nine months old already!

i was silly enough to blink and all of a sudden my baby boy is 9 months old. he is a chubby, happy, smiley, hungry baby. and we love him to pieces. i used to roll my eyes when people would say, "i can't imagine life with out insert-your-childs-name-here" or i can't remember life without "insert-same-name-here" but i get it now. he has slotted into life at the kendalls and we love having him here. 

his eyes. oh his eyes. people always stop to talk to him because his eyes are so, so bright. he stares away at you and you just want to scoop him up for a cuddle, which i can of course do because he is mine, but at the shops or out and about, people always stop and say hello to him. especially when he is grinning away with his four teeth!! his top two have come through this month and he loves to grind away with them, testing them out. 

i've also learnt very quickly when he is done having a feed, when he sinks his teeth into me. ouch. he also loved to place his hand on my breast when he is having a feed and opens and closes his little fist, which unfortunately led to me having scratch marks all over me. thankfully that only lasted a month or so. violent little creature. haha

we love to dress joseph up for church in funky threads... and have laughed non-stop looking back of these pictures with daddy and joseph wearing matching bow-ties. how blessed we are to have a wonderful excuse to dress up once a week. :) this outfit above has to have been one of my favourites, he just looked absolutely darling! this picture just kills me, that smile and those eyes. i love him!

he finally took his first few crawl steps forward this past week... and i have a feeling he'll be off and racing before too long. he's very strong! he also started sitting up on his own, the same day... watching him sit himself up is hysterical, i love the way he pushes away around himself until he can manoeuvre himself into a position to sit up from. it's the cutest. 

he is loving madeline's car. when i am cooking he quite often gets upset having to sit in his high chair for too long, but doug grabbed the car from the garage for him to sit in, and once madeline got over her disgust that someone had taken her precious car, even she loved watching him twist around and play with all the knobs and gadgets inside it. he's a real little boy, wants to touch everything. we are going to have to watch out when he is properly on the move.

i feel like he suddenly got very big very quickly and keep looking at him wondering where my baby went. he is into size 0 in most things now and isn't showing any signs of stopping. madeline was a midget in comparison. glad he is a big healthy boy though, it would probably look a little funny if their sizes were the other way around.

joseph still doesn't say anything other than "mamaaaa" but we hear that a lot, especially if i have left the room and he notices! there is nothing sweeter than hearing your name from a baby. he makes plenty of different noises though, including the old blabber and hand on and off the mouth like an indian. classic. we mostly hear that when we have put him to bed, now that he can sit up, which of course he does in protest.

he lovvvvvves bath time, especially when his bis sister is there to splash with him. they have such a fun time, giggling away and making a mess of my bathroom. thank goodness it's only water. i've also found that when i need to take a shower in the mornings, he is quite happy to play with his bath toys in the empty bath. phew. keeps him occupied for just long enough for me to do my thing, he can see me and i can see him. everybody wins!

so there you have it. the monthly update on our little one. and just for good measure, one more picture of him looking ridiculously attractive in one of my favourite outfits. i just can't get enough! luckily he's mine and i can smooch those beautiful cheeks as much as i want. ♥

come follow me

one of my most prized possessions is the two lds hymn books that belonged to my grandfather joseph and grandma phyllis. when grandad passed away, they were the first and only things i asked for. my grandmother apparently had the voice of an angel, a beautiful alto voice that she was famous for in the church. (reminder here for anyone not from around here, everyone knows everyone in perth... especially if you're a mormon.)

i don't remember her well enough to remember, as she passed away when i was only 6, but i do know that what musical talent i have, certainly came from her. i love to sing and have sang in numerous church meetings over the years... plus i had the pleasure of leading the ward choir for years. i often think of the day that she and i will be reunited and how badly i want to sing a duet with her for the first time. i sometimes even wonder if she watches me sing and sees my love for singing? and i wonder if she is proud of me? if she waits for that day too? what a joy it is to know that my family is eternal.

i sang in our ward mission fireside this evening, a beautiful song that brings such joy to my heart - and was sure to sing it from her hymn book, to hold her close to me and for that little bit of extra luck.

come follow me the saviour said

then let us in his footsteps tread

for thus alone can we be one

with gods own beloved son

...

for thrones, dominions, kingdoms, powers

and glory great and bliss are ours

if we throughout eternity

obey his words, come follow me

-lds hymns 116

handmade pillowcases

flicking through a few home magazines (and pinterest of course... always pinterest) i've come across numerous yellow bed covers and i am loving them. i was almost at the point of considering paying full price for one (anyone that knows me will be rolling with laughter) and then on a recent opshop adventure i discovered this beauty hanging out on the manchester rack just waiting for me to discover it. For just $10 it was a score... the only issue was that it only came with one pillowcase. so tonight i worked a little magic with my trusty friend my sewing machine and made it into two!

i had an idea in my head to simply pull apart two plain white pillowcases, then use one side (with the flap closure still attached) to sew to a piece the same size of the patterned fabric (i'd also pulled the other pillow case apart), making a standard sized pillow case. i don't have mad sewing skills, but thankfully it worked perfectly and i now have two pillowcases to go with my new cover! yay!

new bedset? $10. winning. 

dragons are frightened of princesses

i thought it was about time i updated you all about our little madeline. what a bombshell. she certainly lives up to the feisty redhead reputation. she is sassy and likes to now everything that's going on, no secrets allowed. what are you doing mum? where are you going? she is bossy as, and loves to tell us all what to do... or maybe she just knows she's always right (yeah, right.) she's always organising everything exactly how she likes it and heaven forbid you touch or move a thing from where she put it. she adores playing "shopping" and will move around the house putting random things in her little bags or pram loading them up until things fall out, then bringing them to me and pulling them out one by one to show me what she has. she loves to play with her dolls and make them chat to each other, she loves to play baby (mostly when she is tired, it's a dead giveaway haha) and she loves her baby brother. she is always chatting to him, passing him things, patting him and just generally loving him. she is obsessed with kinder eggs and sometimes is so excited to open them that she forgets to eat the chocolate haha.

she still loves the disney princesses and always tells me all about them as she moves them around her castle, she has even learned the names of their boyfriends and talks about them being married. haha. i think i'd be safe saying her current favourite is aurora from sleeping beauty, she always chooses her from the bandaid tin (i buy a few different kinds of character bandaids and let her choose according to her mood) although this week she chose one of the fingers she sucks on and had to lose the bandaid after a few minutes. i found it discarded with her toys. we saw mulan for the first time this month and she has added her to her endless stories, not that i blame her... i loved her too, what a hero. she also loves hello kitty after my friend started the craze buying her a "blind bag" and we now have the whole set. they are very cute! she wants to show every single person that comes to our house, "my bedroom that mummy made for me" thank goodness she likes it.

madeline still loves nursery and tried to tell me the other day that she couldn't wear the dress i had chosen to church because "sister currie won't like it" (side note, sister currie did like it) she has some lovely leaders and there are some sweet children in there with her. she has made firm friends with leigh and leiara, our friends daughters and spends all day telling me that she is going to their house to play with them and jump on the trampoline. 

she is still quite petite and wears size 2 without any problems, we are definitely not ready for all 3's just yet, although we've moved into some just for length. she still doesn't have much hair and i look enviously at all our friends girls, waiting for her hair to grow. she is a sweet smiley girl, who wants to befriend everyone she meets.

we had a few issues with bedtime as madeline was a little afraid of the dark - i heard a few things that could be hiding in her room including lions and dragons... i suggested she wear her crown to bed because dragons are frightened of princesses. she went off to sleep and was quite happy, then the following night i checked on her again and there she was fast asleep with it on, she'd climbed out of bed and gotten her crown to wear. we now of course have to wear it every night, fine by me... at least she feels safe.

she is still as funny as ever, every ready with a cheeky grin - and we love her for it. i can't imagine life without her sassiness.

madeline's big girl room tour

well, here it is! my little girl has grown up suddenly and has a room for a big girl. with a big bed (that she loves to jump on) and other fun things. niques vacated the room and left for queensland shortly before we left for samoa... and i have finally gotten around to posting some pictures of it on here.

i have done my best with the terrible cheap (now dirty and worn) carpet and awful coloured walls that come with a rental... and despite that, madeline is thrilled with the result. every time someone comes to our house, they are greeted with "do you want to come in my room?" "i love my room" "mummy made it for me" she's clearly easily pleased, but it is a nice place to sit and play.

3d butterfly heart pic a custom piece from ma & me

princess castle available at all department/toy stores or online here

toy basket below from the reject shop

i'm ocd as anything, i had to have matching hangers... and it has made such a difference to how neat her closet looks, no more mish-mashed hanging... get to kmart $3 for 10

solid recycled cardboard cubes $10 each from target

pink laundry tub (mini handbag storage) from bunnings

follow your dreams canvas print from kmart

dolly pram made by my grandfather for my third birthday ♥

antique cast iron bed a gift for my sixth birthday from my grandmother

pale pink quilt set with white fluffy wings detail & matching white fluffy cushion trelise cooper at ezibuy au

babushka cushion toy a gift from my best friend to madeline

pink chevron cushion from flamingo tease

rainbow quilled picture, a custom piece from ma & me

bedside table from kmart

wooden campervan playset from kmart

lamp from keeley's garden

dream canvas from the local opshop for $5 - what a steal!

jewellery stand from diva (now lovisa)

teddybear money box, made by my aunt when i was a child

m from cotton on kids

dreamcatcher canvas from earthly gifts by the sea

love letters from thingz gifts

"heaven" canvas from kmart

birdcage from junk to jazz

eiffel tower bookends from gumtree

classics bookset available here

praying children also from my aunt

mirror from ezibuy au

"wild thing" gold leather crown from hubble + duke

chest of drawers from ikea

mr piggy, a gift from a friend and still madly loved by miss maddie

pink wooden stool handmade by my beautiful grandfather

lightshade from ezibuy au

so there you have it! madeline's room. 

we love it and are glad she does too ♥

blog is fully updated

for any regular readers of my blog (do i have any? hi mum!!!) you've probably noticed the massive amount of backblogging i had to get through from our samoa trip - well, i am pleased to announce that i am finally finished! hooray! please enjoy...

and now i am going to reward myself... by editing photos from the wedding i did a few days before we left. sigh. 

baby melchizedek's blessing day

today our friends florence and richard had their baby boy blessed. baby melchizedek was born just days after we left for samoa and he is just gorgeous. a carbon copy of his daddy, he is sweet and cuddly, forever eating and sleeping in his mama's arms - as he doesn't like to be put down.

doug knew florence and her sister angela growing up, when they were in his family ward in auckland, new zealand. angela ending up marrying doug's cousin matt - and years later, flo appeared here in perth, in our ward with her husband and kids in tow! they'd made the move across for work and how pleased we are to have them here!

madeline and leiara have become firm friends and spend all their time together at church giggling and having a ball. it makes me so happy to see them having so much fun.

they are the sweetest family and i was so pleased to be able to take pictures of them after church today.

cutest girls!

♥♥♥