What is Scotty.com.au? - A personal web site that we use to keep distant family and friends up to date. There are thousands of photos to view, but to do this you will need a password.
The last few months have been both the happiest and saddest of my life. Isabella has been an amazing source of pure joy over the last four months, she is getting to the age where she gives me a big gummy smile when I walk into the room. She will often be smiling and giggling at me, if I don't pick her up straight away she has worked out that I am a soft touch and all she has to do is pull her I'm about to cry face which disappears the moment I move to hold her. She is still a very easy baby, we take her on lots of weekend outings. We went to Noosa last weekend where she had her first swim in the surf and she then sunbaked (in the shade) with the other topless ladies.
At just four months of age Isabella has been on her second trip to Tasmania, this time for her Christening. On Easter Sunday she was Christened at Launceston's beautiful Church of the Apostles. This Church is the church where I as baptised and it is still one of the most beautiful Churches I have ever been in.
In 2007 Belinda did a course to become a wedding celebrant, lately she has been very busy conducting weddings at some really nice venues around Brisbane and beyond. Weddings are such an enjoyable event that it is a lot of fun to be her roadie setting up her p.a. system and sharing in the joyous atmosphere. You can view her website at www.BellsWeddings.com.au.
Unfortunately February was also very sad. While in Melbourne my father, Ross, had a heart attack. I went straight to the airport but unfortunately didn't make it down there in time. It took a while to get him back to Tassie and to get the funeral organised, it was undoubtedly the most difficult week of my life, I owe a very big thank you to all the family and friends that did whatever possible to make it easier for Mum, Meagan and Shane, and Belinda and myself. Unfortunately, Dad hadn't met Isabella yet. Though I am glad that he at least knew that I had become a father. I have uploaded a recording of his funeral for those that knew him, it is a large file, about 35mb, so it may take a while to download.
One week ago today started off like a usual Saturday morning. It was too hot to do any more building on the front fence so instead we lazed around the pool. Early in the day Belinda complained of some unusual pains, with our first child due to be born in a matter of days these pains were very suspicious. Despite this coincidence, Belinda was in denial insisting that she had just strained her back. Belinda's mum, Helen and I were very aware of the fact that this 'back strain' was very regularly getting worse for a minute or so every ten minutes. It wasn't until much later at 5.40pm when Belinda's waters broke that she came to agree that today was the big day.
During the course of the day Helen and I had made certain that we had packed everything that we needed so it was a fairly quick exercise to load the car and start that very nervous drive to the hospital. We arrived at the Mater only to find that our obstetrician was away for the weekend, this was very disheartening as we had met with him from very early on and had never met or heard of his stand in. The new obstetrician was Dr Stephen Cattanach and as it turned out he was really good and we will use him again if the need ever arises. I won't go through the intricacies of the labour, those that have been through it before will know just how ineffectual the partner feels. Labour progressed well all night, Belinda was very courageous and showed me strength that I never knew she had. At around 6am our midwives started rushing around and paying an uncomfortable amount of attention to our daughters heart rate monitor. Luckily our obstetrician had just finished delivering a baby in the room next door. He came straight in and Belinda was rushed into an operating room for an emergency caesarian because the baby was becoming distressed. I was surprised at how they managed to get twelve people organised in such a short amount of time.
Although the caesarian all went incredibly smoothly it was the very urgent nature of it that made it a very traumatic experience for both Belinda and myself. At 6.38am on December 7 we heard the incredible sound of our little girl, Isabella Amali Ayres, crying for the first time. She was rushed off to be examined, she was quickly given a clean bill of health and passed back to a very relieved mum and dad. She weighted in at 3.01 kilograms and was 50 centimetres long. We stayed at the Mater Hospital for the next five days and were really happy with the friendly and helpful nurses and other staff on the Level 10 maternity ward. Thank you to all the friends and family that sent presents and flowers.
Since bringing Isabella home she has been a perfect little angel. She wakes for a quick feed at about 3am each night and is fed, changed and back to a very contented sleep within half an hour. We just hope that she stays in such a good sleep pattern. After arriving home my mother, Joan, came to stay with us as well, with two Nanna's at hand she has been cuddled and fussed over endlessly.
Grizzly, our new puppy has adjusted well to the change. We suspected that he knew what was happening before she was born, as towards the end of the pregnancy he became very protective of Belinda's growing belly. He would often dive between me and her bump as I bent down to talk to Isabella before she was born. We were worried that this behaviour might have evolved into jealousy, but when we bought Isabella home he had a quick look and sniff, showed no interest at all and then just went about being his usual self. To ensure that he doesn't build up any negative sentiments towards her I have been taking him jogging every morning, then for a swim and then he gets a fresh bone to keep him occupied.
The biggest news in the past few months (in fact, probably the last decade) is our impending parenthood. Belinda is currently 16 weeks pregnant, the estimated due date is 9th December. She has been suffering quite bad morning sickness, but that thankfully seems to be easing up a bit. We have bought the mandatory pregnancy books that have taught me a lot of things I wish I could forget. We are planning to find out the gender at the next scan, a lot of people like the surprise, personally we couldn't handle the suspense.
Sadly our wonderful dog of the last eight years, Illy, succumbed to Lymphoma recently. She had been on several different chemo regimes since the start of the year, unfortunately she didn't stay in remission. It was very sad for us both coming home and not having Illy run to greet us with her tail wagging. After much deliberation we decided it was time to get another puppy. We chose a black Labrador x Newfoundland. He is currently about 11 weeks old, and a very quick learner. We named him Grizzly B. Ayres after a sleepless night caused by his crying.
A few months ago an opportunity arose to work for Macquarie Bank, this is a company that I had always wanted to work for, so it was a very easy decision to leave Citi. Belinda has recently completed a wedding celebrant course that will allow her to start marrying people soon. She is really looking forward to performing her first wedding.
