It's the little things in life that make all the difference.

This is the baby's coat I have been working on. It is from one of Simplicity Patterns' vintage range. I love that they have introduced a vintage range. This is from a layette pattern which includes a dress, petticoat, and booties. I am all about dressing babies in a vintage manner. I love that babies all used to wear "nighties" no matter their sex for the first few months. It seems infinitely sensible to me and something I did for babies number 6, 7 and 8. Long live nighties! The coat is a soft green, but not quite as pale as my photo would have you believe.

The coat itself is finished and I am just working on embellishing it with a little embroidery. I was having a chat with Miss 24 the other day and we were discussing how it is the little extras in life that make all the difference. Nice to have a coat, even nicer to have an embellished one. What are the little things that make a difference in your life?

Being an uncle when you are still a kid. (It's great!)

We had the joy of spending the day with Mrs 25 and her family this week. We took a vote. Granddaughter is the most beautiful baby in the world. Mr 9, Mr 15 and Miss 13 are all madly in love with her. Miss 17 is just as head over heels, but I didn't manage to snap her. They all vote that being an uncle and aunt is the best ever.

Of course, this new arrival hasn't dampened our enthusiasm for Grandson. He is a walking, talking genius! Every time we get to spend time with him he does something new that amazes us. We all play and play and play when he comes over. He makes sure of it! And he loves his new sister with a passion. Being a grandmother is pretty darn good too! (For those of you who have asked, my Bradley and I are Ma and Pa to our grandchildren. We tossed around all sorts of ideas, but decided to make ourselves Ma and Pa. Possibly after Ma and Pa Kettle - we do have a lot of children. Or maybe after the Larkins. (Ma and Pop) Who doesn't love "The Darling Buds of May"? Right now grandson calls us both Ma. We are an interchangeable unit obviously. I like being considered to be the same as my Bradley!) So, indulge me and look at these photos of my children admiring my child's child!

Yesterday I drew this froggie on some calico. She sure is happy! She is based on one of Bronwyn Hayes' frogs from her "Chicken Little Feather" book. (Sweet book with lots of patterns and stitcheries for babies! You should rush out and buy it!) I have been thinking about things to make for babies cause Mrs 25 is pregnant and I am going to be a grandmother again. (You know you're old when you're a grandmother. You know you're really old when you are two grandmothers!) The frog's dress might give you a clue as to whether we think this baby is a girl or a boy! I think she will end up on the front of a bib!

Happy birthday Mr 14 (Or happy "insideout pants day")

Mr 14 is the new Mr 15 today. He is number 6 in my family and one of the nicest teenaged boys on the planet. (Do all parents think their kids are the best? I know it's kind of nausiating, but mine really are!) He is a dedicated grandson lover and spends as much time with him as he can. This has completely paid off because grandson loves him passionately. Grandson is nearly 10 months old and is doing the "mummy, mummy" thing at the moment. Can't bear to be separated from his Mum (exactly what he should be up to of course!) even when he is in the same room as she is! Except for his Dad (of course) and Mr 15.

Here he is with a couple of sisters. (The guy has an excess of sisters. There are five of them!) They all like him and like to hang out with him. (Hey! You gotta be doing something right if your sisters like you!) When he was young he nominated his birthday as "insideout pants day". It has become a tradition at our house that everyone looks forward to. In fact, mostly everyone here has their pants (trousers) on insideout today! He is a gentle giant and has always been. He was a huge 11lbs 13oz when he was born. When I was 37 weeks pregnant he was transverse. (Lying horizontally in the womb rather than vertically) This was quite strange and I could feel his head and his bottom in my sides. He seemed big to me. I thought, if this was a newborn lying on my stomach, he would be long! The 38 week mark was d-day. Transverse babies are at risk of cord prolapse (very bad!) if your waters break or you go into labour so generally they are born early by c-section. My doctor let me go home at 37 weeks if I promised to stay close to home and the hospital incase anything happened, but at 38 weeks I had to be admitted for a c-section. I was very nervous about having an operation and clung to the hope that he might turn around. We prayed that he would turn of his own accord and the night before my checkup I was woken in the middle of the night by incredible pressure in my abdomen. It was seriously strange and I had to get out of bed and squat on the floor to get any kind of relief. Of course, I woke Bradley up. (Afterall, it was his baby too!) and spent half an hour squatting, swaying and crying. Eventually, the pressure disappeared and the baby was moving and hiccupping away happily so I thought it was all good. When I went in to see my doctor he chastised me because I didn't have my overnight bag with me (it was in the car) and explained that I would be admitted that day. I told him that the baby had turned and he didn't believe me. Of course, he had turned (head down) and I was able to go home and wait for the natural delivery in two weeks time. At which time Mr 15 was 5.4kg and 60cm (24") long. I know I was blessed beause he turned around and despite being such a big baby I was able to give birth naturally without any help and without any stitches. Eeewwwwwww! (Sorry, just thought the conversation called for an eeewwwwwww at this point!) So, in a nutshell, he was big (although not chubby!), I had no problems, and he's a great 15 year old now. Phew! Finally!

Oh look, another photo of Mr 15 and grandson together! This little boy is lovely too. Chubby, but lovely. He was an ordinary sized baby when Mrs 24 pushed him out, but once he started breastfeeding he just grew and grew and grew. He has had lots of tests done and the doctors don't know why he is like this. But he is. I think that he is the luckiest little boy in the world because he came to the best Mummy possible for him. He can't wear ordinary clothes, so everything he wears is designed and made by his Mum. (She is awesome! I know I couldn't have designed clothes like she does when I was 24!) She is working on some warmer clothes for him at the moment and doing a great job. Okay, almost finished the nausiating appraisal of my wonderful children! They are great, all of them! And they are always doing amazing things. (Like getting great report cards and winning awards, and being kind to each other and thoughtful to those around them.) I love being their mother!

My 100th Post!!! (Work in Progress)

I was going to call this post "Work in Progress", but when I got to blogger I noticed that this is my 100th post! And then I figured that "Work in Progress" describes the baby rug shown below and also my blog. When I started blogging last year I was looking for a way to encourage myself to complete craft projects, and also for interaction with likeminded crafty people. I was already brimming with inspiration because I was reading crafty blogs and I wanted to transform this inspiration into crafting of my own. I was already a sewer and crafter, but hadn't had the motivation to craft for a while. I initially found blogging difficult. Difficult to get on a computer (Hey! There were nine of us living here at the time. You try competing with teenagers who need their daily fix of MSN and My Space!), difficult to get hold of a camera, and difficult to navigate the computer and blogger. (Yes, I'm a reformed technophobe!) The more I practised the friendlier the computer seemed! Miss 21 left for overseas and left her computer (George) in my care, and I got my very own digital camera. Now the only problem is the crafting! (And I even have a crafting room!) I'm getting more organised and I'm thinking more about how I can be more productive and what I want from life. I have gone from posting sometimes to posting more regularly. I want to keep this up because posting is so fun! Hopefully my crafting output will increase this year too.


This is the rug from the "knitting" post. I started it yesterday and I'm really enjoying it. It's my "I'm a mother who doesn't want to be bored" project at the moment. I try to always have one of these on the go. That way when you have to take the kids to (piano lessons, basketball training, the library, their friend's house, ballet classes, basketball games, golf lessons, craft classes, Open Access College activities, the playground, homeschool activities etc, etc, etc.) insert one here, you are not bored and feel that you are achieving something. You can even grab your current project as you head out to the doctor's appointment, the hospital, the physio and anywhere else where they consider that you won't mind waiting for them to get around to you! It's a sanity preserver in those situations.

I sewed up the booties. These are so cute. And smaaaaaaaaall!!! Miss 15 says (uncharitably) that I don't remember how small babies are. (Right kid. Thanks for that! I have hardly any "baby" experience at all. Afterall, pushing out 8 babies is not enough to give me that experience!) I'm pretty sure that these booties would not have fitted most of my kids. Mr 19 (10lbs 10oz) now wears size 16 shoes (try buying them in Australia!) and always had big feet. Mr 13 (11lbs 13oz) now wears size 14 shoes (Yeah, we can't do the "act your age, not your shoe size" joke with him at the moment!) which are equally as hard to find. Of course we're not sure what Mr 7 (11lbs 4oz) will get up to! And even the girls (who were all smaller than the boys) wear size 9 or 10 shoes. Anyway, I don't think they would fit my kids, but Mrs 23 is not one of my huge kids so they might fit her little boy.

A cake to celebrate my 100th post! I'm looking forward to many more! (This was the most celebratory photo I could find!)