Now for the photos

The Smith Crew and the Caitens Clan @ the Sunshine Coast unit the Caitens were staying in.

We all went and played putt putt together. It was slightly crazy, but enjoyed by most!

The two little men particularly enjoyed the helicopter inside…

and the motorbikes!

Miss Grumpy-pants with her leg in a cast (she wasn’t actually grumpy, she just didn’t particularly want her photo taken)

On a ride at the redcliffe festival of sails

Enjoying sno-cones

With the Caitens and McClures @ Rocks Riverside

The first hockey game!

Uncle Adrian and Mr Malachi in his suit (it’s serious business!)

Ezra pulling faces earlier in the month… he’ll be 5 months old on Thursday… time has disappeared!!

Brianna has started going to art classes on Monday afternoons. We all went the first few weeks but it got a bit crazy. A friend offered to keep taking just Brianna – so for the last three or so weeks she has been going along on her own and just loving it (particularly the part where she gets to play with all her “friends”!)

We had a tea party with the McClures, Mrs John and Heidi for Bella’s birthday. She picked out all the balloons/plates/etc (any suprise that they’re all purple??!!) and thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. She spent most of the weekend of her birthday telling everyone that she was “three now” and that she’d had her birthday – she still has moments of realising that yes, she’s still three, and just how exciting that is even now a few weeks on

Malachi got in on the building action when Daddy converted an old double bed to a low futon for the girls room:

I have a new sling for the baby

And Bella asked if she could have one to match

We’ve also finally added some pets to our family! Last week we bought a fish tank and two gold fish. We plan to add some more fish, but were told to do it slowly so that they have time to adjust. Apparently their names are Libby (Brianna’s fish) and Sabby (Bella’s fish) … but that has a tendency to change depending on what time of day you ask them

So now that October is over, it’s time for baby to arrive! I was hoping that maybe he/she would make his/her appearance during October to add to the already long October list, but it would seem that he/she is more keen on November – perhaps even sharing a birthday with Grandma Joan?? I’ve been really enjoying my midwife visits, collecting all the bits and pieces we need for the birth, talking to the children about the new baby … not enjoying the heat quite so much, and still working on patiently waiting for bub to arrive (some days are easier than others!!) but all in all we’re all doing well, enjoying putting some energy into redecorating the house now that we have a 12 month lease signed (will put some photos up sometime soon), and enjoying our family and the ministry opportunities the Lord has given us!

On monday we took a “holiday at home” day. We went to the breathing space cafe at indooroopilly for breakfast then caught a train into south bank where we visited the science centre. From there, we had lunch at southbank and went for a play on the park before catching the train home again.

Enjoying the train ride

Malachi @ the science centre

Binna and Mummy @ the science centre

Malachi playing @ southbank

On tuesday morning we packed all our gear and decided to head up the cost (it was sunny then )

Trying on the new swimming gear from daddy.

First stop: underwater world!

Next stop: the shearwater resort @ kings beach…. only by now it’s raining!! (these photos were taken from our balcony early wednesday morning)

but all was not lost – the kids enjoyed watching playschool

and we went on a bit of a shopping spree!…

…which resulted mainly in lots of great bargains (new clothes) for daddy – but some super cute nighties and socks for the girls too (amongst other things)

lots of fun!

we’re back home now and slowly getting ready for the weekend! Jer and I are heading away for our church couples retreat overnight tomorrow night. My dad will be having the kids for a little bit in the evening, then Adrian will be looking after the girls here and Julia is taking the brave step of looking after malachi for the night

The children are all growing quickly – Malachi is such a little man now. Brianna is being challenging but is enjoying learning to read and some early numeracy skills. Ellia is … well, Ellia – she’s unique and wonderful, hyperactive and incredibly affectionate!

Now for some photos… My camera has been out of action since earlier this year due to me losing the battery for it (and no I have no idea how I actually managed to do that). However, last month I got a new phone and it actually takes pretty decent photos – not as good as Jer’s new phone… but that’s not the point!

This key rack was made for Mr and Mrs John after Mrs John mentioned they needed to get a new one as the old one was getting a bit tired in it’s old age. We were hoping to have it done for her birthday but it ended up being about a week later! From L-R the handprints are Bella’s, Binna’s and Malachi’s. I did a practice run of Malachi’s on a piece of paper which worked wonderfully only then he didn’t want to do it again on the “real thing”!

This pelican lives outside Mr and Mrs John’s front door – the girls think it is designed for riding on, so of course Malachi has copied them. He got off before I got the photo tho! So cute!!!!!

This photo was taken mid July while we were at the airport waiting to pick daddy up from his trip to the US.

Daddy gives the best rides!! Malachi thought this was just fantastic. (Ellia thought it was more important than putting pants on!!!)

I know there are prolly way too many photos – but thought it better to have too many than too few! It will probably take longer to read the tutorial than it did for me to make the nappy.

The explanation for each photo comes before the photo itself

You’ll need:
25x40cm PUL
45x40cm Fleece or Suedecloth
24cm loop side of velcro/aplix
6cm hoop side of velcro/aplix
approx 50cm of 6mm elastic

the pattern

Cut out the pattern as indicated on the pdf. (1x fleece of each part, 1xPUL of body piece). Cut the hook side of your velcro in half, and 2 x 3cm portions off the end of the loop side so you have 1x 18cm and 2x 3cm.

Pin the right side of the front waistband to the right side of the front of the PUL nappy body – making sure the centres are aligned.

Straight stitch 4mm from edge (this is just to keep it in place for the next step)

There are two ways to do the next step, I’ve included on here and will do another post later for the other way.

With the fleece on the bottom and right side of the PUL facing down, fold the PUL in half and half again, then one more time making sure you keep the excess PUL at least 1cm from the stitching.

Roll the PUL over one more time until it is small enough for the two edges of the fleece to be brought together again. Still making sure you will be able to stitch approx .5cm from the top edge without catching any of the excess PUL.

Pin the two edges of the fleece together (right sides should be facing IN)

Straight stitch one of the short sides and the long side, stopping before turning the corner for the remaining short side.

Pull the PUL body piece back through the open hole, push the remaining tail thru once PUL is out.

It should look like this:

Fold the PUL in half to check if there is too much fleece on one side (don’t want it being lop-sided!!) – you need the unsewn edge to be 1cm longer than the sewn one, but not more than that.

Fold the edges of the open end into the tube 1cm and pin.

Straight stitch shut.

Now pin the right side of the back waistband to the right side of the back of the nappy body.

Pin the other edge of the waistband to the back of the fleece body piece. Right sides together.

Straight stitch along both seams. Laid out flat it should look something like this:

You may need to trim some excess if the fleece has stretched (or if you realise that you cut it wrong to start with – oops!!)

Sew a 1cm hem on the front edge of the inner body piece – I usually use a zigzag but you can do whatever suits.

You should now have one long piece with all parts sewn together. Fold in half, right sides together, ligning up the back waistband edges with each other.

Straight stitch down each side, making sure the fleece doesn’t stretch.

Trim each of the back corners slightly so that they’re not too bulky when you turn it in the right way.

Attach the elastic. Starting at the back, at the edge of the body piece (not on the waistband), sew the elastic into the seam allowance. Once it is attached by a few stitches, stretch as much as you can as you sew.

Stop once you get to the front waistband and cut the elastic.

Do the same on the other side.

Turn the nappy in the right way – nearly done!!

Attach the big piece of loop to the back waistband – again making sure the centres match.

Attach the small pieces of velcro/aplix to the flaps on either side of the front waistband – hook on the outside, loop on the inside.

That’s it!

Model it on an extremely cute baby!!!!

Let me know if something’s not clear… otherwise – have fun!! I love making these nappies, they fit so well, aren’t super bulky and last so long – We use the one size here from early infancy thru to the end of their “nappy days”.