change and moments and paper cranes

It is a time of change and of moving in to new things. I can feel it in that soft mixture of cool and warm in the air that promises the transition to summer. I can feel it in the way this baby shifts and nudges closer and closer. Any day he'll bring his little life into our world, transforming it to something different yet extraordinary in a new way. I can feel it in the quiet sadness brought on by the passing of a dear family friend yesterday. That still, yet slightly unsettled feeling where the day seems calmer, the birds louder and the breeze softer. I remember this sensation from before, when my grandmother passed, that we're not the only ones who know but the world around us has stilled itself a little. I can sense change all around me. Things passing and coming. Excitement and sadness and anticipation and peace all folded together.

And I know it more strongly than ever: the new things that are coming are good.

So on a different yet related note, I was seized yesterday by the sudden desire to ready myself for this baby just a little bit more. Other than clothing and a place to sleep and the basic newborn essentials I haven't made much else ready for him. We're in this house temporarily, hoping to buy and move in the summer, so he doesn't have a room. He'll be sleeping beside our bed and I have commandeered the space at the bottom of the stairs for his change table. Yesterday, however, I nested for him just a little more. And I made the bottom of the stairs his.









There is a fantastic guide to making paper cranes here. The first took a little time, but by the forth or fifth I was on a roll and each crane took five minutes to fold with no need for instructions (read the post and click on the link to the pdf instructions). I love the cupcake idea and the streams of hanging garlands.

I folded my cranes and used white embroidery thread and white tacks to hold it all together. The cranes have a little hole in the bottom that is ideal for the entry of a needle and thread. The embroidery thread was thick so one little knot at the bottom was enough to secure the crane.

That done I feel more ready for him than ever. I hope that my next post will usher him in...

This weekend we had a few little family moments. You know the sort that sneak up on you--you think you're running errands and doing the usual and suddenly realize you're in a memory making moment. We had been out in the car to tick a few jobs off the list. The day was warm and still and stunning. And we were hungry. Sausalito, I thought. I hadn't been there since a lunch with my S.I.L. three years ago while we were both expecting our first babies. A little cafe next to the Bridgeway Cinema in Northcote Point. Yummy caramelized onion pizza. So we went and lounged at the back of the resturant, ate a delicious lunch and headed off for a drive around Northcote Point and Birkenhead (which is beautiful on a summery day) then headed out to Cheltenham beach just because.

It was somewhere just before or around this point that we realized this little family outing may be the last one we have as a team of three. We are so excited about the next, the new and the many 'firsts' to come, but we sure did hold on tight to this 'last' so that it couldn't slip before we'd protected it a little.

(My husband took over the camera for the gull and plane shots. Love him!)

Sophia is having some Grandma time at the moment which gives me a chance to rest and write a little. She's had a bit of a fever and a cold this week. Bless her.

And I'll have to say Playmobile has been an absolute winner! Her Grandma and Opa bought her this for when her baby brother is born, but, we were a bit naughty and cranked it anyway cause we just really needed to. All I can say is LOVE. Playmobile is a new passion.

Thanks Grandma and Opa!

That's about all for now. Will end with a little sandpit montage of Sophia and her best bud. These two are indescribably cute together now, with their little girly giggles and squeals and arguments and chatter. :)

S'all for now. As I said before, the next time I check in I hope to hope to be announcing something...

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