DIY

Im sure Im not the only person who pins large amounts of DIY projects on Pinterest with no intentions of ever trying them, mainly because Im by no means crafty although I would consider myself creative!
Ant always needs something to do, so after coming across the blog ohdeardrea (shown to me by a friend) I suggested we make one for Max. This was a great idea and full of all the good intentions; Ant has something to occupy his mind with, I am actually attempting one of my pins and have something to blog about and Max scores a pretty cool tent to play in.

It started with a family trip to Masters

We got to Masters (Max was sleeping) and headed to wood aisle. This is pretty much where we went from a joint on the same page project to having two different ideas.
In my head I had a picture of the sweet bright little flowery tent all neat in the corner just like the blog. Ant being a male and knowing everything had an idea of a sturdy structure that wouldn't break.
After some heated discussion on timber size Ant gave in and said fine do it your way.

So we paid for our supplies and left the store, me slightly happy that I had won in the end (so I thought). We got home and Ant immediately went to the shed to get started. First hole he drilled the timber split, straight down the middle just like he said it would.

Feeling a bit silly, we got in the car an headed to Porters Hardware to get the bigger sized timber just like anthony suggested (not before I got the 'I told you so and you never listen you always have to be right' lecture).

From then on it was fairly simple to construct. Ant cut the pieces to length, holes were drilled and dowels were inserted into the holes.
                                                               

We brought the frame inside and added a cross beam to keep the shape. Max had to be caged (put in the portacot to prevent him from helping/destroying)

After that was the almost impossible task of picking fabric. I left Ant in the car with Max who was asleep again and went into Spotlight on my own. I must have been in there too long because Ant had his chair reclined and was sleeping when I got back, and after all that time I had buyers remorse and was unhappy with my choice. It was too late to change my mind so I came home to finish the project. 

Even though Im still not entirely happy with the fabric choice I did feel a sense of accomplishment. I have no sewing experience and managed to sew the cover (not before snapping the machines needle) and Ant did a good job of putting together the frame. It was a joint effort with a little help from Max!

Max thought it was great and went straight to work trying to destroy it....Such a boy :

Quick family snap before heading off the get more wood! Max was not happy about the drill noise.

The boy grew and grew and grew...

...until he was almost 1 year old!! (nine months to be exact)

Today I took Max and Poppie for a walk and on the way back I slowed down so he could watch the world better. I was watching him and it got me thinking just how fast time really does fly by.
I remember so clearly the day I took the test and feeling a nervous excitement at work about my own chance to be someones whole world. Then all the wondering - what will happen to my body, what will labour be like, what will the baby's gender be, what will it look like, what will it's personality be like, will it be really hard. So many unanswered questions that only the future held.

Then suddenly D day came and went! We had a beautiful baby boy and were in the thick of it; late nights, breastfeeding struggles, constant nappy changes, over analysing everything! and again so quickly it all passed and we suddenly had routine, better sleep and milestones being ticked off before the ink could even dry.

I looked down at my nine month old and felt a bitter sweet pain, we had so much time left together yet I feel like I needed more of the time we just had. Babies really truly grow to quickly.
One piece of advice a new mum gave me was cherish every moment because it goes so quickly; then she turned to me and said 'seriously, you think you are but your not, it will be over before you know it'

I guess she felt the same...


Here are a whole lot of pictures of our first nine months together as a family:

Car ride home

You had a taste of freedom then you were sent back to the hospital for two nights

Getting to know each other

First swim

First trip to the beach - Blacks Beach

First swing ride

First taste of food- Avacado!

Baby wearing daddy

6 month birthday and your half cake to celebrate!

                                                                   Eungella Dam

First camping trip to Eungella Dam

Edible paint fun

Your growing too fast kid, slow down!!!