little white truths

January is coming to a close now, meaning it's time to write the usual month-end posts - and I'm going to start with this one. 

If you live in Melbourne like I do, you'll know that January has been a month that's swung from the thrills of the tennis to the terrors of what happened in the CBD only last Friday, and for many people 2017 has already left its mark. 

In such times it can be hard to see the positive of life, but these are also the times that make us realise what's really important. Everything else fades away to nothing but noise. 

If there's one thing to take from last Friday, it's the lesson that you never know when your number's up and you have to grab each day while you can. This is something we can face both alone and together, and I know nothing else to say but that.

One of the things I struggled with most after having kids was the loss of silence: in this house, silence has been thin on the ground ever since my daughter was born almost two years ago, and it's even thinner now after the arrival of number two, coupled with the tinnitus I wound up with during my second pregnancy that doesn't want to lift.

Given there's little you can do to make your home a quieter place when you have young children, it's been nice to have the tennis on constantly so I'm not only listening to endless chatter and tantrums, but also to the sound of whacked balls and resounding cheers. 

I mightn't have been able to watch many points during the day because I always have one eye on on each child, but at least the tennis has brought a measure of normality to this household that I've really enjoyed. It's also given my husband and I something to watch together in the evenings, and even though I'm often feeding my son during the evening matches or Mex is rocking the pram, at least we're pretending to watch it together. It's almost felt like a break.

If you know me personally, you'll likely know that January is my favourite month of the year. Why? Because Christmas is over so life feels less stressful, and there's less people on the roads because so many are still away. 

January is the most peaceful month of the year, and I love it for that. I can go to the supermarket any time I feel like it and know it won't be crowded, and I can throw the kids in the car at any time and know that the traffic won't be too bad.

It's probably only now as we're coming into February that the world starts waking up again, but I've enjoyed sleepy January for its slowness and I look forward to it every year.

My son was nocturnal from birth, so until recently he's been up all night feeding and then sleeping during the day. Plus his sister sleeps at night but runs around like a tornado during the day, so there's really been no relief from it and the last three months have been something of a blur.

Though I hesitate to write this because I don't want to jinx it, I'm pleased to report that my son has finally realised that night is night and day is day, so my husband and I now have more chance of getting some rest overnight. My own ongoing insomnia is another story, but at least I can't blame any sleeplessness on the kids these days ; )

Although I've never had as much makeup as many beauty-lovers do, I've still had more than anyone needs and there was a time when I had so much that it overwhelmed me. Happily, panning projects and a few small declutters have brought my collection down to more manageable levels, and although there's still work to be done, there's not as much work to do as there once was. 

What this means in practice is that I don't need to pan as aggressively as I once did, so there's more scope for me to just use what I want to. I've also given myself an easy start to the panning year so throughout January I've been happy to reach for whatever I want to on most days, rather than feeling tied to particular products that I want to finish. Yay to that.

Pregnancy takes a huge toll on the body, and there's a sting in the tail: after childbirth there's a recovery period during which you feel like your pelvic floor is going to blow out each time you sneeze; you're restricted from doing certain things physically for at least six weeks; and you're likely carrying around some extra weight that slows you down even further. And that's just the start of it.

Fourteen weeks on and I can happily say that my body has (mostly ; ) ) re-entered its old state, and I know this because the post-partum hair loss has started (happy days?!) and my son has breastfeed my body back to its old self. All that's left now is to see if my thyroid goes haywire like it did the last time, but that hasn't happened yet and it's around now that it likely would, so fingers crossed.

They say that you forget but I say that's rubbish, and I can now say that I'm no longer pregnant or feeling the effects of pregnancy, and for me that's a huge cause for celebration.