New Year, New Ideas

My One Little Word for 2011 is COURAGE. I want to use this word in everything I do. So with Verri Charmed it means I want to have the courage to move out of my comfort zone and push the boundries. Currently I've added nappy covers and skirts to my regular range and then just this week I've started something new and exciting:



This is bunting is made from hand cut pages from a 1960's golden book. I was so thrilled with the outcome and I will be debuting these at the next Lollipop Market on the 20th of Feb.

Yesterday was Australia Day.... it's one of my favourite days of the year. It was strange to realise yesterday though that it had been just over a year since we had our scary hospital stay with M when she had breathing difficulties at 5 weeks. It now makes me smile to know how much has changed since then.

We celebrated yesterday with a trip to the zoo and fish and chips on the beach for my niece Lilli's 7th birthday. The perfect day really!

A year of Miss M

This pic was taken at Mackenzie's first birthday party, on Sunday the 12th Dec. (Her actual Birthday is the 16th). I am more than over due for an update on little M, our piece of pure sunshine... so where is she at?

The stats:

Height : 76cm
Weight: 10.1 Kg
Head: 46 cm

She first stated Crawling 2 days before she turned 11 months, and she truely just took off. Next came the standing (especially when the christmas tree went up!). She can now be found in many random places through out the house (the first shelf of the books shelf, curled in a ball.... sometimes the wardrobe)at any given moment. And she has a sixth sense if the laundry or bathroom door are open, she heads straight to them. She has begun standing unassisted, for very short amounts of time, and will cruise with the trolley we gave her for her birthday for short distances.

M is a smart little monkey, since she had grommets in on the 22nd (new ears for Christmas!) her communication has just exploded. She points to the things she wants and attempts many words. She can often be heard calling "Uh oh" as she drops something on the ground. And she likes to hoist a bag over her shoulder and wave and say "Bye Bye".

We are constantly smothered in kisses by M, whether it be arms thrown around your neck with a big wet open mouth one planted somewhere on your face, to kisses blown from a distance with extra enthusiasm and a resounding "mmmmmwah!".

Mackenzie is the most pure sunshine, she delights us everyday:) xx

Reflecting on 2010

I've been MIA again, and so very much has happened that I am not even going to attempt an update on the girls tonight.... that will come as I plan on keeping up with this blog alot better in 2011.

Tonight I need to reflect on the year that has been and get some thoughts down that have been swirling for a while now, and it will be a little too deep for some.

2010 was a huge year for me, having just become a mother of two right at the end of 2009 this was too be expected, but the year took me further than I ever expected. Firstly, starting Verri Charmed has just been such a huge deal for me, I feel that it is a true reflection of myself, my only creative out let and creating each new thing has been such a joy for me... something just for me, something only about me, something I have come to care so very much about, something that I am so proud to say I have created all on my own..... that's never happened before.

However the most significant thing about 2010 for me, has been being a mum, a role that brings so much wonder, amazement, delight and above all love. Sharing this journey of parenthood with Luke is more than anything I could ever have hoped for in life, and I am thankful everyday for it. Having said that, it has changed me and unlocked things inside me that I didn't realise were there, both good and bad. I think first and foremost it brings up issues I never realised I had about being a product of divorced parents. I thought I was fine with it.... it turns out I'm not... there is so much I don't understand, so many feelings that I just can't articulate and I honestly wonder if I will ever be able to. I have no memory of my parents ever having been together, so I think some would think it should hurt less because I never knew life to be any different, but honestly it just raises more questions of "why?" for me. This year I have felt more isolated than ever............

What I learn from this is that I am lucky.... I have my husband, and I have my girls, and the three of them delight me more that I thought could ever be possible...

So from 2010 I have learnt:
More about love than I knew existed,
and That I am capable, brave and strong.

What do I want to learn from 2011??

Strength of mind,
Calm,
Strength of body,
Peace.
No more fear.

So sorry to have been so melancholy.... from now on I will be trying my best to look forward, as the past is just that and unchangable. The future with my family is what is important, but for now, I needed to put this into words.... to take some of the pressure off my mind.