Coming Soon

We have a safe and sweet arrival at the Darling Household! More news soon, watch this space, etc etc etc. Love to you all xoxo

Spring Break: The Radio

I love our new kitchen and the shelves above the sink and NEW dishwasher, but I miss the radio. I've given it a good rest while on maternity leave (so far) because otherwise I think too much about work, and hear good ideas and get a little carried away with 'radio producer' mode thinking instead of 'fluid and relaxed and calm' mode... the latter being so much more suitable for planning for birth, in my opinion.

The radio set is all ready though, in the new kitchen!

Spring Break: Tulips

Because our house is looking so lovely after the renovation of the kitchen, I'm filling every surface and every spare bottle with flowers. So gorgeous!

Spring Break: Vitamin D

Thank goodness for all this sunshine during my mat leave, it's been glorious to be out during the day (instead of stuck in the office) but vitamin D is really important as well espech for the baby!

Happy Monday to you, I might have had Baby Darling by now, who knows? I'm just taking a blogging break until I can visit the computer and internet again!

Spring Break: Orange

This hipstermatic photo is from the new MCA in Sydney, and it's my screen saver on my phone... I love orange! The Biennale was on during our weekend up there, and I took so many photos that I've only just refound in my photo stream. Snap Happy!

xoxo

Spring Break: Doris Day

Doris Day is naked right now! Naked at on the internet and she doesn't care! She makes such a good maternity leave friend and has been enjoying sharing the backyard with us on those beautiful sunny days.

Happy Friday! xoxo

Spring Break: Knitting

Did I post this already?

My friend made me a monkey teddy, and he/she is my couch companion (when I can stand to sit for longer than 30 minutes with this large uterus pressing everywhere) as I knit. I never knit these days, so it's kinda fun doing it again!

I'm taking a little Spring Break with my blogging chit chat, as there's a high chance I'm having a baby this week... so you'll see a few photographs instead! xoxo

Spring Break: Big Belly

My basketball under my dress attracts a bit of the old head turning along the streets. I'm only 4 eleven (you guys must remember that by now) so it's a bit funny to see I guess.

Here we are waiting at the airport to pick up Mum.

xoxo

Spring Break: Blue Skies

There are so many things to take photos of when you're out walking the dog.

Don't mind me, I'm just taking a little Spring Break from blogging (and showing you photos instead), as I may or may not be having a baby this week!

xoxo

Spring Break: Icecream

The darling Franca has put together a month of just photos as she takes a 'writing' break from her blog, and I was thinking that considering my due date is just days away, I might do the same! I'll call it Spring Break because: ... it's spring and we're very happy to see the blossoms and sunshine and blue skies and even the glossy rain and rainbows that September in Melbourne brings us!

My first photo for Spring Break (Veronica Darling on Maternity Leave Style):

White Mudcake, Choc Mint and Watermelon icecream and gelato from the shopping centre. I needed to pick up a few things, but had to shop close by to bathrooms, so I went to the massive shopping centre. But you need treats first, right?

xoxo

Baby Sleeping Bag

Last week, I caught a little 'Me-Time' in the Sewing Room before the newborn arrives in the real world. And with some cotton towelling from Spotlight, I made a Sleeping Bag with a little Hoodie! 

My Mama gave me the bias tape last year, and the mismatched buttons are from the stash, and I only included them because Max in Where the Wild Things Are has them on his jumpsuit... The ears were just really improvised pieces that I turned inside out, and stitched on, and then hand stitched so they'd stay up if one was to wear the hoodie... And one doesn't even know if one's child will wear this (what we think is adorable is often not comfy for the kidlets, right?)! But it's just so lovely anyways!

Being on maternity leave has left me as a Lady of Leisure, but a lady who can't go too far from the bathroom, or too far from a nice siesta spot ... so my daytime activities are small, close to home and often car trips. (For example, I changed my shopping schedule yesterday to visit a real life annoying shopping mall/centre because there were lovely bathrooms. And yes, I was there for 2 hours and visited the bathroom 4 times).

ANYWAYS, so much pregnancy goss and sidetracking! I was in our lovely west village for a massage and enjoyed a lovely late morning brunch with Nikkishell the other week! And she passed on so many lovely goodies, these baby sewing patterns above being the ones I Frankenstein-ed together for the Sleeping Bag. It's absolutely massive, not a 3 month old size (like it suggests) and I'm not sure if that's the pattern or the material I chose?!

Thanks Nichola! My offspring sewing is only just beginning... not sure if I'll make anything else (oh boy am I rolypoly today - BIG but no baby yet) before the birth... but we'll see.

Have a great weekend and thanks again for your thoughts and comments this week! Maybe we'll have news within the next week or so?!

xoxo

Little Toys

A gorgeous soft toy rabbit for Baby Darling. Yes I may have cuddled it a little already, just to warm it up!

Hope you're having a lovely week! I'm so loved and gushed about the pleasant weather and love having so much maternity leave to enjoy it. Vitamin D top up is good for the both of us!

xoxo

Sew Weekly: Nursing the Wild Side

While I was doing a bit of this on the couch for most of this week, I also pottered my way into the Sewing Room. WTF, I KNOW! As you've probably noticed, I'm not really in the creating mood this year, I've been tired, busy and doing the grown up thing of actually slowing things down while I grow a real life human child. A VERY different pace of life for me this year. And how great do I feel (beside the heart burn, weird pelvic tingles and puffy feet) for it? GREAT!

But with a little nudge from some online friends, I also got a little inspired to take my time and make a few things this week. The first, this WILD dress which only came about because the lovely Megan Nielson sent me the BEST maternity pattern... the Perfect Nursing & Maternity Top and I turned it into a little/large dress for to wear now and after birth.

The Sew Weekly theme this week was about being inspired by literature, and Husbie and I have been feeling a little in love with children's books at the moment. My work sent me a great collection of darling children's books to start our library for the new addition, and we've always had a really beautiful hardcover edition of 'Where The Wild Things Are'... it might have been a subconscious inspiration to our new kitchen wallpaper as well...

Anyways, so great inspiration from Megan's pattern, some fun and totally cheap fabric from Spotlight and a fun Sew Weekly challenge brought about the dress and this hilarious photo shoot in the kitchen. All my Sew Weekly details are up on Mena's blog and this week I'll post the little Max costume I made as well, thanks to darling Nikkishell's baby patterns!

I do LOVE Meg's nursing pattern, it was really so easy to make up and I can imagine I'll be making it again once I work the whole breastfeeding thing out. I've been wearing clippy bras through my pregnancy, as I can't stand underwire or anything tight (I ripped off some tights this morning that were just way too clingy) so I just hope they're big enough to accommodate a milk filled boob as well, who the hell knows!

Anyways, today the neighbours decided the bump shape was definitely a boy shape, and I know some of you have had your pick too... I wonder what he or she will be like! Now that the Little Darling is 38 weeks old in utero, birth could happen anytime. The midwives again say it's head down, fixed now, and its little back is along the front of me... so perfect birthing possie. At the most recent heart beat monitoring, the midwife told me the myth was that at full term if the heart beat is a certain number it means a boy and if it's another it means a girl. My little fetus was still being a trickster, and gave us a heartbeat reading of first a boy, then a girl, then a boy. I love not knowing, it's so funny thinking of who they'll be and so amazing knowing they'll be in our lives and we'll love them no matter what. SO MUCH love and gush in our house at the moment!

Have a gorgeous weekend and I'll hopefully see you here soon! xoxo