We gather here today to witness their commitment to parenthood and to officially welcome a new member into our community. We are here because of our relationship with them, for we are their community—their circle of people. We are the community with whom they celebrate life’s special moments, and to whom they will turn in times of need. We are their extended family and friends and we honour their commitment to this tiny human, who has changed their lives forever.

In the words of Elizabeth Stone “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

[To Lorelei]
Now it is time to formally welcome you with love as we bestow your name.

A name is very important. It distinguishes us from others and gives us a sense of belonging in our family and community.

We therefore name you Lorelei Elizabeth Hardie. We wish you long life and happiness in a loving and peaceful world. May you bring joy to your parents, your family and friends.

[To all]
In human history there is no deeper connection than that of a baby and her parents. As new parents, James and Rachel’s lives have changed forever.

Before, they were a couple in love; committed to each other. Now they have become a true family with that commitment extending to Lorelei. This is now a close and loving family unit.

Families are important – the role of parenthood held in high regard. To be responsible for a new life strengthens the bond that James and Rachel share and brings a strong purpose to their lives.

[To James]: Do you James promise to commit yourself to Rachel as her partner, promising to support her as a mother?
[Answer: I promise]
[To Rachel]: Do you Rachel promise to commit yourself to James as his partner, promising to support him as a father?
[Answer: I promise]

[To both]
Do you promise to give yourself to your daughter as her parents, promising to act out of your love for her, respecting and supporting her uniqueness, teaching her honesty, generosity of spirit and tolerance, be always ready to listen to Lorelei so that she will bring to you both her joys and her concerns and eliciting the best from her?
[Answer: We promise]

Rachel and James are very aware that raising a child holds big responsibilities. It is important that they are able to ask for support on occasions, and for Lorelei to be able to gain counsel from family and friends – people she can trust to go to as she grows. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child.

We would like to take a moment to recognise Lorelei’s grandparents – Mary, Larry, Debbie and Colin – and her Great-Grandmother, Judith, who will give her the same love and support that they always gave to their own children and use their experiences to help guide her through her life.

Amaya and Riley have also agreed to help support and guide Lorelei throughout her life.

Now Amaya, who has accepted the role of Fairy Goth Mother to Lorelei, will read a poem by Dr Seuss

Weird beardy Uncle Riley will now read a poem by Neil Gaiman.

James and Rachel have asked that you write a wish for Lorelei on one of the butterflies next to the Lemonade Tree and and please enjoy the rest of this lovely day in the park.

Right now we haven’t met you yet but your Dad and I have been getting to know you. You like to play after dinner and you don’t like it when  I sit too long at  the computer.

When your Dad and I first learned you were on your way, just after Christmas, we couldn’t wait to tell everybody so when we went to a New Years Eve party our friends kept asking me if I wanted to have a drink but I knew you were in my tummy so I said no and we decided to tell everyone about you – Everyone was so excited and they’ve been waiting to meet you for almost as long as we have.

The first time I felt you moving in my tummy I didn’t know if I would laugh or cry. It felt like little bubbles and that was when I realised that it wouldn’t be long until you arrived and I would be a mummy. At first when you moved it was just a little wiggle that Daddy couldn’t feel from outside my belly so it was something that you and I could share, just the two of us. As you got bigger and stronger you would practise kicking your legs and Daddy would put his hand on my tummy and feel you move around.

Your Dad and I already love you very much and we talk about you all the time. There’s so much we’re going to do together, you, me and Daddy. We’ll visit Nanna Deb and go to the beach and we’ll go up to the mountains to visit Nanna Mary and Granpa Larry and play in the garden. We’ll go to the snow and build snowmen and we’ll stay home and make up our own adventures.

Now you’re getting so big and I will finally get to meet you soon. I’m so excited and a little bit scared. I’ve never been anybody’s Mummy before but I promise I’ll always do the very best I  can, because I love you very much.

Love, your mum,
Rachel
11th July 2011

Tea, too?: Tummy Tea, T-4-1 Set, Ready Set Raspberry Tea

At first I thought giving up coffee would be the death of me, but it proved easier than expected when the taste of coffee set off my morning sickness while at the same time tea and toast was one of the few things I could easily keep down, but one can’t drink English Breakfast forever so I journeyed into the mystical land of T2 over and over again to try new concoctions, buy new cups, saucers and strainers and just sniff all the strange and wonderful teas and tisanes.

The two above are my big winners. Tummy tea is absolutely delicious and I can drink litres of it, with the added bonus that it helps reduce the amount and severity of the heartburn I’ve been experiencing as I approach the finish line. Ready Set Raspberry contains Raspberry Leaf but the (not so great, actually) flavour of the Raspberry Leaf is masked with peppermint leaf (also good for indigestion!), lemongrass, lavender and jasmine flower.

Finally, you’ll need something to serve the tea in and I just love my T-4-1 set.  Perfect size to finish the pot before it gets cold.

The LUSH dream team: Dreamwash, Dream Cream and Dreamtime Bath Melt.

Half way through my 2nd trimester I started to itch. A lot! None of my usual moisturisers helped and I was literally being kept up by the itching until I stopped using soap products and started using the Dream Wash from LUSH followed by Dream Cream on all the bumpy bits to try and fend off the stretchmarks (no success, but any reputable source will tell you that) and keep everything soft and hydrated. The Dreamtime melt is just for laying back in a warn bath to help relieve sore back and feet.

PROTIP: The Sweet and Dreamy gift box contains all of the above PLUS the lovely Therapy massage bar and a few more sweet surprises.

Entering the second trimester, this is probably the most common question I’ve gotten and I’ve steadfastly denied having pickle and ice-cream combo cravings. However, take the ‘weird’ out of the equation and the answer changes drastically.

Dairy and carbs. I want them all the time. Every meal must include bread, potato, pasta or rice. Sometimes multiple options. I can safely say that the least satisfying thing I’ve eaten this week was my old favorite, chili con carne nachos with cheese, spicy salsa and sour cream but the same dish with corn chips traded out for a baked potato was like ambrosia! Mr J and I even discussed it.

“what should we have for dinner?”
“something with taters”
“of course…”
“why ‘of course’?”
“because you’ve asked for potatoes every night this week!”
“oh… But we are having potatoes tonight, right?”

Then we have the moo juice… I polished off a litre of milk in one sitting (with a side of chic chip cookies) then sent J out for more – “The one with extra cream!” and demolished half of that, too.

So no, my cravings aren’t weird and you could do worse than to bring me cookies and milk, or a baked potato.

Sand person pin-up. o_O.

It’s a trap! Can Calamaria ever be sexy? I say no.

My backpack’s got jets… Finally something that doesn’t make me want to tear my eyes out. Nice socks, Lady Fett.

Rodian’s just don’t do it for me and the addition of Salacious B. Crumb doesn’t help.

Ah, a Twi’ilek. Of course there is a pin-up Twi’ilek, they’re the Cheesecake of the Star Wars universe

TIE pilot. Love the shoes, am unnerved by the helmet.

Female Storm troopers are another common (online) sight. I love the extra detail of the suspenders though.

No. Just no. Or maybe NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I find your lack of pants disturbing. Nah, not really. Darth Monroe is probably one is the less disturbing images in this collection.

Buy these images as prints, shirts or iDevice skins at Yayzus

In related news… As much as I hate to reference Joanne Nova (No link love from me for that crazy lady) this image is too good not to share.

Australia is BIG, yo!

I believe it is T2′s Red Fancy Fruit and it’s spicy and warm. Not a great summer tea but delicious anyway and an amazing colour that I couldn’t help but take a picture of.

Ultrasound - 6 weeks

Things I was expecting… food restrictions, having to quit drinking/smoking, cutting down caffeine, morning sickness, everyone thinking they know better than me.

Things I was not expecting… falling asleep everywhere, drifting around on the hot/crazy scale (boobs get firmer, have public freakout about fish*, hair looks great, go to work with shirt inside out), how they actually do early pregnancy ultrasounds, random tummy pains, preferring to wear a bra because of the support.

Most days I feel stuck inside the ‘I’m fine’ dilemma. You know the one, when someone asks you how you are and immediately you answer “I’m fine” no matter how shitty things have been because really, does the person asking want to know? Being pregnant is a lot like that. When people first start finding out 90% of conversations will go like this:

“Congratulations!”
“Are you excited?”
“Is [significant other] excited too?”
“How far along are you?”
“Was it planned?”
“Have you had any morning sickness yet?”

This introduction will then often lead into the well meaning friend/co-worker/family member delivering home grown wisdom to you. Do eat this, don’t eat this. I choose to assume that they simply want to bask in my fecund glory rather than the less complimentary situation where they think I am an idiot who hasn’t been to a doctor, read a book or used google.

Luckily the women I work with are brilliant. Yes, there is advice but it’s good advice and usually prefaced with a disclaimer that it’s based on their experience and everyone is different. Some baby making friends have already offered to listen to moaning and bitching about the less than heavenly aspects of breeding because they remember what it was like and the offer is most appreciated.

It’s also important to note that my intent to have this child does not suddenly make me “pro-life”, it doesn’t make me change my mind about baptisms or marriage or breastfeeding. I got to choose to have a child and other women get to make their own choices, too. Having a rapidly expanding womb hasn’t made me believe in god or decide to put on a white dress and find a priest (though I did contemplate a shotgun wedding just to get it out of the way and not have to worry about it).

Yes, I’m pregnant but I’m still Rachel, I’m just Rachel with some extra stuff in my life.

*Yeah, I couldn’t remember how many serves of fish I could have in a week without risking having a mecury-filled flipper-baby. Que supermarket panic.

What this really means is that I’m going to be talking about pregnancy a lot, and I’m going to start doing it from now.