Anna, Have a Very Spoilt Christmas!

This week, Christmas finally came. I didn't manage to get all my Christmas shopping done, but Anna was well taken care of none the less.

It has been a very busy week for little Anna - and she got her first taste of what Christmas will be like for years to come. We started off the Christmas Tour at Chrissy's family's house to celebrate Christmas and Chrissy's birthday with Adam's family. It was lovely to meet our new extended family, and of course Anna was given lots of cuddles.

Then we were off to Pa's house for Christmas Eve dinner. As we do every year, it was nice to bring Anna along this year and made for a very special evening. Anna got some beautiful new clothes from Pa and Tiff, and we loved dinner - Pa's roasts are awesome!

We also got to say hello to Tom and Ramsey on Skype. It was Anna's first skype call - she didn't say much. It was great to see Ramsey for Christmas - I hope Santa gave you a trampoline!

Then it was home time and the first time Anna 'slept through the night', well, from 1am till 7am. Unfortunately this was only a once off.

The next day was Christmas Day. We headed off down to Langwarrin to Leigh's house to meet the Morris family for the first time. Anna was certainly a crowd pleaser. She got hugs from everyone, and was given lots of great gifts.

Then we drove up to Grandma and Grandpa Hateley's house. It was a very relaxed, informal get together, a huge contrast to the Morris and Miller family Christmas's. Allan and Virginia gave us a great hamper that they had put together.

Then we were off to Nanna Lou and Tom's house for Christmas dinner. Nanna did a great job at cooking, the food was delicious. Anna was given lots of cuddles, of course. She was also spoilt with pressies! Mum and Dad gave Anna some nice new clothes that she can grow into. Santa did the same. Aunty Lauren and Uncle Jason gave Anna her first mobile phone (it's pink) and a play gym (which we have already put to good use). A very tired little Anna and her very tired parents drove the 50km back home to have a good 3 hours sleep.

The next morning we were up and about cleaning the house, and getting ready for Tiff's family Christmas lunch. Anna thought it was great meeting Tiff's big family - she was given lots of love and cuddles, and again, more presents which was so lovely.

After stuffing our faces (for the third day in a row), Mum, Dad, Lauren and Jason went to see a movie while Pa and Tiff watched Anna. We got back at midnight and poor Pa and Tiff were so tired, and Anna was being difficult to settle. So a huge thanks for minding Anna - we loved the movie!

And now, we're winding down, cleaning our house, eating all of the awesome left over food (there's always plenty) and Anna and mummy are playing fashion parades with all of the great new clothes Anna got for Christmas!

Thank you to everyone for their love, food, and gifts!

Merry Christmas little Anna - you've made it very special for us.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner...

This week, Aunty Lauren came over for dinner. She was nice enough to hunt and gather some chicken and salad, which was great as we've just gone through the last of our donated frozen food!

It was also an opportunity for Aunty Lauren to get some quality time with Anna - Anna's been in-demand recently so it's been hard to hang out with Anna lately.

Lauren did a great job - changing her nappy, giving her a bath, and putting her down to sleep. Mum loved it too - got a good break from baby time and a neck massage! Anna had a great time with Aunty Lauren - she was smiling!

Speaking of smiling - Anna has been smiling a lot more lately, and she laughed the other day. It's so adorable! I also managed to catch a photo of her smiling too!

She's also starting to 'babble', well, sort of. Her range of noises is extending and you hear a few 'goos and gars' and other assortments now, rather than the 'la and eh'.

And just for Pa - her farting sounds are becoming much more pronounced - they're real FARTS now!

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

With Love, Santa.

Adam and I decorated our Christmas tree last night. This is our first Christmas as our new little family. Even though our tree looks like shit (needs some more decorations or something), it was really nice.

I also went Christmas shopping with Anna yesterday. Despite her waking up and was somehow starving, therefore screaming, whilst I waited in the long christmas queues, she was very well behaved. I ended up feeding her in my car because the thought of having to go all the way home just to come back to finish my shopping was not a happy one!

When we finally got home, I wrapped all the presents (the best part!) and addressed them. Then I thought - 'I get to be Santa!'. Being Santa is heaps of fun, even though Anna is only 4 weeks old. So there are two gifts under the tree at the moment from Santa. This is a big event in our lives - not only do we become parents, but we become Santa - and soon the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy - only this time next year, we'll be creeping out after she goes to bed on Christmas Eve to put the presents from Santa under the tree.

It may sound silly, but its the best character I've ever had to play!

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Thank Goodness for the Swing

Just want to send out a personal thank you to Aunty Lauren for the awesome Swinger she bought Anna for the baby shower, it has given me some well deserved time out. Anna's personality is really coming out, and we've noticed that she's really affectionate and needs to be cuddled and embraced a lot! As most babies do, she loves rocking or swinging - and the Swinger mimics that of what mummy and daddy can do.

See how much she enjoys it!



Gives us a short break from this:



Oh, and Anna had her first laugh today. It was so very cute! And Anna and I have a new game - it's called 'Whispers' (and is as the title suggests).

And another interesting thing happened - Anna was having one of her crying fits, and I must admit it was much more intense than usual, and Cleo came rushing up to the nursery, meowing and appeared very worried, looking in and trying to find out what was wrong. It was rather sweet.

And the best feeling in the world - when Anna is having a crying fit, and I pick her up and cuddle her, she settles right down, as if to say all she needed was her mum.

Loving being a mum - she's the best little girl. There is nothing better than being a parent - it gives life meaning and purpose; it is by far the best purpose in life.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

The Miller's Christmas

Christmas for the Miller's was celebrated a little earlier this year as it seems many of the Miller members are jet setters and wont be around on Christmas day. This was Anna's first Miller Christmas, and also the first time she met all of them too. She survived!

It was a really lovely day. The weather was good, the kids were running around and playing sport out the back. Good food, as always. And of course, everyone was so excited to meet Anna for the first time. I don't think I saw Anna for at least a few hours - she was being cuddled and handed around all day (through all of which she was asleep).

Anna also scored some amazing gifts. Having unwrapped them now, I think I'll actually wrap them back up to open them on Christmas day. A huge thank you to everyone for the gifts, they're just beautiful and help Adam and I out enormously. We're so pleased to be able to give Anna a happy Christmas - I know she wont remember it but your love and generosity wont be forgotten, and she will look back on that and see how amazing her loving family is.

We had a really great day. Merry Christmas Millers!

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Out and About

Anna has been a busy social butterfly this week, with trips to the city, Chapel Street, Nanna's house and Pa's house regularly; She's been a very busy, in-demand little girl.

Pa has been spending lots of time with Anna this week. We like to visit Pa when he's not working and spend the day 'hanging out' and getting apple pies from McDonalds. Pa is always amazed at how much Anna has grown every time he sees her. We've been having a great time at Pa's.

Pa has also been a very handy sitter too. Anna is 'too cool' to hang out with mum and dad so we left her at Pa's while we went to see a movie. Thanks Pa!

Anna has also been rather fussy this week with sleeping and has been a horror to try and get to sleep. One night this week, Anna didn't let mum have any more than 1 hour continuous sleep so Pa came over to watch Anna while mum slept. Again, thanks Pa!

Anna joined in putting up the Christmas tree at Nanna's this week too! It was a very special day for us as it's Anna's first Christmas. It was sad that Tom, Kort and Ramsey weren't there to join in, so Anna and Aunty Lauren put up a branch for them. We had a great time at Nanna's. Anna and Nanna Lou read a bedtime story in the 'Nanna Chair' - Anna fell asleep.

Anna also visited Nanna Lou at her work too this week, and had a hot chocolate on Chapel Street. She was very trendy in her 'Seed' pink duck outfit the VRL girls bought for her - Anna was certainly the centre of attention at Village HO. And Nanna's desk proved to be a very useful change table a few times over.

While we were in the city, Anna and I also visited my old colleagues from National Foods. It was very odd being back there, and just reconfirmed how at ease I am with being a mum; I know where I prefer to be.

Anna was very well behaved and slept during every car trip.

Later in the week, Aunty Nikki and Joey came over for dinner. Aunty Nikki showed she's a natural with babies and got her to sleep. Nikki also willingly carried her all around the shopping centre while we figured out what to get for dinner. Joey commented a lot on how small Anna's head was.

We have had a very fun week, out and about with those we love. We really love going out together - Anna is great company.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Bath Time

Anna is quite fond of bath time. It's a great way to get her to sleep on those long, sleepless nights. She loves kicking her feet around in the bath and splashing her arms about.

We're finding we're having 'bath time' a lot more recently - Anna has learned that if she waits until we get the nappy off, she can do wees and poos and get it all over the carpet, all over the change mat and of course, all over herself, ergo, 'bath time'.

She's a smart little one. We went through 4 nappies, 3 changes of clothes and 2 bath times within the space of half an hour this week. Twice. Genius.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

2 Weeks Old

It's really hard to believe its only been 2 weeks since Anna was born - it feels like she's been a part of our lives forever, I now can't imagine life without her. But these past 2 weeks have gone so slowly, yet so quickly - the story of our lives to come.

In these two weeks, we've gotten to know one another, and Adam and I are slowly adjusting to our new sleeping schedules. We're so pleased that Anna has been very adaptable - she's swapping between boob and bottle with ease so it's taken the pressure off me a lot and given Adam the opportunity to share in the feeding times which I have found to be great bonding time.

In the first week, breastfeeding was stressful. By the second week, I look forward to it. I have Anna to thank for the ease of breastfeeding - she's a nipple seeking missile.

In the first week, Anna had jaundice, which I didn't realise how yellow she was until I saw the photos. But Adam and I conquered that with hourly feeds and lots of sunshine - our first real 'parent' job.

Last week Adam, Nanna Lou and I took Anna out to the shopping centre, her first true 'outing'. We had a nice trip, Anna slept the whole time - and we had to drag Nanna Lou away from Baby Bunting. Since then, Anna has been out and about - going for walks with Pa and late night grocery shopping with Mum and Dad. She certainly draws a lot of attention.

So much has happened in the past two weeks - small things to everyone else but huge to me and Adam. She's got a super strong neck and can hold her head up well. She's going to be an athlete, she's got seriously strong muscles. She's already kicking us out of bed - she demands the 'big bed' otherwise no sleep for Mum and Dad. She's got into a good routine and feeds every four hours like clock work. She 'slept through the night' the other night (7 hours straight) but made up for it the following night. We've learnt not to drink espresso shots before breastfeeding. Anna now focuses on us and looks around, absoring her surroundings like a sponge. Adam has become the champion nappy changer. Anna's dark, thick hair is growing like a jungle! I could really just talk about all the little things she's doing for hours. It's amazing how quickly newborns develop - they're quite impressive.

Now she's well and truly two weeks old and far from the wrinkly little baby I pushed out two weeks ago - her face is becoming so defined now, and she's plumping up with some mean chubby cheeks. Every day that goes by I see her growing so much, and more and more I see Adam in her; there's been quite a debate about who Anna will look like. My votes in for a mini Adam. She's just so beautiful.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Welcome Baby Anna!

To officially launch this blog, I'd like to welcome our beautiful baby girl Anna Louise to our world. Anna was born on the 16th November, 2009 at 3:33am, weighing 3.22kg and 51cm long. She was born at Casey Hospital in Berwick - Adam and I are very much in love with our gorgeous daughter.

It was a very long and exhausting labour with things not really going according to plan - Anna decided she was better off laying upside down, amongst other things. After about a day of 'niggly' contractions here and there, I began having strong contractions on the Saturday night, and when they got to about 4 minutes apart, Adam and I headed off to the hospital, only to be sent home 3 hours later as my contractions were not regular and consistent (evidently this remained unchanged throughout the entire labour though) and i was only 1cm dialated. For some reason, Adam and I thought it would be a good idea to get some breakfast at McDonalds on the way back from the hospital only to realise there was a rather long queue, so I went through four or five contractions at the McDonalds drive through - not such a good idea.

I had assumed that I would end up giving birth to our baby on that Sunday, which happened to be Uncle Tom's birthday too, but Anna was kind enough not to steel Tom's birthday thunder. After being back home for about 2 hours, with the contractions immensely more intense and closer together, we headed back to the hospital to have our baby. Hours passed, and after overcoming some obstacles, Anna was born at 3:33am on the Monday morning (with the help of a vacuum).

Adam and I are such proud parents - we are so happy to have a new addition to our family. Over the past week since Anna has been born, its certainly changed our lives, and the midnight, 3am and 6am feeds are demanding but we are loving every second of the challenge.

We look forward to watching our baby girl grow up and to see the kind of person she is - she is already showing so much personality and has grown already so much in this first week - we are so excited about our future with our daughter.

Welcome to our world Anna Louise Hateley.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x

Playing the Waiting Game

I thought I'd post this blog up as I began writing this the day I went into labour and never finished or posted it.


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The lead up to the arrival of our first baby is proving to be more like a game! A very anxious, and exciting game - when will this baby come?


Over the past 8 or so months (since our pregnancy was announced) our friend's and family have put in their bets for the gender, date, time, weight and length. As yesterday was our 'due date', Adam and I have already lost the date bet (we guessed the 14th of November), but there are others still in the running! Adam and I think its a girl, but the majority think its a boy.


So now, at 40 weeks pregnant, it's an anxious wait for everyone. Physically, I'm doing rather well - baby has been kind enough to stay a reasonable size so I'm carrying what only looks like 7 months pregnant, and I'm still fairly agile - but despite this I'm eager to have this baby out!

(40 Weeks Pregnant)

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...And that day, I went into labour and Anna was born :)

Looking back now on the pregnancy, every now and then I wish I was still pregnant; you cant hold her any closer than when you're pregnant. I was lucky that pregnancy was kind to me, even though I wasn't a huge fan of being pregnant. I managed to escape major stretch marks and post body wise, it's pretty much gone back to the way it was. I'm very thankful.

Oh and Nanna Lou won the bet - she guessed the date, time, gender, weight and height nearly spot on!

Thank you Anna - I hope you enjoyed your stay at Hotel Uterus - It was a pleasure having you.

With love,

Mum and Dad.x