5

Five years ago today I married my lovely husband Matteo. In his words "5 anni sono pochi ma sembra che ci vogliamo bene da una vita" (5 years are short but it seems that we've loved each other for a life time)Doesn't it sound so much more romantic in Italian! 

McBeth Photography

Click here if you'd like to see more pictures from our beautiful day.

Wishing you all a love filled Friday.

Love

Sarah Elizabeth

x

Lazy Summer Days

It's really really hot here at the moment. The countryside is so dry and burned out, in desperate need of rain. Our days are slow and lazy. We spend the hottest part of the day indoors. Alba spends her time creating either drawing and cutting out paper dinosaurs, painting or making clothes for her teddies. 

In the late afternoon when it's cooler we finally escape outdoors to the pool............

 for a leisurely stroll.................

or to find a shady spot in the park.......

How are you spending your summer days?

Love

Sarah Elizabeth

x 

Welcome Mirryn Hope

On 16th March we welcomed into the world another beautiful daughter, Mirryn Hope. We are delighted with our precious bundle and Alba May adores her new little sister. 

My Birth Story

I can hardly believe my baby girl is already a month old! I now understand what my mum means when she said she blinked and suddenly we were all grown up. Time just goes so fast it's frightening. People told me how hard the first weeks would be with a newborn but I can honestly say that I've had an easy time so far. Of course there are some moments which are more trying than others but on the whole I'm finding motherhood to be a complete joy. I'm blessed with a very good baby who already is showing a beautifully peaceful nature. I also have a wonderful husband who allows me to rest and take care of the baby while he takes care of everything else. 

I wanted to share with you all the story of little Alba's arrival in the world. I had a very easy, problem free pregnancy and it ended with a very easy, problem free birth. On Saturday 1st October I woke up in the morning with my first contractions. At first I wasn't sure if they were contractions as they weren't very painful but after a while I started timing them and they were coming regularly at around 7 minutes apart. I wasn't totally convinced that it was the real thing as I was expecting to be in a bit more pain. Nonetheless, I spent the morning making last minute preparations, finishing packing my bag, cleaning up the kitchen etc. I then sat down to watch Scotland play England in the rugby world cup which took my mind off things for a couple of hours.

Throughout the afternoon the contractions were still coming regularly but not getting any more painful. By the evening I suddenly realised that they were 3 minutes apart. I still wasn't sure that it was time to go to the hospital but my husband convinced me that we should. By the time I was ready to go the contractions were starting to get a bit stronger and quite close together. At that point I started to worry that we'd maybe left it a bit late to get to the hospital, a 40 minute drive away!

However, at around 10pm we arrived at the hospital in time and I was examined. I still half expected that they'd tell me it wasn't time and to go home again. I was surprised when they told me I was already 5cm dilated! The midwife left me to get settled into my room where I stayed for about half an hour before I felt like I was ready to push. They took me to the delivery room where I laboured for another 30 minutes or so before being examined again. I was 10cm dilated and ready to go. Another 20 minutes or so of pushing and my little girl was born at half past midnight. 

I am still quite amazed at what the human body is capable of. I managed the whole labour without any kind of pain medication, not even gas and air. I didn't use any particular birthing method or breathing techniques. I let my body take over and do what it had to do. I feel extremely proud of myself!! The whole experience was quite incredible and I'm so grateful to the doctors and the midwives who helped me through it. I must admit I was worried about giving birth in an Italian hospital but my fears were unfounded. I had the natural birth I wanted and the hospital staff were really supportive. 

I want to thank you all for your kind words of welcome for Alba May on my last post. It means a lot to us that there are people all over the world wishing us well. For those of you wondering about our name choice, Alba is the Gaelic name for Scotland and it is also an Italian name meaning 'dawn'. It's the perfect name for our little half Scottish half Italian girl. 

For obvious reasons my posts in the next weeks might be few and far between. I apologise for this and also for not being such a regular visitor to your blogs. I'm still reading but don't always manage to comment (I'm still mastering one-handed typing!!) Thank you all once again for your kind wishes and for your support throughout my pregnancy, it means a lot x x x 

Welcome Alba May

On Sunday 2nd October 2011 at half past midnight our precious little girl, Alba May entered into the world. She is perfect in every way and mummy and daddy are over the moon x x x

Homemade Bag

A few months ago my mum gave me this beautiful bag she'd made for me to keep my knitting in. She also made a matching roll for keeping my crochet hooks in. What a clever mummy I have!

It's very hot here in Umbria at the moment and for the first time ever I'm longing for the end of summer. It's too hot to go out so I've been indoors most of the time sewing and knitting next to the fan! 

There are only 4 weeks to go now until our baby is due. Apart from being a bit hot I'm feeling really well and I could quite happily stay pregnant forever!!  

La vie sur l'eau

We're back from a wonderfully relaxing holiday in France. We spent 2 weeks with my parents and my aunt and uncle cruising on the Canal Lateral à la Loire in my aunt and uncle's beautiful boat 'Decize'.

We spent long, tranquil days watching the passing countryside, reading, eating fromage and baguettes and enjoying a slower pace of life. 

I'd love to live in one of these pretty lock keeper's cottages.........

........or in a house with shutters like these.......

We explored some pretty towns and villages: Nevers, Fleury-sur-Loire, Gannay, Diou...........

The weather wasn't always perfect.............

 but it was a perfect holiday all the same.

A gift from a wee bird

This week I was surprised by a late birthday gift arriving from my sweet sister in Australia. I tore open the envelope to find this lovely little package tied up with a pretty ribbon.

Inside were three packets of vintage crochet thread.

My sister definately knows what I like.

The trouble is they are too pretty to use but too pretty not to use! What would you make with these?

My sister has just started a new business called Wee Jennie Wren, customising basic kids clothing using recycled fabric. She'll be doing a guest post here soon. At the moment she's busy with Christmas orders.

Thank you Wee Jennie Wren x x

Things that Make me Happy Part Ten

10. Family

Last but certainly not least on my happiness list is my family. I enjoy every minute I spend with my family. They're so much fun and we always have such crazy times together.

This picture was taken on New Year's Eve 2008, the last time we were all together. (Excuse the slightly tipsy looks, it was New Year's Eve after all!) I can't wait until this Summer when we'll all be together again for my wedding.

Today I'm leaving for a 2 week summer camp in Torre Alfina, a little town in our neighbouring region of Lazio. It's a fun camp filled with English activities, theatre, sports, swimming and excursions. When the camp is finished I'm heading straight off to Scotland where I'll be until after our wedding. I won't have much time for blogging over the next 2 weeks but will be back once I arrive in Scotland. It's going to be one great Summer!

A Crafty Family (comes in handy when planning a wedding!)

While I was back in Scotland during the Easter holidays I spent some lovely time crafting with my mum and my little sister. I enjoy nothing more than sitting with them by the fire, drinking cups of tea (or g&t!), each of us busy with some little project or other. My mum always has several projects on the go and recently quite a few of these have been wedding related. She's busy making yards and yards of bunting and she's also making my little flower girl's dress. She even managed to whip me up these pretty hand knitted dish cloths. I don't know where she finds the time! They're far too pretty to use for washing dishes so at the moment they're carefully stored away in my 'bottom drawer' ready for when we have a kitchen to use them in!

My little sister, Loulou is a design student studying constructed textiles at Heriot Watt Uni so she gets to spend her time crafting and calls it work! I love looking through all of her sketch books and seeing all the things that she makes. I've got her working on a couple of things for the wedding too.

The only thing missing from these crafty sessions is my big sister who lives with her family in Perth, Australia. However, she'll be back in Scotland for 6 weeks before the wedding so plenty of time for her to get involved in the wedding craftiness. She makes lovely hand-made gift cards so I have her lined up for making programmes, place cards, menus etc. It's handy having such a crafty family!

Have a happy weekend everyone xx