40 weeks of pregnancy.

Every Tuesday for nine-isn months I had my photo taken.

See when I stopped fitting into my black clothes...
Or when we hung an artwork...
Or when we were on holidays...
Or when I really popped...
Or when I was way to tired to smile...
Or do my hair...
Or what I wore to my baby showers...
Or when I had a baby!

Watch my belly grow!

                                       

two ingredient rusks.

Teething is a pain... literally. So something to chew on is great.

Keep an eye out for my post on how we are getting through teething... naturally.

One tip is to eat rusks. They're hard and so they're good to bite down on but they're also a gentle introduction to food.

Looking at the ingredient lists of the store-bought rusks, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving any of them to my baby. Don't be fooled by the 'organic' label – always read the ingredient list to ensure you are happy with what things are made from.
Thankfully I have a excellent researching friend (thanks Jacquie!) who found this easy and nutritious rusk recipe.

It can be made with any flour and any fruit or vegetable. Yes, just two ingredients! Easy, diverse and delicious (we have tried them!).

In the recipe, the author made them with sweet potato and spelt flour but I am choosing not to introduce gluten into my daughter's diet, so I used brown rice flour. Next time I will probably choose a different flour for variety (maybe buckwheat, besan or coconut).

TWO INGREDIENT RUSKS

What you need:

• 1 cup of cooked vegetable or fruit puree.
• approximately 2 cups of flour.

I halved the recipe, and I'm sure you could easily double it.

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 140C
2. Place the puree into a mixing bowl and gradually mix in the flour, 1/2C at a time, until you get a stiff dough you can knead.
3. Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
4. Roll out until 1cm high.
5. Cut into fingers (don't cut your fingers).
6. Arrange on baking tray and bake in the oven until quite hard on the outside but have some give on the inside (about 45-60 minutes).

Readers on the other blog have had success with sweet potato, apple, and strawberry and ginger.

Original recipe can be found here: thanks to The Natural Mum.

ready. and waiting... and some pregnancy shots.

I'm very pregnant. And I'm very happy.

I've had weeks of constant crying. I've had weeks of overwhelm. I've had weeks of guilt (for so many different reasons). I've had weeks of doubt. I've had weeks of fear.

But I've also had weeks of joy. I've had weeks of excitement. I've had weeks of happy tears. I've had weeks of thankfulness. I've had weeks of expectation.

I've had all different types of weeks.

I'm currently in those weeks where my baby is considered full term. I think these are the best weeks.

I'm about to have a baby. She is fully grown (but will keep growing!). My life is about to change. It's really happening. It could be any day now.

I'm usually quite self-aware: of my mind and my body... I'm currently very aware of everything that's happening in me and around me.

And it's good.

Recently, many well-meaning people have asked me when she'll be here and how I'm feeling. I think they want me to say I'm just bursting for her to come out and I'm super impatient and to ensure they can prepare themselves for when she'll be here. I love people guessing when she'll be here, but I can't tell you if you'll be correct or not, because that's all it is: a guess.

EDD stands for Estimated Due Date, but most people seem to interpret it as Exact Due Date. I'm not telling you when she'll be born, because I don't know. If they had worked out an exact formula for when each baby would arrive, pregnancy would be very different. But they haven't. They have worked out that it's safe for a baby to arrive from 37 to 42 weeks after the first day of your last menstrual period.

My due date is a five week time period. And I love the mystery.

The thing about pregnancy is that it's a miracle. And it's beautiful. And it's incredible. And it's crazy.

What I can tell you is that there is a real life human being inside of me. She knows what is happening, she knows what she wants and she knows how to do it. It might look slightly different when she's on the outside, but I can tell that she's exactly where she's meant to be and doing what she's meant to be doing for now. It's an incredible thing.

So I completely trust that she'll come just when she's ready. And just when my body is ready. And as long as it's in a five week period of 37 to 42 weeks, then she's "on time." Stop asking if people's babies are "late" or "early," trust that they'll be here at just the right time.

I've been doing whatever I can to prepare my body for this amazing thing, and to ensure I don't prevent her coming when she's ready, but I'm certain she'll come at just the right time. For her, for me and ready to meet everyone else. Did you know that statistically most first babies come at 41 weeks?

I can't wait to introduce Baby Girl Thearle to you! I'm ready to meet her, but in the mean time, I'm happy, I'm loving spending quality time alone, and embracing this season and each moment I've got.



It's all about embracing the season, not constantly looking ahead to another one.

There's a blog post simmering, ready for me to write on this at another blog my husband and I write at. Check out Put Out Into Deep Water:
Blog: putoutintodeepwater.blogspot.com
Instagram: @putoutintodeepwater 
Facebook: facebook.com/putoutintodeepwater

new things coming!

In case you haven't heard, we're having a baby!

So much excitement, so much change, so much anticipation.

We're slowly getting things ready and getting ourselves ready... however you prepare for a baby.

This will mean lots of changes: changes in our lives, changes in the blog, changes with everything... but hopefully all for the better!

It also leads to much more potential of what to write about, especially in things I'm already passionate about:

- healthy living (how I'm bringing this baby into and up in the world)
- sustainable living (how to I'm trying to not create so much waste and use less plastic)
- interiors (oh I have some cute things to show you!)
- craft (yes, I've been busy making...)
- supporting small businesses (I have purchased a few sweet things!)
- DIY (and I've been doing some upcycling and creating)

Plus I'll share some photos from my baby showers (yes, I'm having two!) and I might share some thoughts and stories on pregnancy, birth and being a new mum... that is if my baby sleeps, my body copes, and I have any time and headspace to write.

Keep an eye out, hopefully we'll have new content soon (but don't hold your breath, pregnancy has been exhausting and not awfully productive!) including some interviews and I've been chatting with some guest bloggers...

I'll continue sharing other content as well. We'll have to wait and see what there is. Thearle Girl is changing and moulding, with life and its journeys.

Join me on the adventure... I'd so appreciate your support.