Well, here we are. A season of life where we have six months together uninterrupted. It truly is a season of life that we will probably never get to experience again! So, how did we get here?

With J’s parental leave and my ability to work from anywhere, it has allowed us to come back to Perth where we can spend quality time with friends and family (and keep me close to my clients for in-person 1:1’s) and enjoy exploring the place we truly call home. And, the best part is that Spencer is at such a wonderful age that we can thoroughly embrace our time together with activities, eating solids and all the things with J part of every moment!

My Solo Parenting Stint

Spenny and I had three and a half weeks together just her and I in Perth while Jamie wrapped up his commitments in Karratha, which meant I was a solo mumma. A thousand and more appreciations for parents to parent solo, it’s so much! And while the day-to-day is actually not a lot, it’s the constant ‘doing’ that adds up; the forward planning, the ensuring she has everything she needs, the second guessing if you’re doing the right things, the cleaning, the washing, the feeding…all the things. My respect has skyrocketed for those who do this all the time solo – you truly are amazing!

During this time, I made sure that we kept our risks low (so, for example I didn’t introduce Spenny to any allergens with her solid foods) and we just enjoyed our time together by going for walks and exploring our new neighbourhood. Spencer was in awe of the trees lining the streets, and all of the spring flowers around our suburb. They are so beautiful, and it has been incredibly lovely for me to be with her as she experiences these things for the first time (coming from what is essentially a desert landscape, bright trees and flowers are very exciting!).

I absolutely loved being with her 24/7, and each week we’d choose a new book from a locally owned book shop to read at bedtime for the week ahead. It dawned on me one night as I was feeding her, snuggled up on her bedroom chair, that this will be the most consolidated chunk of time just her and I will most likely ever spend together in our lifetimes. So I made sure I embraced every moment for what it was. We did so many walks each day, we played new games as Spenny developmental milestones progressed – she began crawling during this time! – and we visited my grandparents almost every morning which was so deeply special for all of us.

It was wild that when Jamie came home, he was meeting a new little Spencer Alice who was now rocking a full head of hair (which can now have a bow in it *my heart*), was saying ‘Mama’ and ‘Dada’, had begun crawling and could sit up unassisted. The growth, change and progression in our little girl was immense for such a short time frame!

Daddy’s Home! J’s back, and what we’ve been doing

When we say we have 6 months off together (so I can get back into my work), a lot of people are expecting us to just be chilling out every day, having leisurely lunches and all the fun things. But, to be honest, we’re a month and a bit into this time off and we’ve not done a long leisurely lunch at all!

From the moment Spenny and I surprised Jamie at the airport when he arrived back home, we’ve been non-stop with a lot of life admin-type things. We’ve gone on school tours for Spencer (yes, we’re a long way out, but as we live away it’s important for us to know what our options are for her when we do eventually come back to Perth), and the biggest task we’ve been working on is selling one of our properties.

Jamie and I have long been in the property game: renovating, subdividing and building. This cute little cottage is one of those properties of ours that we’re now selling and we’ve been busy getting it in pristine condition for a lovely new owner to enjoy it as much as we have when we lived in it many years ago.

It’s wild that we’re doing a group of life milestones all within a two months! Sell a house, move to a new house/city, raise a baby & have her begin solids, mourn a beloved pet, travel interstate; it’s a lot. A lot of change, but also a lot of wonderfulness.

How we’re planning on spending the next 5 months

With Spencer close approaching her first birthday (ahh…what!?) we’re very keen to allow her to expand her experiences while in a big city, compared to what we would be able to do back in our regional town. We’re taking her to playgroups, she’s starting swimming lessons, we’re having lots of play dates (for us, too!) and we’re going to do fun, random things that are quite exciting for her like going to lots of parks, the museum, going on the train, people watching (her favourite), dipping her toes in the ocean and all the sensory things we can think of!

We’ll be going over to the east coast of Australia to visit some of my family, as well as see one of my dearest friends (her middle name is the same as Spenny’s – Alice – and with good reason). There is of course the very busy Christmas season ahead, too and this is one that we are actually very excited for as it will be our first with Spenny girl, and all of our family together for the first time in eons!

I’ll be spending a lot of time here, too. My little online home. I love this space so much, and I can’t wait to be bringing more of me to it as well as getting back into my client work and reset kits for My Self Reset.

The other big goal I’m wanting to focus on during this time is finding myself time to go to pilates and yoga. While I may be a pilates teacher myself, the energy of going to a class away from my day-to-day space is so powerful, so I’m looking forward to getting back into regular movement in a way that I love and which my body loves, too.

We’re so excited to have this unique time together, and will be making the absolute most of it! I can’t wait to document more of it with you, here.

Sammy x