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It Takes a Village to Help Mama to Raise a Baby


Since having babies, it has really hit home the phrase, "it takes a village to raise a baby". I am not going to lie, kids are full and hard work. I bet all other mamas and papas out there agree with me when I say that. Five years ago, I used to think I was tired after working full time and socializing. That sort of tired is nothing compared to working full time, socializing AND looking after very active 2 and 4 year olds! Being a mama is fabulous, but exhausting! 
My First Mothers Days Classic Fun Run  - Exhausting but fabulous!
 Raising these babies requires lots of help, love and support. Phillip and I both work full time and we could not raise these babies and work full time with our wonderful village around us. In February we took the plunge after much deliberation and decided to have an Au pair join us. We had no idea what we were doing, no idea on au pair manuals and thank goodness our first gorgeous big girl (as they are affectionately known as by our 2 babies) had low expectations as well! 

 When you work full time and love your job, but have kids it is a real dilemma on what to do. I believe you can have it all, you just cant have it all at the same time. This is when having that village around you helps so much. Terri from Scotland kept our babies alive and the house was still standing (our only 2 expectations of an Au pair!) and our babies thrived with all of the outings that they went on. I swear our kids have seen more of Brisbane than Phillip and I have! 
Adventures with Terri
Since seeing the babies thrive with having an Au pair, we have no fully embraced the experience and having a 5th person is now a permanent member of our family. Mollie joined us from England after Terri and she got to experience a full on Queensland Summer with temperatures reaching temperatures above 40oC. Thank goodness we are lucky enough to have a pool as that is where she helped to teach the kids to swim.

Mol with Tate and Ivy
Mollie spent a beautiful 8 months with us when Laura from Germany arrived. Our babies can now say good morning and good night in German and Laura has been teaching the babies where everyone's families are from with the globe. We can not wait for Laura's parents to come and join us in June so we can continue practicing our terrible German, eat pork knuckles and eat sauerkraut!
With Mol and Laura 
Our extended international family continues to grow and we are so lucky to have had such amazing experiences and learn so much about other cultures. We are madly saving our pennies so we can go to German Christmas markets, build snowmen in Scotland and see castles with ghosts in England.

 With out these gorgeous big girls our life would be mayhem and a logistical nightmare. This experience allows me to continue to love my job, be the best oral health therapist I can be but also be the best mama and role model for my kids that I can be.

 Love Leah xo

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