Wondering what the heck we've been up to?

Prior to getting back into making beds at the end of last year it may have seemed that we had fallen into the abyss so I thought that an explanation for our absence was warranted. 

Where to begin? We have had sooo much on our plate ever since we bought our house in 2018 but the last year and a half has been beyond busy. Along with the ongoing renovations of our 1960’s triple fronted home we planned and executed an extension of our home, DIY’d our wedding in a 3 month time frame and welcomed our daughter Esmé 6 weeks earlier than expected.

The timeline looked a little like this (hectic times indeed!!)  

The House

In March of 2021 the works on our house extension commenced with the digging of quite a large hole for our garage that would form the lower level of our house extension. The depth was predetermined by the height of Mark’s work ute and was a pain point throughout both the planning and construction phases. This was step number one in a long list of construction that extended from March until October. With some delays from Covid restrictions and material shortages our builder was able to get our build to lock-up so we could take over and start working on the interior.

The during

The before

The after

We opted to finish the interior at lock up stage (once walls, floors and roof were complete) to save ourselves money and take control of a lot of the design and finishes that we were very particular about achieving. This included sanding and sealing our exposed beams, insulating ceilings and walls, painting, sealing our exterior cladding, fixing (arcs and skirts), laying hardwood flooring throughout, front entry and rear decking, a spot of tiling and Mark wired the entire extension. Pheeewww it was a mammoth undertaking.  

The Wedding

In November 2020 we got engaged. Initially we would have loved to have our wedding on NYE which is when we met, however with Covid making planning anything too far in advantage pretty dicey we decided against this to avoid disappointment. Instead we opted to organise a small ceremony and celebration on the Easter long weekend in the hopes of catching the last of the warm weather while Covid restrictions were slightly relaxed.   

Of course Maybel and Luna had their moment

The Baby

20 week scan

The day before Esmé was born

The cherry on top of our 2021 however was welcoming our wedding baby Esmé in November. Her due date was January 3rd but we found out in early November during my 32 week scan that she would need to be delivered 6 weeks early due to a rare condition called Vasa Previa. This was a massive shock to both Mark and myself as I was whisked into hospital to be monitored until her birth amidst the already chaotic pointy end of our renovations. This was definitely hard to come to terms with after literally planning each final room completion down to the last day with the help of a constantly evolving excel sheets document. I had even scheduled in a couple of weeks for nesting and organising our bubs room prior to her arrival and a babymoon but unfortunately the plan had to change. Poor Mark was left to fend for himself in our upside down house with our makeshift kitchen and a seemingly never ending list of to do’s that needed to be completed. It was very stressful times.

While I sat in hospital for three plus weeks being constantly monitored, Mark kicked into a new gear we didn’t know existed. Not only was he working as a sparky every day he was also spending every spare minute, sanding, painting, liaising with trades, overseeing works, and visiting me most days as he was the only one allowed (Covid). Urghh, just remembering the amount of work that he had left on his plate gives me heart palpitations.  

But… he did it! On November the 26th of November 2021 little Esmé was born and we could breath a little bit deeper knowing that she was perfectly healthy and the most beautiful thing we had ever seen.  Unfortunately I had to return home two days later without her as she stayed for monitoring in the NICU department of the Mercy Hospital. Daily trips to visit her and practice feeding for a full week took a massive toll whilst recovering from surgery. I cannot describe the level of tired I was at this point. Thankfully my amazing Mum packed her bags and stayed with us cooking, cleaning and chauffeuring me to the hospital while Mark continued to work and finish our house. Mark and I weren’t allowed to visit Esmé together (Covid) so had to take turns sitting in the waiting room while the other had their time with her.  Thank goodness she was only there for a week in the end. The first weekend of December we brought Esmé home and we have been navigating new parents life in all its glory ever since.