Friday, November 2, 2012

Embracing November



November last year was a definite 'blink and miss it' month for me.  I hadn't long been home with newborn Sophie and with her suffering from terrible colic and in extreme discomfort after every breastfeed, combined with my surge of new Mama hormones making me emotional and teary, I was feeling overwhelmed trying to divide my attention between my two little ones. I simply focused on getting through each sleep deprived day as best I could, waiting for the time when things would finally settle down. Up until Christmas really, I was feeling rather frazzled and after the situation with Sophie reached a peak and we ended up in the children's ward in Fremantle Hospital (which thankfully led to us discovering her discomfort was due to lactose overload), Christmas appeared out of nowhere and it was soon the new year.

Fast forward to the same month in 2012 and Sophie's milestone first birthday is now out of the way and I have made the decision to be kind to myself and not host my usual Pink Ribbon Day Fundraiser as I have done for the past three years.  With various functions already being penned in on our calendar for the coming months, I want our days ahead to be kept slow paced and filled with things like time spent pottering around the home, catch ups with friends and their little ones and lots of fun together as a family.



And so, this November, I'm going to take in all the things that I missed last year. I want to appreciate the beauty of our star jasmine bush outside our back door, currently exploding in an abundance of blooms and smelling unbelievable.  I want to spend time in the backyard with the girls, having picnics and tea parties beneath the shade of our bottlebrush.  I want to continue with my spring cleaning projects and hopefully finish before spring is over and summer is upon us. I'm hoping to get all of my Christmas gift shopping out of the way and to do it as stress-free as possible (unlike last year when I was madly running around the shops in the final days of December).  I want to enjoy the warmer weather and the treat of being able to eat outdoors in the evening.  I want to finally join in with the Photo A Day challenge and hopefully capture some great memories along the way... 

How about you?  How is your November shaping up?

7 comments:

  1. November is lovely so far..warm and sunshiney, lots of nice days with friends, family members coming home to spend some time..an all 'round good month.

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  2. It's lovely to hear you are taking some time to just be, be a mum, be a family, be you. I often take note of these days with my 9 month old and 4.5 year old and then all of sudden there is a million things to do again and you get caught up in it all. I am aware next year mr 4.5 will be at school full time and I am going to miss him way ore than he will miss me. Another chance to just enjoy my time with 1 baby again. Thanks for the reminder to sit back now and then.

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  3. Good idea! I was in much the same head space as you! I was completely unaware of Christmas as I spent most of Nov/Dec on the couch breastfeeding. It was actually quite nice to just turn up on Christmas day without any of the lead up! (I'd bought and wrapped all my presents whilst on maternity leave - a benefit of going 13 days overdue).
    I think I'll attempt to do the same again - avoid all the craziness and focus on my family.

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  4. A lovely post Amanda...and i can truly relate to those first few months with bubs....life seems to standstill and yet fly by at the same time...my twins had reflux and i don't mind admitting it was an awful first few months! I think it is a great idea to slow down and enjoy this month like you couldn't do last year.
    I turn 40 this November so i have a lot of things going through my mind!I hope November brings you all that you are hoping for xx

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  5. Such a beautiful time of the year! It always seems to spur me on to get things done...before the new year I suppose. You certainly did have a rough November last year. Thank goodness things brightened for yout. It really is such a distressing time when your little people are unwell or unhappy. Wishing you the loveliest of weeks full of cups of tea, crafting and sunshine.
    Steph :) x

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  6. Hi Amanda...Oh how I remember trying to juggle and 18month old and a new born 17yrs ago when I came home from hospital....now I'll be juggling a 4yr old in kindy and a newborn come February....you do miss alot those first couple of months but once things settle into routine you catch up.....November so far here has been wet and cold believe it or not....hoping for some warm weather soon as I'm over keeping this pregnant belly in pants lol......Hope your November goes smoothly and you get all your activities done without too much stress...xo

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  7. I hope that you are enjoying your November so far and that you get to enjoy all of those moments you have described. November has been quiet so far but with the girls finishing school in just 3 weeks I imagine there will be some busy times ahead, I'm just enjoying the weekends at home that we are having at the moment:) xx

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