Queens Birthday

photo from here

Happy birthday, Lizzie!

You know, your subjects down under were always a bit less formal and respectful. Nevertheless they love you dearly and will surely toast your health a million times today.

God save the queen!

Australia – Germany

Wow! Difficult!

What do you do if you live in Australia? But are German?

Cheer for your current home country? Or for the country of your birth?

Difficult decision and I am glad that I am not the only one struggling to make it. Andrea is also still indecisive, but she made a very good point: it will be a win-win for all German Australia and all Australian Germany fans tonight.

I think I need to cheer for Germany. It is just too much of a tradition in my family. I still remember vividly how much I enjoyed watching the World Cup with my dad. It must have been 1982, because my sister and I were allowed to watch all German games on TV (and they made it to the final!). And my sister was still too small to correctly pronounce the name of our hero at the time: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – she always referred to him as Rummeniggl ;-)

So, go Germany, go!

12 on the 12th

My favourite blog initiative ever. On the 12th of each month, bloggers around the globe take 12 photos of their daily life and post them. Not only great for getting to know other bloggers but also as a personal visual diary. So please join the fun with Caro here:

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Got up at 5am with the little one. So I was able to watch the last 30 minutes of the game France vs. Uruguay. Pretty average – many fouls but no goals. Not my type of game.

A friend drops to cuddle our little one. And she bring cupcakes from my favourite shop “Little Cupcakes”. Heaven!

She also brings this little fellow along. At the moment Mr.Bunny is as big as little Victoria or even bigger, but I am sure this is going to change soon ;-)

While Vicky sleeps for an incredible 3.5 hours in a row, I work on her birth announcements. After much research I decided to craft them. I just love to make something special for a special occasion like that.

While waiting for Vicky’s arrival I made the cards from white cardboard and red-and-white-heart-tape – so now they are ready to be written. The envelopes are addressed. Photos are developed and just need to be stuck onto the cards.

And aren’t these the cutest stamps ever for a birth announcement. Mama Roo and Baby Joey ;-)

Looking at my baby, my heart just skips a beat every time I see her tiny, tiny hands. Delicate ears. Soft baby hair.

Our washing machine is doing extra shifts at the moment. And as you can see there are not many pieces of my lovely husband or me. All sweet baby pink.

Beautiful flowers! I wish I could make them last longer – they add such a wonderful sense of spring to these dark winter days.

Unfortunately my black thumb works on potted as well as cut flowers ;-( So I am afraid they will die pretty soon.

My husband is the best chef ever. And he always makes sure that his girls have a lot of nice food. Tonight we have a beautiful, juicy casserole with veggies and meat.

A little bit of soccer on TV before going to bed. At 10pm my eyes just become too droopy. Maybe I’ll be back at 4.30am for the game England vs. USA ;-)

World Cup Kick Off

It is time again...

... to heat up the sausages...

... to prepare a real German potato salad...

... to cool the beer (or some lemonade for the breast-feeding mum)...

and then it is kick-off for the 2010 World Cup.

The time difference between South Africa is 6 hours. Which means that the live coverage of most games will be in the middle of the Australian night. Which suits me just fine with the little one waking me up every 2-3 hours anyway. So I reckon I will be able to see more games than I did during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Hurray!

Original and Cheeky Copy

When looking for inspiration for decorating the nursery, I came across this poster a lot:

found here

While I think there is much truth in this statement, I got a bit bored by it after seeing it in so many blogs and magazines. Maybe I was just looking at too many similar sources of inspiration, but these posters seemed to be in EVERY nursery.

I also don’t like that this statement was first developed as propaganda in World War II. You see my questioning and researching of literally everything sometimes really limits my design decisions ;-)

Anyway, I stumbled across a great variety of ‘cheeky copies’ of this much used original... and I love all of them!

found here

Very important for me, since I tend to throw sewing projects, which don’t work out the first time, into a corner and never correct or finish them!

found here

There is nothing more calming than a beautiful cup of tea – especially if my friend C. from London makes it for me.

found here

Well, except cupcakes, maybe. The moist cake, the sugary frosting, the colourful sprinkles. Yes, cupcakes have often saved my life or at least my good mood.

found here

Yumm, bacon. I think bacon is the reason why I couldn’t become a vegetarian. I just cannot resist its smell, its crispyness, its saltiness. Let bacon save us all ;-)

found here 

Well to be honest that is probably closest to my reality. Sometimes there is nothing more liberating and calming than being angry for a bit. Just close the bathroom door and yell. Or throw cushions. And then you are ready for whatever comes your way next.

Still alive and back soon

Don’t worry! I am still alive! I am still awake! I am still the happiest mum of little Victoria.

She is an angel. She sleeps a lot during the day. And very little between 2 and 5am (a night owl like her daddy). She hates nappy changes and loves to stare at everything that is close enough. She feeds well. She deals well with all that gas in her little tummy. She is just perfect and we enjoy every minute with her.

I’ll be back soon, I just need to reply to all the wonderful emails and texts that I got in the last week from family and friends. But then – tomorrow probably I’ll be back and post again more regularly.

See you then and have a wonderful Tuesday!

Victoria

Victoria was born on Monday 31st May 2010.

She is a happy, healthy little girl and her papa and I cannot get enough of her. We look at her in amazement for 24 hours a day, we admire her little feet, we kiss her cubby hands, we try to understand her different types of crying, we feed her, we change her nappies, we cuddle her, we sleep with her and wake even before she does, we constantly check whether she is still breathing, whether she is too cold or too hot, whether she is hungry or bored or tired... We get to know her.

I will try my best to keep on writing this blog, but I might just be too busy loving her to pieces.

I have prepared, however, a few posts in the last stages of my pregnancy for you. At the time when all I could do was wait for her arrival. That way I hope I can keep this little blog of mine interesting and inspiring for you, although all I can think about is HER at the moment.