jun, 9th - 23/52....

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls once a week, every week, in 2013

1207 / 306:

Limi: for this split second, i can almost see the teenager that she will grow into....this is her favourite place to be in The House.....perched on the windowsill in the kitchen.

Claya: these hands and feet are forever moving.....the jersey is a hand-me-down from Claya's godmother {see day 634} (i'm pretty thrilled that she's having a boy next and we're inheriting all these beautiful pieces)

p.s. you can click here to read more about the 52 project

jun, 2nd - 22/52......

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls once a week, every week, in 2013

1200 / 299:

Claya: she adores her big sister but also has a feisty side that will be interesting when she gains the same level of mobility and strength. hopefully they will still find each other as hilarious as they do now. i had put some music on and she was doing her own dance moves

Limi: twirling to make her baby sister laugh. the plaster is for aesthetic reasons.....she Loves plasters and generally has one or two on at any given time

i also included the outtakes below. they make me smile whenever i look at them. now that Claya is slightly older, it's almost tangible how their relationship is changing and they are becoming this little clique of their own......i love it.

p.s. you can click here to read more about the 52 project.

aug, 24th - big sister in training....

day 927 / 26:

while we are busy soaking up some British sun down at the coast......i just wanted to slip this post in as there have been a number of questions about how Limi is coping with her new sibling.......

our answer is that it is more a case of over-love at this stage. Limi has been in training for this moment for months and months.....even though we never actively encouraged it and tried to steer her away from dolls,  she is obsessed with 'babies' and has been since she was about fourteen months old. i think the main issue is that she wonders why she can't take more of an active role in looking after Thunderhoovsie, wanting to change nappies, bath her, pick her up, feed her (which is an interesting one), violently rock her in the bouncy chair and Claya's least favourite, force her eyes open to play.  after all.....she is an expert when it comes to her own babies: Noah and Panda (Noah is the one being carried in the kitten-drape-pose over her arm, above)......they get dressed and undressed, bathed, changed and put to sleep over and over again during the day.

it's tough on us to keep discouraging her when she's just trying to help and be involved. but as Claya adjusts to the tough love by her sister and we adjust to spending individual time with each of them and time together....it's getting easier to balance. hey, by no means have we figured it all out yet....but we're having fun trying.


p.s. Limi's obsession with babies is at least balanced by her love of Spiderman and doing face-planting dives off the back of the couch. 

jul, 20th - 38 weeks....

day 892:

i've reached the spectacle phase.....where taxi drivers get nervous when they pick you up, strangers start saying 'whoa, you look ready to pop' and women smile at you in that knowing 'you're-about-to-go-on-a-rollercoaster-ride' way......

the problem is that i keep forgetting and wondering why people are staring at me.

at least it's a decent ledge for Limi and as a friend said, probably the only time that we'll allow her to sit on her sibling's head.

have a great weekend and see you back here on Monday. x

jul, 12th - siblings....

day 884:

it's all getting very real now. i'm 38 weeks pregnant so really it could happen at any time (hopefully after the crib has been painted, the bag packed and the swiss ball pumped up again........we always were a bit of a last minute couple)

the pics above are of Limi on the right (at about 31 weeks) and thunderhooves on the left (at 27 weeks)

nov, 13th - home from home.....

day 274:

it's always amazing to stay at my sister's place in Italy.......

big comfortable beds, layered with local white linen....

[pic from this Summer - day 173]

monastically simple ensuites.....

sink-into sofas and in winter, fires crackling in each room. 

back in England today and breathing in the  olive firewood scent on our clothes as i do the washing..... 

oct, 23rd - can't help the nostalgia....

day 254:

it's interesting that as we speed forward at pace with watching Limi grow, it's impossible not to look back at our own childhoods, remembering everything we loved: in A's case - Sesame Street, fresh milk from their dairy farm, a wonky tree-house, in mine - jumping on the trampoline, Curious George, playing board-games with my siblings.

so....although this falls into soppy-posts-i'm-not-allowed-to-publish, i'm loving looking back at old pics. these were taken when i was about 6 months old. obviously my brother and sister were not convinced by the photographer and i was mostly.... oblivious. loving their confused expressions....you want us to do what? sit here and smile? 

think this is the shot! loving the hairstyles too.

and just by the way....if i'm doing a soppy-post then: i have the best siblings in the world. just saying!

aug, 16th - my sister...

day 185:

my sister is the best.....if you want to borrow her then you need to join the queue....my friends are already in it.....she's always protected me and even though i'm younger.....i never had to run snivelling to my mum saying 'nix won't play with me', i was always included in her games, even when her friends were around.

once, she even let me try out a short hairstyle on her doll first (she may not have given me permission...but hey...she didn't get too angry)

[recorded voice: if you have just dialled the borrow-dee's-sister line, you are now no. 486 in the queue]

she has taught me how to be a more responsible person and to trust my own decisions, even if it means going against my peers (quite a feat when you grow up in a small town). she even instilled in me a rigid cleanse, tone and moisturise routine that stuck after wild-university nights out. my most wonderful times have been when we are together doing something creative: planning her wedding, planning my wedding, 

making head-pieces for our Christmas Eve celebrations, making a change table from scratch......she is an incredible friend, an amazing cook, the most generous person i know and makes every special occasion into a wonderfully, decadent festival. i promise...you want to celebrate your birthday around my sister!

[recorded voice: if you have just dialled the borrow-dee's-sister line, you are now no. 489 in the queue]

i have to admit a dark secret though....(no, this is not about her missing strawberry patch purse...that i may or may not have buried in the garden). when my sister had her first baby......i felt quite (shamefully) jealous. not that she had a baby but that i, as her baby sister, would no longer take priority...who was going to look after me?

but...somehow, she's managed.....

and she just gets it!

with limi...she flew in just as that initial euphoria started waning and the tiredness kicked in.....she cooked, cleaned, rescued us in the mornings, taught me how to bathe a baby, gave me the confidence to go out and about, threw a fantastic head-wetting party and once again ensured that i felt comfortable in my own ability. she is also the reason that limi has the most fabulous wardrobe and that i had clothes to wear post-baby (and didn't have to live in pyjamas).

she is the best.

[recorded voice: if you have just dialled the borrow-dee's-sister line, you are now no. 521 in the queue]

happy birthday, my sister!