Everyday Insanity and Delight

another stunning wedding in Spring!

Ooo thought I should finally post this wedding too.  The gorgeous Nicole marrying the spunkalicious Brodie in November 2011.

Another rainy Spring day as every wedding I did towards the end of last year was.  I guess the drought is broken or something.  Anyway....again it made for divine colour and gorgeous light!

I can't actually say I've ever photographed a bride who I didn't consider beautiful but Nicole's radiant smile was just so amazingly infectious.  She is such a naturally stunning girl and Brodie didn't take his eyes off her all day!  I've never seen a grrom so impatient to see his bride - a true aaaaaaaw moment :D

They didn't get to have their ceremony beside the lake as they'd planned because of the rain, but I think this spot was amazing anyway.  A misunderstanding with the venue double-booking weddings made things errr...awkward to say the least.  I won't name the place but let's just say I was left gobsmacked at how things panned out and how these guys were treated by the venue...

It was incredible how these two didn't let it ruin their day.  Less diplomatic couples may have felt differently but instead we just went to another venue which was in fact, chosen by the groom :)

I think it was a great spot and they even had pics at Brodie's regular milk bar stop! I adore that these locations are unique to Nicole and Brodie and they were incredibly happy ALL day!

This was a stunning wedding and I could tell by the joy-filled atmosphere that these two are well loved by lots of family and friends.  Their natural affection towards each other left me in awe (and maybe a bit jealous ;-) ) I see smitten couples all the time but when these two look at each other, it's like no-one else exists in their world and its an amazing thing to witness.

Aaaaaw <3 a happy day :D

a wedding. finally....

I've been a bit slack on the blogging of photo shoots since last year!  I've been so privileged this wedding season to have witnessed some beautiful unions between people.  One thing I've learned about myself is that while I've always thought of mushy romance as a bit of a wank, I'm actually a bit of a romantic at heart - a sap actually.

There's something contagious about the joy that surrounds people when they marry, not only the couple but everyone around them - their attendants, their guests, everyone.  Lots of wide smiles and genuine emotion.  Aaaw...anyway enough of my blabbering and sentimental thoughts, it is the middle of the night after all, this post is all about Kate and Luke who married way back in October....

Kate is one of the most contagiously joy-filled people I've ever met and when I met her family, I realised it might well be genetic. She along with pretty much every guest there wore these beautiful smiles all day and her husband Luke looked like every Christmas had come to him at once.  He was totally gorgeous and they are clearly smitten with one another :)

Their bridal party were SO fun from start to finish and looked amazingly gorgeous!

The ceremony was held at The Gables followed by a reception at Wild Dog Winery which is one of my favourite places to photograph a wedding :)

The day was revolting weather-wise.  A gloomy grey day, however no-one's spirits were dampened and as you can see, it made for some gorgeous light!

Kate and Luke requested I stay for their first dance which they did not long after their arrival.  It was a little unusual but then I realised why.  They had practised their moves and after they had finished almost EVERY guest got up on the dance floor for a boogie.  Unbridled and passionate, it was nothing I had ever seen before - young, mature, single, coupled, everyone got up and danced like no-one was watching.  It was amazing and made for some really happy, fun images.

I managed to snap that lower right image of Kate's grandmother. Oh it makes me happy.  I hope I have that face at her age, she was so lovely and glowed from the inside.

It also made me a little sad I guess as I realised I never do that at weddings I'm a guest at.  I'd never get up and dance just for the joy of it. I only dance after MANY glasses of wine and that seems to be the norm.  It takes Dutch Courage to dance.  Why I wonder? Why are we all so self conscious about it when it's SO fun? Anyway, lesson learned there - encourage the kids to dance more :D

I really loved this wedding....and best of all, I get to call it work :)

Merry

Christmas in our household came and went quickly.  I hate to admit it but I find Christmas to be somewhat of a nuisance given that it falls within my busiest worktime - wedding season.

There's so many damn things on that I'm expected to attend, the kids get busy and the bit I really loathe is the fake cheer and crap that comes from advertising.  I feel pressured to create some amazing ambiance at home and wear emotions of peace and goodwill when I'd really like to shop with a cattle prod and roundhouse kick every battery operated singing Christmas decoration in the country.

However......this year I was kind to all of us and I did most of my shopping online - hooray! eBay, Dick Smith, Big W, Toys R Us, Fishpond, Red Balloon and Readings were a few of the sites I shopped at and everything except for one gift made it well in time.  I live nowhere close to any of these shops so it was well worth paying their delivery fees to save me the petrol and incidental extras I'd incur shopping PLUS - no crowds or exasperated sales assistants. 

So our Christmas was quiet as usual with both kids telling me it was their "best Christmas ever!"  This reminded me what it was all about and ignited a spark of spirit when i found it Christmas Eve with Santa's drink and biscuits...and seems that Miss M was pleased with what Santa left behind :)

Our Alexander-Panda got the gift he thought he wouldn't when he opened this - THE Panda iPod docking station that he desperately wanted along with a pile of all things Nerf

They had HEAPS of presents and I adored being able to give them lots this year!  The nicest part was when Alex hugged me and said he couldn't believe he got EVERYTHING on his list and more.  Nice.

The morning looked much like this before lunch at my youngest sister's house with her husband, bubba, our Dad and my other sister and her kids. 

We all cook something and take it so none of us are stuck with all of the cooking.  It was great but so damn exhausting!

We headed back later for dinner with our Mum and her partner.  Amazingly my scalloped spuds and dessert for lunch were awesome.  My pav and spuds for dinner were meh.  Pasta salad on both counts was pretty good though....

The nicest part of the Christmas was that it was my nephew Rajeev's first Christmas.  I just love the look of "What's this all about?" on his face and then he was so exhausted he couldn't fight the sleep any longer. Any time with him is amazing and happy and lovely..

All of the kids got along nicely and it was relaxing and lovely out on my sister's deck looking over towards the mountain range.  Mother Nature was stormy and rumbly and looked spectacular!

When I look at these images, of this amazing Christmas Day sunset, it reminds of the amazing sunset and light at dusk last Christmas Day and if I were a religious person, I'd look at this heavenly light and well, I'd wonder what made it so ;-)

another year draws to a close....(part one)

So I got a bit overwhelmed from Springtime onwards.  Some of it was due to the 2011/12 wedding season starting for me with work, some of it has been due to my "stuff" and it's incessant and constant management, much of it has been related to my little family and their insatiable need for my attention and just all the day to day stuff that we all seem to drown in from time to time.  Getting back to my blog is like an annoying little pecking chicken wanting to be attended to yet always being pushed to the bottom of the to-do list..

September in the Finlayson household was no exception with activities at school like Footy Colours Day -

I'm sure it's pretty easy to work out who my kids support, however I do NOT share their enthusiasm!

Then there was the arrival of my new nephew Rajeev to my youngest sister Liana and her husband Anand. 

 

I was VERY lucky to be the first to get to hold this adorable little bundle after his parents and oh I adore this little man. Here's a pic I took with his Mumma when he was 9 weeks old:

And...he has grown into the most delightfully grinny little bubba, who has undoubtedly wrapped anyone and everyone who crosses his path, completely around his teeny finger, including me, his Aunty Nickers!

October saw the start of my new wedding season and it's been busy busy busy and I could not be loving it more!  I've had the most gorgeous clients.  Here's a few images from the wedding of Jess to Grant including their adorable little daughters whom I was completely smitten with :)
It's SO hard to pick my faves as they were such a beautiful couple...

It was an amazing day in a most beautiful location.  This was in Toongabbie, just out of Traralgon.

I think this is a good start to catch up on my blog, will catch up more soon :D

 

 

 

spunky subjects & another pie...

I really don't know how I have managed not to steal anyone's babies so far.   I mean really, I just adore them and every bubba I photograph makes me CLUCKY! 

I really loved it when my kids were babies.  They were so much hard work from one time to another but it's a really lovely time having a baby in the house and often I miss it.  There's something so amazing about new life and their lack of being able to talk back, their gratitude for even the tiniest gesture, and as a parent, you're made to feel like a hero rather than an idiot who knows nothing.  Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the pre-teen phase in my household mostly but OH how I love babies!!

And how could I not when they are as adorable as this?  It would be completely understandable if I took her home right?  Of course....however...watching her beautiful Mum and Dad in the phase of new baby smitten-ness, I'm thinking no-one could love this baby more than they do...

  And I want to share this spunky family with you too.  This is actually a pre-wedding shoot for Mum and Dad but we couldn't leave out their adorable girls.  Aren't they going to be the cutest flowergirls ever?

I have a stack of different pregnant tummy shots to edit and another pre-wed session.  Bliss.

I also FINALLY opened my online store choosing Made It over a self-hosted store.

I registered the domain cherrymumma.com.au some time ago and have been mucking around building an online store but to be honest, this is all I need so I went with it and made heaps of sales on opening night last night.  Find my store at www.madeit.com.au/cherrymumma .  I'll be adding all sorts of bits and pieces as I create them.  I'm planning on more hair accessories and some sketch books, fabric jewellery and some homeswares using my artwork.  I've been selling these hair flowers and headbands at a hairdressing salon here recently and will also be at the Rosedale Maker's Market on October 23rd.  I can't help but make stuff, my hands don't enjoy being idle and while photography is my main passion, hours at the computer can drain me.

It's been a bit tricky to juggle everything of late as I've had Alex home for TWO WEEKS off school with a pesky ear infection.  I cannot believe the stubborn germs that we are all dealing with this Winter, grrr...

He's going back to school tomorrow no matter what.  I'm so stressed this time away may have affected his learning.  He's had around 40 days off this year with different illnesses.  Not only is it awful for his education but honestly, it's a pain for me too just quietly....

I'm still struggling on and off with my "stuff" day to day but still have an unwavering determination to beat it.  Still.  My shrink has set me a couple of daunting tasks to complete before our next session which I'm trying really hard not to dig my heels into the ground and avoid it like mad. Sucking it up and just gonna do it.  Yep really I am. Yep...

Pussycat pussycat where HAVE you been.....?

Well I've not been to London visiting any Queens I can tell you.  I've been wanting to pop back in here but the longer I was away, the larger the task seemed.  Anyway I'm at the point now where if I'm not going to blog, I may as well save myself the fees and delete it.  Silly thing is though, I love my blog and sharing stuff makes me accountable for what I say, whatever that is....

So the giveaway?  Hmm my fault for being so disorganised, no-one won coz I left it way too late to claim and ugh, it's just another thing I've neglected this year and I'm going to explain part of the reason why.  2011 has not been all kind to me but it hasn't all been bad. 

For example, I had the most amazing wedding season this year kicking off with this wedding here of course and following with these.  I could clog up the internet with images from these amazing, joy-filled and beautiful weddings but I have my Facebook page for that :) Instead here's an overview....

One of these gorgeous weddings was in Tasmania, in Launceston to be precise.  I met the couple on Facebook and amazingly they met on Facebook too and it was surreal yet spectacular to meet them in real life and shoot their wedding.  The bonus of this was that I got a trip to Tassie, and I'd never been there before :)

I missed my family but oh how lovely it was to be away.  Alone. :D

As well as weddings I was shooting babies, families, engagements, grandparents, you name it, I've been photographing it ;)

Around Easter though, I started feeling like things were getting on top of me, like I wasn't "right".  Only my work was keeping me joyful and normal, but I was also getting overwhelmed with the sheer enormity of my workload and lack of ability to concentrate.  I knew things weren't right especially when I wasn't keeping up with my Design Team committments to Aussie Scrap Source.  Despite my best intentions, I just lost the ability to scrap well and just couldn't pinpoint why so I resigned.

I assumed I was feeling so "off" because I was so busy.  I was actually incredibly distracted by nasty thoughts about myself and started losing my confidence in everything I did from scrapping, to photographing, parenting, you name it, I was pretty convinced I was completely crap at it.  Despite the amazingly happy feedback I received from my clients, I was completely convinced that everything I did was hopeless.  I stopped paying bills, just couldn't keep up with our budget, my house became a mess and we were completely disorganised.  I started to work out why but was not willing to give into it.

It was that black-dog-bitch.  Depression, or more accurately in my case - PTSD. I knew she was coming back to haunt me in all her gloomy nastiness but I was convinced it wasn't going to beat me.  I mean, how could it?  I'm now a volunteer speaker for Road Trauma Support Services. I talk about my stuff all the time and I'm FINE right?  I ignored my flashbacks, my nightmares etc.  I accepted my hypervigilence as being a caring mother and figured that I was tense because I wasn't doing enough yoga.  Sigh.  If I just got more sleep and got on top of my workload I'd be perfectly fine right.  WRONG.

In short around May, I had a nervous breakdown of sorts.  A complete, maybe my worst, PTSD regression ever.  Whilst denying it was coming back, I worked as the photographer for Fatality Free Friday which meant I was photographing ambassador Bev Brock,  race car driver Mark Winterbottom and Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe.  The day was well received and I met some beautiful people and I thought that having the courage to face it all meant I was on the mend.

I mean really....do I look stressed?

I was feeling pretty ace to be in the middle of the city contributing to a couse that I feel SO passionate about.  I was stoked.  For a while.  Truth is that after I finished, I had one of the worst panic and anxiety attacks of my life.  I literally had to stop at a servo on the way home where I was frozen, unable to get back into my car because I was terrified of getting back on the road.  I kept telling myself I was fine and in control.  I love my car, I'm okay.  But my legs WOULD NOT MOVE.

I eventually got home tired and shaky and ready to "get over it" but that attack scared me so I asked my GP to up my anti-depressant dose as it wasn't working as well.  I'd been on Lexapro for over three years as it cleared the "fog" that I get and helped with nightmares etc.  I'd be fine after that right? Of course! Heck I even did a police press conference for the Queen's Birthday long weekend telling Australia about my accident in front of media from every major news group in the state.....and I was FINE.

Local people recognized me which was a little awkward I guess but they were all so kind.  In fact everyone was so kind from the media, to police, to anyone and everyone.  It was um...surreal.

This meant I was good right? Err no.

I made it through the birthdays of both of my babies with Alex turning 12 (eh am I THAT old?) and Madeleine turning nine.

I didn't really feel present at either of their birthdays but i did my best because I was determined to stomp on that black dog bitch.  It didn't work.  It overwhelmed me and my full-on nightmares and flashbacks returned with a vengeance.  My whole household has suffered and I was close to suicidal.  I knew I had to do SOMETHING for the sake of my family if nothing else.  I just wanted to lay down and let it consume me so it would end.  Please.

My GP was my saviour and thankfully so were my kids.  Knowing that they need me well has been the main motivation for my continued need to fight.  Without them I'd have given up by now. I was referred to a specialist trauma psychologist who then referred me to a psychiatrist.  Yep a psychiatrist OMG.  Only CRAZY people need psychiatrists right? Ugh so humiliating but it's been good.

He moved me to Pristiq, a different kind of anti-depressant.  To be honest the change has been SHIT.  I've felt like it's doing NOTHING but I'm on quite a high dose now and little by little I feel like I'm coming back.  I've even ventured out with the family to the Aquarium in Melbourne a little while ago.  Felt like a total space cadet but no-one needed to know I guess....

It was really hard to stay present but again, my kids have forced me to make the effort just by their being.

I'm not doing any more talks for a while, and just staying focussed on protecting me and getting well.

My psychologist has helped me uncover so many things about me that I didn't know and it's been interesting.  It's not been pleasant but it's been cathartic.  We haven't started on the intense work yet as I have to be emotionally stable.  I'm working on it.  She encouraged me to delve back into creating art so Nathan and I worked to create me a designated art space.

It's just mine.  My space.  My desk and workspace have just been in our lounge in a shared space but this, this little corner is MINE.  So far I've created these...

Which led me to finding the courage to exhibit.  It may only be in a show organised by the TAC but it's in the divine Geelong Gallery and it's a non-threatening start.  I feel like I'm "home" when I paint or draw and I can express things through art that I can't through words. 

The exhibition opening was the perfect excuse for time in Geelong too.  I don't get there now that both of my grandparents have passed but it's one of my favourite places in the world.  It's filled with many of my happiest memories from being a small child until now.  I feel at peace in Geelong and it was just what I needed.  I took Madeleine with me and we had a girl's night starting with the exhibition opening and then staying in a multi storey hotel.  I've never seen her so excited and she just kept hugging me and saying thankyou!   So cute and a reminder of what's important.

It was also an amazing experience to see my work in a "real" gallery again after not being in one for almost 20 years and also to listen quietly to what people said.  My piece had the desired effect if what I overheard people say is anything to go by.  Viewers can vote on their favourites and pieces are for sale, all there until September 4th.  I don't expect to win a prize but hey, it'd be nice :)

The day after the exhibition opening, I was able to take Maddy to the Fairy Park in Anakie.  I was really unwell with a stupid flu-virus and feeling spacey from my anti-D drugs but we still had a lovely time :)

We took the super-duper long way home and went on a bit of an adventure, fabric shopping and just enjoying the one-on-one time together. 

I can't wait for my dissociation to be resolved.  I had no idea the way I felt had a NAME, let alone WHY I feel this way.  I do now and know that it's peaking as it did this weekend away.  It's the pits.  Really.  At least I know why I always feel like I don't belong and feel spacey.  It sucks and I had no idea it is a PTSD symptom.  I just thought I was vague :-S  It's hard to enjoy anything, I just get all kind of quiet - bah!

There is good news now, I'm feeling like my cylinders are starting to re-fire.  I feel like I'm over the hump - well some of it anyway.  I feel motivated to continue to create art and capture amazing memories for people. I even have some work on display at Tea-Lite in Warragul, the hippest little nook to relax in EVER!!!

I have something else on the burner too but I'm not teaching scrapbooking anymore.  I was recently accused by a "friend" of refusing to teach for her store but then teaching at someone else's and that wasn't the damn case at all.  I didn't get to explain, I didn't get to say it was just the occasional one when they, who are FRIENDS of mine got stuck.  The bit that makes me saddest is that I upset her without even meaning to.  It's that bullshit side of the scrapbooking industry that has now burned me one too many times now, I'm over it.  I love sharing what I know but the politics behind it really are crap so I'm stepping out of it completely.  I'll still scrap, but just for me.  Sick of the shit that goes on between women who are meant to be supporting each other.  I don't need that "you did this" bullshit.  Ugh....luckily the last shop I taught for have the same attitude as me and don't cause me any issue but I still want out...

My focus now is on my family, my babies who are growing way too fast and make me prouder and prouder each and every day. They also make me want to knock their heads together at some stage each and every day but that's motherhood right?  My Alex got into an advanced curriculum program for high school next year (yes WTF? High School) and Maddy has some seriously awesome Maths and Reading skills.  I'm so lucky.  Mind you they've had an endless line of cold after virus after bug and seem to be home ALL the flipping time :(  I've just started them on Echinacea, Anti-biotics, pro-biotics, vitamins, fruit etc you name it, it's time they get well.  It'd probably help if parent's stopped sending their sick kids to school spreading germs but that is another whole gripey post...

I'm focussing on getting well myself and trying to make amends for the dumb things I've done during my breakdown.  Bills are caught up, upcoming wedding shoots are sorted, editing all almost finished and I'm booking LOTS of weddings for next season.  BRING IT ON!  I love it!

If you read this far and stayed with me thanks.  If you're empathetic towards me, quadruple thanks.  If you're judging me because I have an emotional illness, kindly leave and may the door knock you on the way out.

So here's to my recovery and may my blog be regularly updated!  Cheers!

First wedding for 2011...

...and far out it was HOT!  The heat was humid but the morning wasn't SO bad.  Aren't those shoes to die for?  So gorgeous!!

 By lunchtime the temperature was climbing. I had my fingers crossed that all the girls' makeup would stay put. :)

This ceremony was at Montsalvat which is a little piece of Heaven situated in Eltham Victoria.  Oooh it is such a DIVINE location, I really wished my family was there to share it's beauty.

 

The ceremony was beautiful with the bride's Mum singing, and the Groom's mum reading from a Dr Seuss book.  It was so special, absolutely perfect :)

This setting is a photographer's dream.

The heat was oppressive for not only me, but especially for the bride and groom.  I could have photographed these guys ALL day were it not for time contstraints and the heat.  I think it was worth climbing into the furnace that was the attic to get these :)

Despite how sweaty they must have been feeling, everyone made the most of the gorgeous surroundings and really, a most beautiful day...

Thanks guys for being such good sports and for sharing your amazing wedding with me :)

mini sessions for christmas pressies!

If you've been considering a portrait session for you and your family in a small capacity or want to get a head start on the Christmas presents for family and friends, I think this might interest you!

I'm only booking a few sessions each day so if you think you might be interested, please get in touch very soon!

Cheers,

beginnings and endings

Here are the photos I tried to post last post of my Miss Moo acting as my guinea pig :)

This week has been a surprising week full of unexpected endings and beginnings.  There's some interesting changes going on in our little bit of the Universe.  Nathan has been home recovering from surgery and will be back at work in the next couple of days. 

Feeling better he decided to tackle taking down our old cubby house in the backyard.  I didn't know this though until I headed outside.  I knew it needed to come down but it was REALLY confronting...

The little building was rotting and full of spiders and the kids hardly ever played in it.  What was confronting about it though was facing how fast the time has past.  We acquired the cubby house when I was pregnant with Madeleine over eight years ago.  Alexander was only three and all I kept thinking about was taking Alex shopping to find fabric with cars on it to make little curtains.  Sniff.

Alex spent hours in the cubby and later Maddy did too.  They fought out there, they hid out there, they played drive-thru restaurants through the windows, they cleaned the floors and the interior, they joyfully painted the walls, Nathan and the kids painted the roof and the walls, they bought and fitted a gargoyle for the doorway, they made an antenna, Maddy learned how to crawl and walk out there, I hid inside and snuck the odd cigarette (oops) and both cats that we've owned hid inside it.  Sob.  It is the end of an era, the symbol of the end of me being Mum to little kids.  It's over. Sigh.  It's not a bad thing, it's just change...a bittersweet change.

And part of this change as my babies grow older is me deciding to work more and get serious about our financial future.  It's been easy up until now to just keep saying that money doesn't matter, we'll manage on whatever blah blah blah but right now both kids need braces, we have debt, we want to buy new furniture, a house etc so I have to make the most of whatever little time I have spare right now.  So I've been super-busy taking photos, and may I add LOVING it.  My little business keeps growing and growing with my wedding season officially kicking off today.

I photographed the most perfectly elegant wedding today, the wedding of Emily to Ryan.  Here's a few images from their pre-wedding session a couple of weeks ago....

I love these images, I love how they wore their gumboots and stayed true to who they are and what they're about and their wedding was no different.  It was beautiful and made me misty-eyed and teary like all weddings.  *big happy sigh*  Can't wait to show you their gorgeous images, so far they look fab!

Speaking of fab images, here's more of the delightfully adorable Beth, Kiwi and Charli.  I'm still in awe of how beautiful Beth is at 37 weeks pregnant and again, warm fuzzies over all of the love within this home :)

I haven't heard any baby news yet, hopefully everything is still going well.

Now back to my changes, I applied for a job last week, something I haven't done for well over ten years but I thought it sounded like it could fit around everything else I do and well...I got it!  I had the interview yesterday long with all of the other candidates and they told me I'd hear Monday.  Lovely people put me out of my misery last night with the news that made me happy happy happy!

I will be an agent for a fabric wholesaler travelling around selling the most lush yummy fabric that had me drooling just over the samples.  Yum.  Hard life eh?  I love that the hours will fit around my photography and my kids and most of all, it allows me to bring in more income without having to make my photography business grow too big.  I want to keep it smallish because it feels more personal.  And I love that. I love that I can do both.  And do the mumma thing too.  And scrapbooking?  I have some balance to work on....

I also agreed to run/walk in a fun run with a friend next year.  Me.  Seriously.  I haven't got my fat ass out exercising since I had my wee roller.skating accident last year.  Ouch.  It's pretty shameful actually so this has been motivating me to move.  Kind of.  I'm still spitting my roller derby career was so short lived but meh. That's it for now, I've had a wine too many, mixed with a gloriously exhausting day and now I'm very very sleepy :)

 

ta-ta Winter

I love Winter, I really do but even I am tired of the miserable light and gloominess this season brings.  I love using electric blankets and slow cookers, the smell of washing tumble-drying and Sundays snuggled up inside in slippers and trackydacks.  I love wearing boots and tights and OH how I love to see snow on the mountains around us.  The air is crisp and clean and it's easy to sleep.  Ahh Winter I {heart} thee, but I NEED some sunshine.  Please.

I'm tired of the grey skies, this Winter has seemed long.  I'm tired of mud and the lack of sun-dried bed-linen.  We had a mild day and instantly the offspring were outside on bikes and scooters and enjoying each other's company.  I miss that.

He really was having a good time until Mum pulls out her damn phone and starts snapping pics - grrrr...

My hubby Nathan is out of hospital and recovering nicely.  He has 5 holes in his tummy and two weeks off work to spend at home with me...

Stupid thing about that is that while I've been looking after Nathan I got sick.  Urgh....being sick is the PITS!  And such a waste of flipping time!  I have SO much editing to do and cannot stay at the computer for long, it's so frustrating.  I won't bore you with details but I have girls' stuff going on.  I've had many tests that found nothing serious but have to wait until October to see a gynecologist - grrrr.

So we've been a great pair lazing around moaning about pains all day - sigh...

I did a fabulous engagement session on the weekend at a most gorgeous location out in the country.  Gorgeous couple, lovely location, it will be DIVINE and the way they've planned to wed is just perfect for them.  I can't wait to see them get married and even more exciting is photographing it!

I was on my way home when this little lady or fella looked up from the road's edge and was very happy to continue to stare at me until I clicked the shutter on my camera when it high-tailed it out of there.

I was so excited that my car stopping and even the sound of my window didn't frighten it but my flipping camera did. :( Cutest baby wombat - aaaaw!!

I also snapped these on the way home with my iPhone.  Man I love Hipstamatic.

The road where these photos were taken intersects with the road where I live.  I can't believe how fab it all looks taken with this app...

When I've felt well, I've been scrapping, drawing, cross-stitching and editing and nothing is finished for me to show you.  Yet.  I shall keep plodding away at everything though =)

Soon I'll be sewing this as well!

Lucky me I WON this pattern from the Oz Material Girls blog.  I can't wait to make this for my divine Miss Moo, she's SO excited!

I'm off to wash a mountain of dishes and muster the spawn off to bed!