Birthday helper

It was Mr Meet-Cute's birthday last month and Ray helped me with decorating and wrapping some presents.

We used these 'playon' crayons, that are good for little hands. Ray was quite interested in how they tasted. Not so much with the scribbling on the paper.

He was quite good at putting the 'finishing touch' stickers on the parcels after they were wrapped. He also contributed some lovely dribble spots.

The card!

The cake! I used this recipe to make a delicious, moist orange cake with a crunchy top. I felt it needed a bit more birthday festive-ness though so I added the heap of chocolate ganache to top it off.

Ray is one!

So another thing that happened is that Ray turned one! We had a party at the park to celebrate with friends, and Ray's godmother came down from Sydney. We all had a blast! Especially the birthday boy who was lapping up the attention in his special birthday crown. He even got into his birthday cake, and was grabbing fistfuls and shoving it in his mouth. I can't tell you how good it is to see him enjoying his food.

I put this together for the Miracle Babies facebook page. When Ray was born it took me a while to share any photos online. He had so many tubes and things keeping him alive, it's quite a hard thing to see. The first time I visited the NICU and saw all the tiny babies like that I just cried and cried. Then, during Ray's time there it became the place where I spent all my waking hours. But that's all behind us now, and Mr Meet-Cute and I can enjoy being parents to a normal, healthy boy, who has just started crawling and is into everything already, Eek!

Small Wear

I've been following ALL Knitwear on instagram and squeeing over the custom baby clothes that have been posted from time to time. It seems I wasn't the only one because now the company is making small hats and booties available through their webshop. I know of one tiny cutie who would look pretty good wearing one of those baby hats!

Moo Moo Woof Woof

Moo Moo Woof Woof poster by Laura Carlin and Chie Miyazaki from finelittleday

This cute kids poster from Fine Little Day caught my eye. I'd love to try and do something similar for Ray's room.

Home at last!

The wee dugong has been home with us for four weeks already, boy has it flown past. I don't think I need to say how great it's been having him home where he belongs. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent kind thoughts our way during this crazy rollercoaster journey we've been on!

Mr Meet-cute got to take 2 weeks paternity leave, and my lovely Mum has been staying to help out for the past week and a half, but she flew home this morning, so now it's just me and Ray at home, the real deal! We've managed a few exciting outings since he's been home - even just getting out to the shops is extra thrilling now with the wee dugong in tow! Apart from that, Winter has really set in, so I'm happy to be hunkered down with Ray at home with the heat on, wearing my comfies all day.

This guy seems pretty excited about being home too!!

Mothers Day

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Anzac Day

My grandad, and baby Ray's namesake, Ray Adair

Last year on Anzac Day I stayed home and baked Anzac biscuits. This year I'll be doing the same thing as every other day since February 21st - heading in to the hospital to see baby Ray. We're nearing the end of the hospital road now FINALLY, and hoping to bring him home next week. I'm so looking forward to a cosy Winter spending lots of time at home having bebeh cuddles!

Tiny Dugong has arrived!

He came early after all! On February 21st, at just 29 weeks plus 4 days gestation, Ray Ngaei McKinlay decided it was time to make his entrance. It's been a crazy emotional rollercoaster over the past month, but wee Ray has been a total trooper going from strength to strength. He's still in the hospital as he is too teeny and precious for us to bring home just yet. He started off in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with oxygen tubes and monitors and wires everywhere. Thankfully he's been breathing on his own from day one, but needed to have the oxygen tubes there just in case. These have now been removed, and he has been progressing down the hospital ward, and is now in the Special Care Nursery, where he'll stay for another 3 or 4 weeks until we can bring him home. We have been extremely lucky that he hasn't had any serious setbacks. Being at the hospital every day and seeing all the other families and tiny babies makes us realise how lucky we are. Although - I cannot wait to not be at the hospital all the time!

It's surprising how busy things have been, and Ray isn't even home yet. All Ray's grandparents have come over from New Zealand to see him which has been so lovely, and we have been scrambling to get things set up at home. Soooooo behind on all of this and our house is a shambles! And then we need to spend as much time as we can at the hospital. Some days I arrive and sit with Ray and wonder what I'll do with myself there all day. But the days always go by in a blur; there's nappy changes, and 'kangaroo care' which is when we can get Ray up for a few hours to sit and hold him, and my milk expressing schedule - which is so weird! Did you know that your breast milk will contain the perfect combination of nutrients for the time your baby is born? Premature babies need more proteins and things to help them grow and develop, and your breast milk changes as they do, so that it has everything they need for each stage  - so weird and amazing! He's still too little to be able to swallow, suck and breathe, so actual breast feeding will start in a week or two once he gets the hang of all that. For now he has his 'feeding tube' which goes in his nose to his tummy. I can't wait for the day that is removed, as it is the last tube he has on his wee face, which can't be very nice for him.

Okay, enough breastmilk talk, I better get going to see our Tiny Dugong! It's such a relief to finally check back in with an update. I love blogging so much, so I need to make the effort to keep up with things around here. I don't think things will change too much, I'm not going to turn into a mummy-blogger, but there will likely be more Ray related posts than usual for a while!

Special Blanky

There's a lot of excitement in my family right now because my sister is a few weeks away from having a baby - my parents first grandchild, and I will be an aunty for the first time!

I wanted to get something really special as a gift, and found these gorgeous handmade baby blankets on Hello Polly which fitted the bill perfectly. They are made by Odds and Ends in Melbourne using reclaimed offcuts from mohair, lambswool and cashmere jumpers, making them incredibly, deliciously soft. It's almost a shame they only come in baby sizes! I chose the blanket in neutrals/greys and it was very well received by my sister, so hopefully the new arrival will enjoy it just as much, once they have arrived!