A baby is born 20/5/11

Early on Thursday morning 19/5/11, the induction process began. We were almost 2 weeks over and unfortunately, there were indications showing that inducement was necessary.

After a long labour and every attempt to have him born naturally, Toby came into the world via a ceasarean. He was large, in a persistant posterior position and malpositioned so he was trying to present with the front of his head instead of the back. A natural birth was impossible.

Here is proud Daddy just minutes after Toby's birth.

Brand new baby checking out his new world.

Toby and Shane had some special cuddle time skin to skin while Mummy was waking up.

First meeting with Mummy. I had to have a general anaesthetic so it took about an hour for me to be awake enough to meet Toby. Still couldnt keep my eyes open though.

Toby James Gillard weighed in at 4.725kgs or 10 pound 6oz. He was 56cm long with a 36.5cm head circumference. Perfect baby!

He was a bit battered and bruised from the forceps and birth but was doing ok.

Brothers first meeting! Hailey and Ben were so excited to meet their new little brother. Such an exciting time.

Hailey as happy as can be!

First kiss.
A big yawn.

Toby at one day old.

Having some snuggle time with his Mum skin to skin because he missed out when he was born.

Toby day 2 meeting Nanna. Mum looked after Hailey and Ben while I was in hospital and did such a great job.

Then when Toby was 2 1/2 days old, we headed home!

Waiting for baby!!

Baby number three is due on the 8th May.

Ben having a cuddle of his little brother to be.

Me at almost 40 weeks pregnant. Still feeling pretty good.

And the nappy stash. Lots of nappies ready for baby 3. Perhaps too many!

A bit fuzzy but 2 pics we had done a few weeks before baby came.

Best buddies, Hailey and Ben.

Ben turns 3yrs old!!

Our precious, wonderful, funny Ben turns 3!!

He is such a little character and is always making us laugh. What a fabulous 3 years it has been with him in our lives!

Here he is opening his presents.

He was very happy with his dinosaur torch as it makes a roaring sound.

He loves cars so much. He got some new ones for his birthday so was very happy. He now has heaps of the little cars but they are still his number one toy!

Ben was delighted with his bike. We had taken him to the shop to choose it a few weeks prior. He was very sad when we left without it and had been asking about it ever since. He was so surprised and happy to discover we had bought it for him!

His birthday cake. It is covered with plastic as he had a cold so we didnt want it sprayed ha ha!

Ben asked to see some big scawy (scary) dinosaurs, so we took him in to the city to see a lifelike display of about 8 dinosaurs. They all moved and made loud noises. He loved them and was very happy!

Hailey's 5th Birthday!!

On the 2nd May 2011, our little Hailey turned 5!! We have had such a wonderful five years with her and she is such a lovely, happy, friendly little girl.
We started the day with opening presents.

She requested pizza for dinner so she was very happy with this big Hawaiian pizza!!
Then we came home and had a cake.

We told her she could do any activity she wanted for her birthday and she chose fishing! We went to a trout farm (just so she could actually catch something).

Shane with Hailey peacefully waiting...


Boy on bucket. It was such a beautiful, sunny day.
Hailey and Ben both waiting...

Then we moved from the dam to one of the ponds and Hailey caught a trout almost immediately. It was very exciting.

She was very happy with her slimy catch!

Ben had a turn in the Salmon pool.

He wasnt as excited about his catch. He was a little worried by the wriggly fish.

Hailey prepared her trout a few weeks later and it was delicious! She was very happy with herself.

Horseriding holiday program.

Hailey spent the morning at Warranwood Equestrian Centre where they run a half day horse riding program.
They started with meeting their pony. Hailey's pony was called Buddy and she gave him a good brush all over.

Then they learnt all about the saddle and bridle and put them on then learnt some basic skills of riding before heading out to the arena for some games.

Heading back to the stables as unfortunately it was a very wet day.

Happy Hailey!!

At the end of the morning, she put all his feed into a bucket and gave it to him. It was such a great morning and she had a wonderful time!

Hailey participated in ballet for the first half of this year and had alot of fun! We were allowed to watch the final class of term.

We found a big indoor playground nearby which Hailey and Ben love to expore.

Here they are flying down the huge slide!

Hailey loves to spend time sitting with the animals. Here she is with the guinea pigs.

A whole heap of random photos from Feb/Mar 2011

Hailey and Ben love joining Shane when he is practising. Ben has a trumpet which he is getting really good at making a sound through and Hailey plays the violin. Kids and mud....they just love it.

Shane sometimes takes Hailey for a quiet spin around the local carpark on the bike. Ben is scared of the bike so we just watch. Hailey is not scared of anything!

Hailey and Ben spend alot of time in the backyard and their favourite thing to do is ride their balance bikes down the hill. They get up quite a bit of speed!!

This is the vege garden in January.

And some of its bountiful produce.

But now I have let it go over Autumn/Winter as it is too hard tending it while pregnant so the animals have loved fossicking through it.

Hailey loves the monkey bars she got for Christmas and can now go back and forth on them.

This is the reason we got her the bars. She has become quite the little monkey and is always swinging and climbing on everything.

Do all boys eat like this?? Ben's preferred method of eating is to shovel large quantities of food into his mouth at a time.

We enjoy going to an indoor play centre called Little Creatures. There are divided sections with lots of different things to do. Its perfect for a rainy day!

Pirate boy!

Ben loves to know how things work so regularly has the bike upside down working out how everything moves and why.

Hailey started ballet lessons this term and she loves them. She particularly loves the ballet outfit and comes home every week showing us all the lovely moves she learns.

Here is poor old Terra after his little operation to make him half the man he was. He is such a good dog but I thought that with a baby on the way, it will be far easier to not have to keep separating the dogs when Isla is in season. Sorry Terra : (

Ummmm, this is what happens when you have an older sister to play with. We are trying to discourage it but they have so much fun together.

Hailey loves the animals and is always patting, caring for and feeding them. They all love her too.

Hailey is always drawing and she is getting so good at it and coming up with lots of masterpieces.

One day we saw a fire truck parked on the side of the road so we pulled over to show the kids. The firemen were such lovely, friendly people and showed Hailey and Ben all through the truck and even let them have a go at the big hose!!

I celebrated my 35th birthday on the 7th March. It started with the best ever breakfast in bed and we all had a great day together then Shane and I went to a very nice restaurant overlooking Albert Park lake.

Quite often while making dinner, I will find Hailey reading to Ben. Its so nice. She loves telling stories and he adores listening to them.

Ben had a pretty major haircut and for the first time he sat in the big chair and didnt move for the whole time.

We went to the beach one Sunday morning and it was beautiful. We all had such a nice time wading in the water, collecting shells and building sandcastles.

Shane buried Hailey in the sand which she loved.