Back to work again.

Pumpkling,

A three day weekend was had, and lo, it was glorious. Several interesting things happened, that I think you might like to hear about.

On Friday night, the lovely Robyn and Braden came over for dinner. The (lovely) Robyn arrived bearing many gifts, including tim-tams, a bottle of lovely wine, dessert and your first item of baby clothing!

We were astonished, and it was an occasion that enabled me in particular to, for the first time, see with my own eyes something that encompassed what size and shape you will be. Being able to picture you in this outfit was an incredibly powerful experience for me. The (of course lovely) pair of yellow overalls will be just the thing for helping your dad in the garden. (click on the left below your ultrasound photo to see them)

Your mum is just starting, it seems, to feel just the tiniest bit better. She has had a bit of a hard time of it in the last week or so, feeling very nauseated but at the same time very hungry. It's been a real struggle for her to keep you fed while she feels so sick, and to come up with things that she CAN eat that are nutritious enough for you. The cravings are now running full force, and we bought our first jar of pickles yesterday (I tell you what, pumpkin, for someone who's the size of a grape, you sure eat a lot). She's such a trooper, I don't know if I'd cope being as sick as she has been.

The big thing for this long weekend was always going to be mowing the lawn. I have been successfully avoiding mowing the lawn all winter, and it had gotten to the ridiculous phase in its growth.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we fronted up at Bunnings, thinking that, as it was grand final day, that no-one would be wanting to mow their lawn and thus we would be able to hire a mower. No such luck, pumpkin. As we arrived, the guy behind the counter was phoning around trying to find a mower for the person in front of us in line, so there was no way that we were going to get one. I decided that the time had come to take the bit in my teeth, as it were, and buy a lawnmower.

Now you'd think that this isn't such a big deal, I mean it stands to reason that someone with a lawn as large as ours would have a lawnmower, but no such thing is true. For some obscure and persistent reason, there was some part of my brain that kept insisting that this was the final straw in the domestification of your father.

It seemed, to this voice in my head, that our wedding, the purchase of a 'family truckster', the failure to actually leave the house for weeks at a time, nothing had made any impact on the ideal in my head that I was still some kind of rock and roll highway child, but that buying a lawnmower would be the end.

Still, I took a deep breath and bought one anyway, and the results will speak for themselves. We will take back the backyard, pumpkin, and you will love it.


Love you.

ps
more names that will not be yours if you are a girl
Jayln, Ammie, Kesleigh, Cydnee, McKayla, Brinley, Rebekah, Ashlee, Makenna, Mackenzie, Nikola, Quinn, Madaline, Kaitlyne, Tayler

if you are a boy, your name will not be:
Kade, Kacey, Kahil, Kahlil, Kaleb, Kane, Karey, Karl, Karsten, Kristopher, Keenan, Kyle, Kelly, Kendrick, Kinsey, Kirkland, Kyler, Kurt, or Kurtis.