Two bellies and a baby

Wow....can you hear me clucking?! What a day - I loved catching up with Nikki and Celeste, and their beautiful bellies, not to mention their gorgeous children who are about to become big siblings. Plenty more cuddles of the delicious Sarah too, and how well does Lisa look?! The hardest part of this post was choosing which photos to include. Thanks so much to my stunning (and patient!) models. Looking forward to lots more bubba cuddles and photos in the weeks to come.

I think I tempted fate with my last post as we are shivering through the coldest week of the year at the moment - snow on Mt Macedon and I think Ballarat has also received a dusting. Brrrrrr.

Linda's hen's celebration is next weekend, and I'm madly searching for the perfect outfit. The theme is 'Op-Shop Formal', so the race is on to find the ugliest, most outdated frock in Melbourne! I am determined to find something made from tafetta in a horrid shade of melon, and have several shops still to visit before I give up hope. The evening will definitely be worth some comedy photos! Til then,

K

xx

The first gentle suggestion of Spring...

Despite the freezing temperatures, our jonquils, snowdrops and daffodils are starting to make appearances in the garden. You can't help but feel optimistic that warmer weather is on the way!
Spring has sprung in more ways than one - a huge welcome to Sarah Jade Westlake, and congrats to Lisa, Rob and Katelynn! I have had more than my fair share of cuddles and have loved it all. Next cab off the rank is Celeste, who is very very close to the finish line and doing really well.
Several people have been asking me how Lysh is doing, and she's great. A few updated photos here.
I spent yesterday in the Yarra Valley at a photography workshop, and we visited lots of wineries and drank plenty...oh, and we did manage to take a few photos too! It was heaps of fun and I learned lots, particularly about the intricacies of my new camera. It was good to get out to some completely different locations - poor Alex and Ben are thoroughly fed up with being my models, and have to be bribed with Freddo Frogs if I want to take even a simple shot of them these days. They're definitely their mother's sons....give them chocolate and they're happy!

Happy Birthday, my gorgeous boys

They were four last week - how did that happen? They were only born a few weeks ago - or so it seems. We had a lovely day with lots of fun, starting at the balloon shop just after breakfast! Morning tea in the park with friends from the twins group, lunch at Grammy and Gramps, home to make special birthday cakes and then dinner with Grammy, Gramps and Uncle Jono....it doesn't get better than that! When they woke up the next morning, Ben asked me 'Mama, is it my birthday again today?!'

My new job in the Forensic team at ISIS is going well, I've been there for 3 weeks now and just starting to get my head around it all. It feels a bit strange not to be working for DHS after 14 years, but it was definitely time for a change. My clients have been interesting to say the least, and it's going to be a big challenge to help them bring about change in their lives - and a steep learning curve for me.

Steve's new job is also going well, if you disregard the incident last week when some cretin from the IT department upgraded Steve's laptop and inadvertantly erased his entire Masters thesis in the process. Some very tense hours and days ensued, but a version has been retrieved that should be workable. Nightmare - at least he's learned the hard way about backing up his work regularly. Hindsight is always so perfect.

I'm also posting a pic of Jono taken on Steve's birthday last week. He's snowboarding at Mt Buller this weekend....perfect conditions.....wish I was there!

Kirst xx

I *heart* my D300!

After much research, debate, drooling and financial calculations, I finally took the plunge and upgraded my beloved D70s to a D300. Although I feel a bit like a crop-duster pilot who has been asked to fly Concorde, I am loving my new camera and am learning heaps. Couldn't help the gratuitous SP with my new baby! The picture of Sam is the first shot I took with the D300, so is now preserved here for posterity.

The gorgeous Mel and Dan have recently become engaged (hooray!) and have agreed to let me shoot some engagement photos of them in the city - I'm keen to try out some black and white shots in the laneways of the CBD. This will suit their personalities perfectly and it should be heaps of fun - plenty of places for great coffee in between shots, too!

In other news, I hosted Lysh's baby shower last weekend, which was a riot - we had lots of laughs. She is looking wonderful and finished work last week - big relief. Looking forward to some lazy afternoons on the sofa before the big arrival!

One Yummy Mummy

Last week I had the honour of photographing Alysha's beautiful new shape. She was the perfect model and is just glowing. I cannot wait to meet this tiny person in August and have lots of baby-cuddles....it might satisfy my cravings for a little while! My fave is the black and white shot, Lysh's expression says it all. This is one lucky baby.

We have been bogged down with the usual welcome-to-winter coughs and colds. Poor little Sam even lost his voice, and Ben has been coughing all night. Not much sleep to be had here, and I'm starting to look and feel a bit worse for wear. I'm going to book our 'beach week' for after Christmas in the next few days, so that'll cheer me up and create some light at the end of the (very cold) tunnel. I couldn't resist this photo of Sam in his furry hat though - snug as a bug in a rug!

K

xxx

Busy Days

I've been 'reminded' by a few friends that I need to update our blog regularly, so here's a recent photo of Sam taken with my new(ish) portrait lens. Check out those eyes. I've been asked to do the official photos for the Multiple Birth association this year, and am very nervous. Don't know if I'm up to it, and am thinking of upgrading my camera...but then, you should never blame your tools! Lysh has agreed to let me take some pregnancy photos of her next week, so I'm looking forward to that. Hope I can do her gorgeous bump justice.

Things have been frantic with lots of fundraising activities going on. We had a sausage sizzle at Bunnings yesterday for the MBA which went very well, despite the almost sub-zero temperatures. Still, there were lots of laughs and camraderie to keep us warm! Standing at the hot barbeque was definitely the place to be. Mum brought all three boys down to visit, and I think Alex and Ben each consumed their own body weights in sausages. Mmmmm....healthy. Love that tasty lard. We have another date booked for the Melton store in May, so I'll definitely getting my thermals out for that.

Biscuit is doing extremely well, Sam absolutely adores her and squeals with delight whenever he catches sight of her. Unfortunately he's a bit little to understand the 'gentle pat', and has been caught grabbing for her as she saunters past. She hasn't been deterred though, and seems to love him as much as he loves her. Awwww....

Hope everyone is keeping warm in Melbourne, and enjoying the spring thaw across the pond!

Kirst

xx

Introducing Biscuit

What do you get when you have a clucky mum, animal-loving twin boys and a 3 week old orphaned kitten?! Meet Biscuit, the newest addition to our family. Fate brought her to us (or me to her) after a chance meeting with her sister in a Ballarat patchwork store. After hearing that there were three more kittens in need of some love and 3-hourly bottle feeding, what could I do?! She is doing extremely well, the boys love her and even Tigger seems prepared to tolerate her - the highest accolade.

As for the quilting weekend, I was thoroughly spoiled by the gorgeous Sasha, who also helped me with some practical solutions for backing Sam's Peter Rabbit bed quilt. I will get there in the end.......!