35 Days To Go!

5 more weeks. 35 days till the Wedding Day. Yay!

Without meaning to sound ungrateful, I'm really glad that the wedding is so close. I'm kind of over all the organising.

So, what else needs to be done?

I still need to have a trial with my hair and make up, so I'll have to set something up with Lou soon - hopefully he'll have time this week do the trial.

We need to confirm the flowers. Jennie at Merci Bouquet has been an amazing help, and so wonderful and considerate with our requests. We should be able to lock everything down by the end of this week.

We still need to confirm the Gospel reading from Father Coleman. I'll give him a call tomorrow if I don't see him at church today.

Jonathan's wedding ring is still getting made. We're getting a bit anxious now as we would like both our rings to be engraved, which can take another 3 weeks after Jonathan's ring is finished to completed. We still need to get Stella (my engagement ring) cleaned prior to the big day too.

My wedding dress is now in the safe hands of Joanna at Sew Special. What a lovely lovely lady! My first fitting is next Tuesday, and I can't wait to try on my gorgeous dress.

We've purchased the candle for our candle ceremony - along with a family Bible - the Catholic version.

We've suffered a fairly major technical glitch, in that my portable hard drive has decided to pack it in. This portable hard drive contains ALL of my music, not to mention all of my photos since 2004. Jonathan will hopefully be able to get this fixed some time next week. Please please please let all the data be recoverable!!!

Still to do (in no particular order):

1. Get the photography paperwork back to the photographer.

2. Have Kiran measured for his little suit for his role as page boy.

3. Finalise the guest list - RSVP is next weekend, so hopefully, all of our grown up friends understand that "RSVP to a wedding" means!!! We're a bit thin on the ground with RSVPs.

4. Finalise the place cards - which we can't do until after we finalise the guest list.

5. Finalise the Order of Service - which we can't do until after Father Coleman confirms which Gospel reading is being read during the wedding.

6. Finalise the wedding cake - which we can't do until after we finalise the guest list.

7. Finalise the flowers.

8. Confirm the wedding car details.

9. Finalise the arrangements with the reception venue - which needs to be done last.

10. Get the hard drive fixed. Otherwise, no music on the wedding day - at the church or at the reception.

11. Book a rental car for Jonathan's family to use while they are in Sydney.

I'm sure there are a few more things I haven't thought of. Here's hoping there aren't too many things I've forgotten!!!

5 weeks to go!!!

Our Little Speedy Hill

Finally, we are now at the point where we can tell everyone all about Speedy.

First of all, you might like to know why we've called the baby Speedy. Well, he's a baby Hill, so in effect, he's a little bump. He caused a few problems by joining us sooner than we expected, so he's like a speed bump in the road. And of course, by being so impatient to be part of the family, he's speedy in nature. Hence, Speedy!

Oh, and we're calling the baby a "him" until we are told otherwise. Jonathan and I don't care whether the baby is a boy or a girl, as long as the baby is healthy. So, Speedy, we hope you're listening!

For the past 6 weeks, we've had to be really quiet about our news. It's been so hard. A few people had to know along the way, like our families, and my managers and my team. And of course, all of our wedding suppliers, due to the fact that we moved the wedding date.

We had to wait until after the 12 week scan (for Down Syndrome) before we could happily tell the world. The scan was yesterday, and the words "perfect baby" came up a few times. We were so happy.

If there is one thing I can do perfectly in this life, that would be to grow a perfect baby.

Even though Speedy was a huge surprise for us, he is a much wanted and much loved addition to our family. We thought we would have some major problems getting pregnant considering my age, but apparently, I'm extremely furtile and there's nothing wrong with Jonathan either! We're a bit ahead of ourselves here, but we hope we have the same luck for the next one too.

So far, the pregnancy has been mostly trouble free. No morning sickness, no weird cravings. I get tired quite easily, but that's about the only "problem" I've had. I've been craving fresh salads and avocado, which is healthy and good for me. No chocolate cravings or fried foods, so here's hoping I won't stack on too much weight over the next few months.

Speedy is due just after Christmas at present, right on Jonathan's birthday. Wouldn't that be a nice birthday present?

Now that we've had the screening, and we're in the clear, we can start to enjoy the pregnancy!

Introducing Speedy Hill

Surprise!
12 weeks and 5 days old today.
We can't wait to meet you!

48 Days To Go

With 48 days to go, we have received some great news.

More family members are expected to join us for the wedding!!! How cool is that?

We originally weren't expecting so many family members to be joining us - as it stands, there are 10 coming from Jonathan's side of the family, all from New Zealand - and we were only really expecting to see his parents! We will now be seeing Jonathan's parents Malcolm & Robin, Jonthan's grandmothers Gran & Nana, Jonathan's Uncle Mike & Aunt Heather, and Jonathan's younger brother David, sister-in-law Jolie and their girls Alyssa & Tammi.

My Uncle Henry and Aunty Karen surprised us by telling us they wanted to be part of the celebrations. As they live in Cupertino (about an hour south of San Francisco), and they'd never been to Sydney before, it was a wonderful wonderful surprise. We can't wait to see my "fun uncle and fun aunty" - we had such a great time when they hosted me and my folks for a week a few years ago.

Yesterday, Mum told me that we can now expect 3 more overseas guests. My Aunt Magdalen, always one to do things in a rather unconventional way, told Mum she'd booked tickets to come to Sydney from San Francisco for the wedding! I don't think even my mother was expecting Aunt Magdalen to come to the wedding, considering she'd already said that she wasn't available in August when we had to change the wedding date.

Also arriving in Sydney for the wedding are Uncle Charles and his daughter Carolyn, from Hong Kong. Now this was a huge surprise!!! They had been adamant that they were't able to come due to work commitments, and now, they will be here after all!!! Uncle Charles is a well known dentist in HK, and he is always busy and well booked up in advance. Carolyn is a high flying HR director - a workaholic, her schedule is always mad. So for these two to make it to the wedding - well, it's just made our day even more special.

Quick update from our meeting with Father Coleman. Firstly, Mina was so perfectly behaved, we almost forgot she was in the room with us! Father Coleman took us through the motions of the ceremony, and gave us loads of readings and other people's Orders of Service to glean ideas from. We are now narrowing down the music we are going to be using for the church and the ceremony - which is fun, as I'm picking the songs, and Jonathan is either agreeing or screwing up his nose. Now, you tell me, what's wrong with walking down the aisle to "Somewhere Out There" from Disney's An American Tail???

Speaking of Mina being on her best behaviour, we've now told her she can definitely be a flower girl because she was so perfect during our meeting (and in fact, she's been perfect all weekend this sleepover weekend, extended due to today being a public holiday). We dressed her up in her flower girl garb yesterday and she looked so gorgeous! Can't wait to see the other little girls in their matching dresses.

We've bought Jonathan's wedding ring. The ring will be ready in a couple of weeks, with the engraving to be completed in 2 weeks after the ring is ready. Just in time!!!

We still need to work out a time for Kiran to go to the formal attire hire section of Myer to get him measured for his suit. But we still have a little bit of time.

I still need to talk to Jennie at Merci Bouquet about the flowers for the church and the reception, and I also need to add a few more things to our order - a button hole for Uncle Charles, and corsages / lapel arrangements for Aunt Magdalen and Carolyn. We've decided not to go with any more flowers for the reception, but we definitely need something for the church. We'll work something out with Jennie.

Less than 7 weeks to go!!!

50 Days To Go

50 days to go!!!

More tasks on our "To Do" list now have ticks against them.

We've met with Jennie Keogh at Merci Bouquet, who is just gorgeous! Jennie was very helpful and we are sure she will create some gorgeous floral arrangements for us.

We're meeting with Father Coleman later today. Mina has been asked to be on her best behaviour. She has promised she will be. Fingers crossed the meeting goes well, and quickly, and Mina keeps her promise.

We finally met Kate at Vibe Milsons Point and sampled the menu items. We were so surprised that Kate is only 20 - she has so much poise and confidence about her, and she is so organised! We had a lovely lovely evening sampling all the food and wines, and we hope all our guests will enjoy the food as much as we did.

We have found the most perfect wedding ring for Jonathan. He is totally happy with the ring from Hardy Brothers Jewellers, which we will pay for today. We loved the very personalised service we received from Craig in the store, and it also looks like they will do the engraving for us as well.

Good news on the wedding dress front. The dress has been made and has now been dispatched to me! I'm expecting the dress to arrive next week or the week after. Yay! Can't wait!!! I'll need to get the underwear to go with the dress, but I'm waiting to see my dress before I go out and get the appropriate "suck it all in" underwear, to give me the streamlined look.

There are not a lot of things left to do, which is just as well as we need a little break from organising the wedding, and enjoy the down time before our overseas guests arrive and the big day actually happens. There are definitely still more things on the list, such as getting a little pillow for Kiran to hold with our wedding rings attached, finalising all the details with the ceremony, putting together the Order of Service, finalising wedding music, finalising the guests numbers, and finalising the plan of attack on the day. And of course, we have our Bach Nights to look forward to, the organisation of which has started - I've at least booked the table for me and my girls - with 16 people coming, we are going to have a great night!

50 days to go!!!

60 Days To Go

60 days to go!!!

We have done so much in the past 10 days. And just as well too, as we really are on the home stretch now.

All the wedding invitations are now ready to be posted. Fiona and I spent the weekend making the gorgeous invitations, which we hope our guests will love. Jonathan and I just need to put all the labels and stamps on the envelopes and away they can go!

We've made a time to meet with Jennie Keogh at Merci Bouquet on Saturday this week. We're very much looking forward to working with Jennie to create some gorgeous floral arrangements for the big day.

We've now made a new appointment to see Father Coleman on 12 June to go through the wedding ceremony. We had wanted to meet with Father Coleman without the hassle of looking after Mina on the same day, but alas, we will just have to lump it. Mina was so rude the last time we met with Father Coleman, so we may just have to send her to another room to play quietly by herself.

All the flower girls' outfits (as well as matching outfits for the other little girls) have now been bought. I went to Market City on the weekend and scored a great deal on 5 matching dresses from Cotton On Kids at $10 a piece, and then lucked out again later in the day when I found 5 matching cardigans to go with the dresses at $8 a piece. Gotta love a bargain!

We're meeting with Kate at the Vibe Milsons Point on Thursday night to go over our questions relating to the wedding reception, and to also sample the menu choices we have selected. We'll also be tasting the wines on the night. Can't wait!

It looks like I've found the wedding hair and make up artists who won't cost a fortune. I don't even know why I didn't start with my trusty hairdresser Lou, owner of Xquizit Hair in The Forum at St Leonards. Lou will engage a make up person for me who won't charge like a bull, and he is more than happy to do my hair on the day too. Thank goodness for that!

And big news - we have finally decided on a destination for our honeymoon! Our wonderful travel agent Mel "Chairman" Kaga from Flight Centre Chatswood Westfield helped us again with our travel needs, this time to a gorgeous resort in Vanuatu for 7 days. Just lazing out and doing absolutely nothing for a week sounds like heaven to me right now!

We have come so far in 10 days. But that's not to say we've now done everything. There are still a few more things to do, such as buying Jonathan's wedding ring, having both our wedding rings engraved, finalising all the details with the ceremony, putting together the Order of Service, finalising wedding music, finalising the guests numbers, finalising the plan of attack on the day, and waiting for my wedding dress to arrive!!! And of course, we have our Bach Nights to look forward to.

60 short days to go!!!

10 Weeks Today

We met you yesterday.
You waved at us.
And you did a little dance.
You dance just like Daddy.
We saw you had lots of room to grow.
And you have lots of time to grow.
So keep safe.
We can't wait to meet you, Speedy!