Almost time for the jet plane again...

So yes, my Australian visit is almost over. Four and a half weeks is a decent amount of time to have been here, but the end still does come around very quickly. I have had an, let's say, different than expected time here, but it has been wonderful and has reinforced how amazing my family is and how fabulous my friends are. I've had some pregnancy related medical issues treated here and to be honest, am grateful to have had my Mum and Dad right by me the whole time. How nice is it to have a cup of tea made for you and a blanket draped over you while you rest on the couch? I've managed to get my fix of Thai, Chinese, Turkish, Italian and of course, some fast food staples like Oporto and Kingsley's Chicken and I've shopped the Bonds and Cotton On Kids baby clothes like no tomorrow.

The baby shower was incredible and I have 3 angel friends to thank for it running so smoothly. Mum and I took on the food and drink, but the girls were amazing running the games, the presents, decorating, basically running the show. Of course, they did not forget my fave baby shower game - smell the "poo" (chocolate bars melted in the microwave, then squooshed into nappies/diapers) in the nappy game and figure out the chocolate bar (I had to be reminded of the only very small difference between a Mars bar and a Milky Way!). Here are some pics!

Yay for the baby poo game! We also played a very technical 'guess how big Melinda's belly is using a piece of ribbon', and a 'what is the name of the baby of this animal' game.

This is my oldest friend Chaylee concentrating hard to win the bottle of wine that came with being #1 at this game!

OH, and my garland. How did that turn out you ask. And the cupcakes??? Well, the garland I was happy with and it is packed ready for re-hanging in the nursery. The cupcakes? Well, no, not so happy. But they were cute and very tasty.

Here is a recap of what they shoulda, coulda looked like:

OH well. Here are some quick pics of how the cupcake toppers came to be:

The baby shower was a blast and I was incredibly spoiled with gifts. It was wonderful to receive the Australian made, owned and just Aussie themed items and I have so many clothes that this little girl is going to need multiple outfit changes a day, even if not due to spit-up or poo. Plus, Mum and I have been stocking up and Jerry and I had started a box of baby items long before we decided to try. So all this:

Is now 15kg in this:

The 'not-cat-people' out there may barf at this, but my cats have been super cute and sweet during the visit. They are the new Mouse Hunters though, and have caused my parents grief with the number of tiny little things they have brought into the house to show off. Today's mouse hunting adventure was dramatic. After snapping some shots of the two of them with their prey, the crows came in high numbers to try to get the mouse and take it for themselves. I'm kinda glad the birds won out, even though I am not sure whether the tiny mouse head I found on the grass that is still haunting me, was the leftovers from the cats or the birds....

Tuesday this week I am off to Sydney to have yumbo pie dinner at Baja Cantina with 2 of the angels plus my amazing friend Jess. Wednesday is Mary Poppins - yay!!!

Then, this will be me. Back to West Brookfield, where the husband awaits...

Oh, second winter in a year...and we're only halfway through!

So yes, it has been cold here in Canberra since I arrived. I receive a lot of questions about how much colder might it be here than in Massachusetts, and to be honest, it's not that different. Snow is obviously the aspect we miss out on here, apart from seeing it atop the mountains in the distance as we head down my beloved (yes Jerry) Tuggeranong Parkway. But the snow we can see sends us all a chill in the wind as soon as we step outside the warmth of a house or car, so it can really get through to your bones here. This is what I have woken up to since I have arrived:

Cold....I need to make like our cat Walter and lay in the warm sun, that does shine through, you just have to find the right sun trap to lay around in!

Or, make like Albert...

Since I have been back in Canberra, I have been madly trying to sell the contents of a storage container we have been keeping here. Oh, selling big decent quality pieces of furniture is a pain. I spoke to a second hand dealer misery guts on the phone that didn't give me any encouragement or hope that I would sell off what I need to in order to get rid of this unit. I held a good old garage sale on the weekend, and I swear my stuff is really cool but just doesn't seem to be what people are looking for. Are they looking for junk? Anyway, I sold about $120 worth of goods but still have a lot to deal with. Salvation Army here I come?

Even though I am trying to get rid of household goods, I cannot resist buying baby goods!! I've tamed myself for the moment, until after the baby shower at least. I really want to take a lot of Aussie stuff back, like Bonds for example. They just make the cutest clothing, oh and Cotton On Kids too!! Can't resist the cuteness. Here is some of what I have bought or been given so far:

Mum has wonderfully kept a box of knitted clothes that her grandmother and my Aunt had made for me, back in the day. I am so happy to have these and the idea of bringing my daughter home from the hospital in the same blanket my brother and I used is wonderful.

The little pink booties were purchased from the Hall Markets last weekend and will be super cosy on the baby's feet. They are hand knitted with sheepskin soles and sheep fur lining. Here are some shots from the Hall Markets:

My Dad bought some of these (men's style of course) to keep his tootsies warm!

My fab friend Renata came to visit over the weekend and we talked a lot of baby (I have talked A LOT of baby since being here) shower. Thanks to Pinterest, I have so much more inspiration for everything! Recipes, DIY, decorating, baby stuff, photography, design, quotes, fashion! I completed my first DIY project for the shower yesterday, based on this:

For full info on how to complete this project, please go to Made.

This is how my project came together. I purchased 2 pieces of felt, hot pink and grey, from the Art & Craft store in Civic for $1.75 each and a roll of hot pink ribbon with white polka dots for $2.00 at Top Dollar. Mum had the rest of the supplies I needed - scissors, pins, a ruler, craft glue and a paintbrush and marker. The template for the bunny is online at Made and I just resized it so I could get 6 bunnies out of each piece of felt.

When they were cut, I pinned them onto the ribbon and made sure I was happy with the spacing. I decided to do grey, pink, grey etc and left about 30cms of ribbon at each end for pinning/attaching to the wall. I don't know how I'll do that yet, but either blu-tak or pins will do the trick. I thought too that even if you want to make the garland a permanent feature on the wall, add eyelets to the ribbon and attach to cute little hooks or even a nail in the wall.

Once I was happy with the spacing, I used craft glue to stick each ear to the ribbon. I let it dry for a while as the felt was quite wet from the glue seeping through. I was going to use craft paint for the eyes and nose but all we had in the house was teal, so I tested a black marker on some leftover felt to make sure it didn't bleed too much, and was happy with what I found. Easier than sewing on a face and I hope a better outcome than teal eyes and nose in paint. I'll post a final product pic after the shower!

My other little project is to get ready for the bunny cupcakes I am making for the shower. Based on these below from sweetsugarbelle:

I've glued 30 little tails onto 30 cupcake cases and have to start on the cookie ears tomorrow so the whole package is ready for the weekend. I purchased small cotton balls from Top Dollar and cut them in half to make them a little cuter and to stop the cupcake case from dropping under the weight of a heavy cotton tail!

I'll have to also post the pic for these after the shower!

So now off to bed and to read a little more of the Jools Oliver (wife of Jamie) book my friend Steph has loaned me. It is a really honest account/diary of her first and second pregnancies and I'm learning a lot already. Check out the cover so you can spot it in the book store if you're interested:

Good night!