So much to tell...

Note - I just found this blog entry waiting to be posted, so it's a little out of date, but I'll post it anyway! By the way, Caitlin's film came fourth - well done!

The Henderson family as usual is extraordinarily busy - Annie has just run in the state cross country, which is a big achievement! She has also just started a CFA course at school where she will get her first aid certificate and learn the tricks of the trade when it comes to fire fighting.
Last term Caitlin and a group of her friends made a short film for a competition explaining a scientific concept to non-scientific people. Her entry is one of four finalists across Australia, and the winner will be announced on the 21st August in Sydney. Caitlin and the rest of the group will be travelling up to Sydney to attend the presentation dinner. Alan and I are still working on our book - the text has come back from the editor, and we are in the process of reviewing it. Alan is still busy taking and editing photos to go in the book. It should be out in book stores in February next year.
And Tayen is growing way to fast! She will be 4 months old next week, and she rolled over for the first time last week!
We recently had the pleasure of a visit from Robbie, who got to meet his new niece for the first time. Tayen loved the Care Bear she received from Rob and Em – it is close to being her favourite toy!
Garry Henderson turned 60 last month, and we celebrated in style – fancy dress was the theme of the party, and most people joined in the fun.

Cute as a button!

3 weeks old!

Well, three weeks on from the birth of Tayen and what can I say? Has it been a breeze? I don't know... Do I love every minute of it? Absolutely!
Sure, some things haven't run smoothly - there have been some baby blue days where all I could do is cry my eyes out, and some breastfeeding issues with Tayen spitting up my blood (very scary, what a little vampire!) but other than that, motherhood suits me!
Tayen has been smiling since just before she was two weeks old. They say babies can't smile until they're at least 5 weeks old, but Tayen's smiles are definately not wind! When she's looking right at you, reacting to the silly things we say and the stupid faces we make, she knows what's she's doing!
She has put on 600 grams since birth, has grown 2cm in length and her head circumference is 1cm bigger.
My mum was staying with me last week, which was really nice, but Tayen was spoilt as Oma rocked and sang her to sleep! This week I'm on my own, and I'm more than a little tired, but I just can't find the time to sleep during the day - I still have a business to run, and a book to write for the Museum, so with looking after Tayen on top of that, I don't have time to scratch myself! I'm sure I'll have a meltdown in the next month, but it will be worth it!
I'm looking forward to the 6 week stage, when everyone says all the initial teething problems of being a new mother magically sort themselves out - hopefully my nipples can last that long (seriously, the things you can talk about when your body is a supermarket is amazing!)

Here comes another Henderson!

7:00 am on the first of May found me becoming groggily aware of two goofy adults standing in my doorway. I peeled back the layers of sleep from my eyes and began to wonder why the roof was yellow. The thought subsided, and the goofy adults smiled.

"It's happening!"

Indeed; since 5:30 that morning, Dee had been having contractions.

"And what? You're trying to send me to school?" I asked incredulously.

No matter, I stayed home, and the day was full of slowness, card games, slowness, contractions, slowness, the agonising movie Emma, slowness and not much else.

But yay! At six we toddled finally off to the hospital, and after hours and hours of excrutiating labour, little, squashy Tayen Kaylee Henderson slid into the world. It was 2:13 am on the second of May. (Oh, and by 'little', I mean 9 pounds ... O_o). Tayen is an American-Indian name meaning 'new moon', and Kaylee is a character from the show Firefly. She's the most gorgeous little monkey person I've ever met, and I can't wait to spend lots and lots of time with her and get thrown up on a lot.

So, today we brought her home for the first time, and set up the baby monitors and such. I'm writing this from my room, and every time I hear her cry it's an "Oh la vache, this will only get worse ... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo." But oh well, I'm sure the good will outweigh the loud, annoying noise :P

But I'm sure you will all want to hear the other points of view in this, so that's the way the cookie crumbles.

(And keep an eye out at your local video store for the second doco by the Henderson family - Here Comes another Henderson).

Overdue!

6 days overdue and counting - will this baby ever make an appearance? Everything is ready and waiting, all that needs to happen now is for labour to start. There are numerous suggestions for kickstarting labour, and I've tried just about all of them to no avail. I guess I have to be content with good old fashioned waiting - how boring! I suppose I should enjoy my last days of freedom before there is a little someone who is constantly demanding my attention, but I've been waiting so long to meet this new little person that I can't wait any more! Besides, life is quite uncomfortable when you're lugging around 14 extra kilograms. Normal things such as turning over in bed become an ordeal! And poor Alan wakes up the 6 or so times I need to get up to use the loo at night!
Anyway, I'm sure it's not far off now. Here are some pics of the growth of my belly - the first was taken at 4 months, and the second at 9 months.

The wait is almost over!

Well, there's about two weeks to go before the Henderson family changes forever!
Already a family consisiting of 2 adults, 2 teenagers, 1 dog, 4 snakes, 7 frogs, 14 goannas, 2 skinks, 5 geckos, 1 dragon, numerous stick insects and countless spiders, snails, cockroaches, grasshoppers and other invertebrates, we are soon to have a newborn baby added into the picture!
If it sounds like a bit of a zoo, it is, and while it runs fairly smoothly at present, the addition of a baby will introduce havoc, I'm sure!
But we are all looking forward to meeting this new little Henderson, and I think he/she is anxious to escape from his/her crowded little uterine home from all the somewhat painful jabs I've been getting.
We realised very quickly that our house it not quite big enough for our little entourage, and the replacement of the study/music room/spare room for the baby's room has crowded our already jam-packed animal room/family room.

But April 22 is the expected arrival date of our bundle of joy, and I say bring it on!