cot every time he cries. He only gets to leave the cot after mummy says "Good sleeping Aston" and he plays on his own with his toys for a little while. (There are always exceptions of course but this is the general rule.)
We role played his new routine with a teddy twice a day for a week, again so Aston was aware of what was happening and got used to the new routine.

Then we put it all into practice. I was surprised the first time we tried at how much crying there was, on my first reading of the book Sheyne made it sound so simple and easy, so i read the sections on crying again and reading between the lines realised I should have expected it. However, talking to others who have used controlled crying, the amount of crying we experienced was minimal. Throughout it all I was fairly confident that Aston knew what was going on and didn't feel abandoned by Stuart and I but it was still hard to hear him cry.

This article by Sheyne was quite helpful in putting crying in perspective. She says that as parents we need to teach our children that it's ok to express themselves and to deal with their emotions, if we run to them every time they cry they learn that they can't cope with life unless mummy and daddy are there to help, or that they shouldn't express themselves when they feel upset or angry because somehow it's wrong to cry. On the other hand if we leave them to cry when they are very distressed or hurt then this makes them feel abandoned and alone. It's all about assessing why and how they are crying and determining what to do next.

So almost three weeks after we have started this adventure, it seems to be working, the first night, involved about and hour of crying before Aston fell asleep and a few sessions of 10min crying throughout the night. Over the weeks the initial crying has gone and Aston can put himself to sleep easily. We've had a few nights of wake ups in the early hours of the morning, we've found that Sheyne's method of letting Aston cry and repeating his sleepy words doesn't seem to work - I think, despite what she says that he is genuinely hungry. When it does happen I've been giving him a breastfeed and putting him in his cot awake and he seems a lot happier. However for the past three or four nights he hasn't woken up and I'm hoping that will continue.

Now to find an appropriately cute photo to add to this post :-)

Sleep Baby Sleep

2010-03-26T21:12:00.003+11:00

Tonight we have begun 'Operation Sleep Through the Night' in an attempt to get Aston, who is now one, to sleep for more than 4 hours at a stretch. Over the past year I have a lot of time to think about, research and observe baby sleep, something I didn't think I would ever need to do.

I've been trying to work out why it's such an issue, talk to any parent and they will tell you about the stresses and guilts that surround every thought and every conversation they have about how well or not so well their baby is sleeping. I'm not sure why it has become such a big issue in our western world.

It is one of the first questions you are asked when you reveal you have a small child who has just entered into the world. 'Is he a good baby?' 'Does he sleep well?' This is always followed by the slight pause where I try and decide if it's better to lie, downplay the fact that Aston doesn't sleep, or use his sleeplessness to extract pity and sympathy from whoever I'm talking to. If that person has a child of similar age it often feels as though there is some sort of competition to determine whose baby is the best or worst sleeper, (both of these positions gain points in someone's world but you earn no points for being somewhere in the middle).

As you are barely functioning in a sleep deprived haze, trying to cope with the pressure (or more often in my case, perceived pressure) of others expectations, you turn to the professionals for advice. Dr Sears, Pinky Mckay, Tizzie Hall, Elizabeth Pantley, Sheyne Rowley and more. Instead of clearing the haze, confusion and guilt, often this just adds to it. You should let your baby cry, you should never let your baby cry, co-sleeping is good, co-sleeping is bad, don't breastfeed your baby to sleep, do breastfeed your baby to sleep... And then there are the very helpful people who say it doesn't matter what you do, just do what's right for you and your baby. Um, hello, I was looking for help because I don't know what's right!

Having arrived at the point where we decided crying is not the way we want Aston to remember being put to sleep I believe we have tried almost everything. A belief that is reinforced every time I find a new baby sleep site online that tells me to: play music, co-sleep, put him in the cot awake, rock him to sleep, let him cry for 5mins, give him a bedtime routine, make sure he naps well during the day, etc etc.

One thing I do need to say before I go on is something most of the above experts agree on, despite the pressure you get from others, your baby's sleeping habits are not a problem unless you think they are. If you and our baby are able to cope with waking at night, co-sleeping, rocking to sleep or any other thing someone else thinks is 'wrong' then you don't have a problem. Unfortunately we have come to a place where we can not cope.

Tonight we started Sheyne Rowley's DreamBaby method, it's based on communication and seems to make sense, although following her method to the letter means a very strict sleeping and eating routine. She claims her method is not a 'crying method' but it does involve some crying, the difference being the amount of 'homework' done beforehand in order to establish boundaries, clear expectations, independence and confidence in your baby before leaving them to cry alone in their cot.

According to her definitions Aston cried 'angry', 'calling out' and 'settling' cries for around an hour before finally falling asleep. At appropriate moments I 'attended' to let Aston know that he was ok and I am confident he can fall asleep on his own. He missed 2 'sleep buses'* before finally catching a 3rd one and falling asleep. He woke an hour after falling asleep, cried an 'angry' cry for around 5 mins which became a 'calling out' cry for 2 mins until he caught the partial waking 'sleep bus' and required no 'attendance' from mummy. He has now been asleep for another hour or so since then.

Will it work? Who knows, I'm hoping and praying it does... I'll try and remember to keep you posted...

*Sheyne says when a baby is trying to self settle to sleep there will be brief periods of 3-8mins where it is easier for them to get to sleep. If they miss that 'bus' they need to wait 20 mins or so for the next bus to come before they can fall asleep.

Testing

2009-12-18T07:38:00.001+11:00

I've downloaded a new iPhone app for blogging, hopefully it means I'll blog more often...

Let's see how well it works, here's a picture just for fun :-)

Aston in the kitchen of our new house with a yoghurt lid stuck to his head!

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Thankfulness

2009-11-09T12:59:00.002+11:00

I am thankful I live in a country where:

My father could obey God's calling to become a minister of a small church who could not afford to pay him and know that God would provide for his family's medical needs through our healthcare system.
I was able to defer the very small cost of attending university so that I could concentrate on my studies and my ministry without having to work long tiring hours as well.
While still a student I was able to receive emergency treatment after a car accident for free without having to stress about paying for a week's stay in hospital and various other medical expenses.
A mentally ill homeless man who lived outside our church and repeatedly refused help received thousands of dollars worth of medical care after becoming seriously ill, his physical health was restored, his mental illness was diagnosed and now he is off the streets and a fully functioning member of society.
One of my friends whose husband became ill and could not work was able to continue her ivf treatment under medicare and fall pregnant while her husband received the medical treatment he needed and was supported by the government while taking time off work to completely recover - he is now working full time again and they are expecting a baby soon.
I can work in full time Christian ministry and know that even though I am on a low salary, God provides for me through medicare and family assistance payments, that enable me to take time off to look after my baby.

I am thankful I live in a country that cares about those who can not help themselves, I know the system is not perfect, that people fall through the cracks, that often the system is abused but far better that than for there to be no help at all...

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

James 2:15-17 (the Bible)

Aston's Favourite iPhone Apps

2009-08-27T10:39:00.003+10:00

So, it's never to early to introduce babies to technology - right? Particularly such cool technology as an iPhone?

Aston's love of iPhones happened kind of accidentally, it all started with iRisataBaby. While I was pregnant I was searching for apps that had something to do with babies and came across this one, it's a picture of a baby that laughs when you touch it, it was free so I downloaded it to see what it was like. When Aston was about one month old I showed him the baby and tried to teach him how to make it laugh, he had issues trying to touch the screen but he loved looking at the baby. Now he knows how to make it laugh and he laughs and talks to the baby in the iPhone.

Inspired by Aston's love of iRisataBaby I went looking for more noisy baby apps, his

newest favourite is Touch Teach Animal Sounds Lite in which you can scroll through cartoon pictures of animals and listen to recorded sounds. He really likes the monkey sound.

The other favourite app is Baby Activity Logger it's one of my favourites too, I'd be lost without it. I use it to keep track of Aston's eating and sleeping patterns, often my brain is too foggy to remember how much sleep he had last night or even when he last ate so being able to easily track it is really helpful. Aston likes staring at the log screen which has a cartoon picture of a bottle, nappy, baby and a moon, he looks at it and laughs. Stuart thinks he likes it because he associates it with food.

Aston has learnt that mummy's phone has lots of fun things on it and will often reach for it if he sees it lying around. iPhone play requires supervision though, as all fun toys must be tasted and drooled on - not sure my iPhone warranty covers damage from baby play...

It's been a while

2009-07-27T11:06:00.003+10:00

Wow, Aston is now 4 months old - it feels like so much has happened and yet not much has happened all at the same time...

I have neglected this blog page, I seem to spend much more time on Facebook and Twitter than blogging, mostly because I can access them on my iphone whereas blogging via iphone is a bit more tricky.

Believe it or not I'm back at work 2 days a week and so far (2 days) it seems to be working. Aston gets to hang out with Daddy on Mondays and with Aunty Belinda on Tuesdays so he is happy. FOr more about my work with Credo check out my AFES page

Hopefully I'll come back and blog a bit more often...

Being a Mum

2009-04-13T11:32:00.002+10:00

It's been 3 weeks and 3 days since Aston was born and I'm learning a lot about being a mum. In some ways it's incredibly normal and I can't imagine not doing it, in other ways it's pretty full on and tiring and scary!

The other night as I went to bed I said to Stu "I don't want to get up in the middle of the night" but the reality is I don't really have a choice, unless I want my child to cry and starve (I think you get arrested for that kind of stuff these days). And there's no way I could just lay there and let him cry, no matter how tired, sick or grumpy I feel there's something in your baby's cry that impels you to do something about it.

There are so many questions we have and decisions to make: decisions about when to feed him or what cream to put on his nappy rash, is it cold - should he wear a singlet? Should we use commercial bath products full of 'evil chemicals' or just water? We have moments where we both shrug and go "I don't know". If you know me, you know I'm not great and making decisions and I usually need someone to reassure me that I've made the right one - that doesn't always happen when you're on your own with a baby who is crying. Add tiredness into the mix and even the little decisions like should we use baby wipes or make our own out of cloth can become major moments of stress.

Stu's philosophy is "as long as you don't drop him on his head or kill him, it will be ok" which is true and I need to work hard on remembering that.

Now, to choose a photo to go with this post that shows off Aston's extreme cuteness!

Aston John Spires

2009-03-23T20:05:00.003+11:00

Aston John Spires was born on Friday 20th March at 3.15pm. He weighs 4.4kg ad is 53cm long - Big Baby!

I went into spontaneous labour on Friday morning - no induction needed - praise God! I even managed to get through without pain relief, although Aston did need some help coming into the world with a little bit of suction to his head (not nice!).

So now we are at home learning how to be parents - very scary but fun!

The Latest

2009-03-19T20:02:00.003+11:00

Today we are 8 days overdue! I didn't think we would last that long, obviously Jellybaby is not quite ready to enter the world of his own accord.

We had our 41 week "just-in-case" appointment yesterday at RPA and they are very keen to make sure babies are born before they hit 42 weeks, as a result we are booked in for an induction tomorrow morning at 7am.

I have mixed feelings about being induced, on one hand it's exciting to know that soon we will see our baby and the craziness and uncomfortableness of the last few weeks will be over. On the other hand, induction can be quite a shock to your body and the baby which can make labour a lot more intense and harder to deal with. Depending on what method of induction I end up needing, I may be strapped to a monitor for the whole time which means being unable to move around or use the shower or bath for pain relief - something I was really keen on doing.

I'm praying for calmness mostly, I know I can get very flustered when I'm in an unknown situation and would really like to feel a little bit in control and to be able to ask good questions and make good decisions.

Playing the waiting game

2009-03-16T15:47:00.002+11:00

A week or so ago I was telling everyone that I wouldn't mind too much if the baby was a bit late... So it's now 4 days past due date and this waiting thing is getting a bit hard...

I have ups and downs, times when I'm patient and times when I'm not, I even have times when I forget I'm waiting...

Still waiting

2009-03-12T10:05:00.003+11:00

but that's ok, he'll come when he's ready... Now I just need to find things to amuse myself so i don't get too bored with waiting!

In case you were wondering...

2009-03-11T10:38:00.001+11:00

Yes, it is our official due date today... We are still waiting...

I have had a few prelabour-y things happen (I think) but nothing real yet... Stay tuned

Before and After

2009-03-09T17:01:00.009+11:00

I found some photos of our unit that were taken before we moved in, when everything was empty and boring.

Before (left): our "old" front door and random foyer space

After (right): now baby's room (the new front door is in the lounge room)

The other wall in the baby's room, this is the same cupboard as in the above photo but with a new coat of paint. You can also see the doorway into our room - nice and close.

Before (left): fireplace and wall space in the lounge room

After (right): The same wall space now with custom made shelves (by Stuart), you can also see the new colour on the chimney breast. You can't see the fireplace which now has the boards removed and nice new tiles on the floor in front to match the chimney breast.

38 weeks & 3 days

2009-02-28T17:49:00.004+11:00

Here I am at 38 weeks & 3 days - only 11 days to go according to the countdown on the right... Assuming Jellybaby is born exactly on his due date which is not very likely...

So, what's been happening? I've survived 2 weeks of maternity leave, it's been both nice to be at home and not have to worry too much about work stuff and also hard because uni is starting and lots of exciting things have been happening. 250 people signed up to join small group bible studies - awesome!

I've also spent the last 2 weeks obsessing about and learning to drive - I had 2 driving tests and managed to pass the second one - yay, so now I have my red P's and theoretically can drive a car all by myself... I haven't actually been out by myself yet, I'm still a bit scared, but I will soon, I promise!

Time off has also meant time for organising Jellybaby's room, I've washed all the clothes, sheets etc and put them away - he has so many clothes already! They're so tiny, it's hard to imagine anyone would actually fit into them... I can't wait to try them all on him.

I made the cot up today, we've decided he will sleep in his cot from the beginning as the room is very close to ours - you have to walk through it to get to us. I know I've made the cot up all wrong for a newborn but the blanket and sheets are so cute I couldn't resist putting them on.

I've also started reading through Barneys prepared readings for lent I've never done anything for lent before. It's always been one of those weird Anglican/Catholic things that seemed old fashioned and unnecessary. But I decided that as I have time (at the moment anyway) and I havne't done anything structured in the way of spending time with God lately, that it would be a good thing to start.

It's been fun so far, we're reading Matthew and it's been good to read some of the things Jesus said and see them as part of the bigger picture of His life and ministry. It's also fun to know that there are a bunch of other people reading the same thing, hopefully we'll get a chance to talk about it together.

Well, this is very long post to make up for my lack of posting over the past couple of months - hope you enjoyed it!

Tagged

2009-02-16T11:53:00.003+11:00

Katherine tagged me on her blog, so now it's my turn... I don't now who reads my blog regularly, except Ang but she's already done this... Maybe Deb or Jodi?

Here are the rules of the tag:

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open to page 56.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.

5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!

6. Tag others to do the same!

*****
"Yea," Henry said slowly, "He must be bound to me more closely yet."
"So, we march to aid him against his rebels, brother. Is that how it runs?"
"Maybe, maybe," The King muttered. "I can use him, I think. Yes, I have work for the Bastard."
*******
This is King Henry of France talking about an alliance he has with William of Normansy (aka William the Conqueror) in "The Conqueror" by Georgette Heyer

Goodbye Georgette

2009-01-26T10:53:00.006+11:00

Yesterday my fish Georgette died, I don't normally cry when my fish die but yesterday I did. Possibly because of crazy baby hormones but also because she was the last of the original 3 fish we bought to start our fish tank just after we were married.

Five years ago we decided to actually do something with the empty tank we had and so bought Ellroy, Marlowe and Georgette, all Fantails. They got on pretty well together, to the point of laying eggs together (well, Georgette laid the eggs but we were never quite sure who the father was).

At one point we had around 40 baby fishies but it's very hard to keep tiny fish alive in a tanks and eventually only one was left, we called him Nemo. Now, once again, Nemo is the only one left.

This is a picture of Georgette (top), Marlowe (below her) and Nemo (the tiny one).

Brain in a whirl!

2009-01-17T16:31:00.002+11:00

So much to do, so little time...

Only 7.5 weeks until JellyBaby's estimated due date 11th March! I'm staring to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done, work stuff, organising baby room/clothes etc, catching up with friends, much other stuff and learning to drive!!!!

I still have about 18hours to go before I can do my P's test... Anyone for a roadtrip?

To make matters worse, I don't seem to have started nesting yet which means if I'm tired and overwhelmed I'm more likely to sit and mope than get anything done. Although Stu seems to have picked up the nesting bug and has been having fun painting walls, making bookshelves etc. At the moment he's sanding an old bookshelf/cupboard thing we inherited when we moved in so it's ready to paint.

Oh well, at least I have a very organised to do list...

PS My friend Gail and I went to the aquarium on Thursday and saw the dugongs - they are really cool!

iphone blog

2009-01-02T21:43:00.001+11:00

For Christmas Stu and I got iPhones :-) so as well as rearranging the furniture we've been playing with our new toys! I'm trialling an app that let's me blog from my phone . It seems to work so far!

New year. New shelves

2009-01-02T21:37:00.001+11:00

As part of the New Year, we have been getting ready for our new arrival- only 10ish weeks to go! Stu built new shelves in the lounge room so we can use some of our other furniture for the jellybaby.

Latest News

2008-12-23T17:22:00.003+11:00

It has been so long since I've blogged, I'm really getting quite lazy... To add to my laziness instead of actually writing what's been happening I'm going to redirect you to my latest prayerletter for news. For some of you this may be the first time you've seen what I do at work from "the inside" - enjoy :-)

And just to make this post look a bit more interesting here is a new ultrasound picture of the Jellybaby at 28 weeks. I think it's amazing how much detail you can see! (in case you can't see it, there's an eye, a nose and two little fists)

Advice to ignore on marital sex

2008-11-15T14:38:00.002+11:00

I read this post on Jean's blog and didn't know whether to laugh or cry... I am so glad most Christians these days have a much more biblical view of sex than poor Mrs Smythers.

Have Faith in God

2008-10-31T10:00:00.002+11:00

I've been thinking a lot about Faith lately, or maybe Trust, or maybe both...

A few weeks ago we (I!) drove up to Cessnock to attend the celebration of 20 years of Dad and Mum working at Cessnock Congregational Church It brought back many memories...

Dad spoke about the '6 little old ladies' who stepped out in faith and agreed to support a minister with a family of 6! They knew that it was time either for the church to start to grow or to close down for good. It's amazing to see how that step of faith has borne fruit over the last 20 years. They had faith that God knew what was best and that God would provide.

On our first Sunday in Cessnock our family doubled the size of the congregation! There are now up to 50 or more people (including kids) at church on a Sunday... In the beginning Dad was paid hardly anything and had to work 2 jobs, now the church can afford to pay him almost a full wage.

Mum and Dad had faith too, there were times when they had no money. Mum would make omletes out of eggs we collected from the geese who lived on our rental property because she had no money to buy anything else. As kids we thought it was fun, and I don't think we ever really knew how hard it was for them. I guess it could have been so easy for them to walk away and find a bigger church with better pay but they trusted that God had put them in Cessnock for a reason and He did.

In Credo small groups we have been studying the book of Hebrews, which is full of so much great stuff! There is one passage though that is quoted more than many others, Hebrews 11, here the writer of Hebrews lists many famous believers from the Old Testament who had faith in God even when it seemed like things weren't going their way. They knew God had a plan for the Salvation of the world, that he would build a new kingdom and they knew that they probably wouldn't see that kingdom before they died but they lived as people who belonged to God's kingdom anyway.

I often struggle to see that far ahead, we have a much more accurate picture of the kingdom in Jesus than they did and yet it still seems so hard... I get dissatisfied with my life, distracted by the little things, scared of what others will think of me...

So, I've been thinking (and praying) alot about faith lately...

Stuart's tea is now cosy

2008-10-10T17:55:00.002+11:00

I'm not sure what I think of the finished product... It doesn't look quite right, but that could be due to the teapot which is not a traditional shape while the pattern I used was for a traditional teapot...

Blog!

2008-10-01T13:09:00.003+10:00

Over the past week I've been pondering blogging on many different topics, I just can't seem to focus on anyone thing, at least not long enough to write something challenging and insightful on it.

I have been thinking about friendships, money, my relationship with God, work, becoming a mother, health, miracles, people who are going to lose their hearing because their ipods are too loud... and a whole host of other things.

Maybe one day I'll write them all down.

Questions People Ask

2008-09-17T13:34:00.002+10:00

Now the news is out there, I've noticed that we often get asked the same questions by curious people so I thought I'd list them and the answers here in case you are curious too.

When are you due? 11th March 2009 but apparently only 1 in 20 babies are born on their due date so anytime in the weeks before and after then.

How many weeks along are you? Today Wed 17/9/08 I'm 15 weeks.

Do you know the baby's sex yet? No, apparently you can tell now but ultrasounds are usually done at around 18-20 weeks

Do you want to know the baby's sex? Yes, no, maybe, probably... Not 100% decided but I think we will find out.

Have you been very sick? Thankfully no. Only 50% of pregnant women get morning sickness and I seem to be in the 50% that don't - yay! I have however been really really tired and occasionally get bad indigestion/heartburn/reflux - whatever you want to call it.

Can you feel the baby move? Not yet, s/he is still too small for that but this morning at our midwife appointment we did hear the baby's heartbeat and heard it as it kicked :-)

Do you have a baby bump? Kind of, it's more like a "I've eaten too much chocolate" bump but there are some pants that are too small already and I can definitely tell I'm changing shape.

Are you excited? Yes and also quite scared...

If you have any more questions you think I should add let me know :-)

I think almost everyone knows my news now - do you?

2008-09-04T10:47:00.003+10:00

I've managed to surprise myself over the last 13 weeks, generally I'm hopeless at keeping secrets but I guess when they're mine it's easier...

So it's out there, in person, in cyberspace, in gossip-land. We're having a baby, officially on 11th March 2009 but you know these little critters, they are often quite unpredictable and can arrive anytime.

It's been a lot harder to tell people than I imagined, by email, on facebook and here has been quite easy but in person... It's like I'm embarrassed for people to know, which is quite silly. As one of my friends said "you have been married for 5 years Bec, it's ok..."

Now I can finally use the cute pregnancy countdown script thingy I made when I was about 5 weeks along. I'll put it on the page somewhere on the right :-)

Stay tuned for more news.

2008-08-19T15:57:00.002+10:00

Lately, in an attempt to become crafty, I have been dappling in the ancient art of crochet. Actually, after reading wiki it appears crochet is not as ancient as I thought it was... Oh well.

Anyway, this photo shows off my work - a matching scarf & beanie. I have started on a tea cosy for Stuart , unusual I know but he will insist on wrapping a tea towel around the teapot to keep it warm.

My crocheting, however, has been on hold the last few days as I managed to catch a very aggressive cold. I think without doubt it has been the worst cold I have ever had, thankfully I feel much better today (although still quite icky) and even managed to stop coughing long enough to get some sleep last night!