Holiday to Noosa

3 weeks ago we spent a beautiful week up at Noosa and Jimmy and I agree that this was our best holiday ever - we both felt that we had really earned the break, the weather was gorgeous and the boys behaved really nicely. We were up there at the same time as the Noosa triathlon which was pretty cool - Jimmy and I both got a little bit inspired (me to do some more triathlons and Jimmy to do some more running). We spent heaps of time at the beach playing in the sand and waves, walking down to Hastings Street to eat ice cream and just relaxing and spending time together as a family.

Here's a selection of my favourite holiday pics....

Independance....Uh Oh

Unfortunately my baby is discovering his independance.....yes, at 15 months, Ollie has decided that he no longer wants to be fed by us and he wants to do it all himself! I was dreading this day because it just means so much mess but I'm slowly learning to embrace the mess and Ollie's new found independance.

He has a really good try with a baby spoon but if that doesn't work, he tips his bowl upside down and uses his hands to shovel as much food into his mouth as he can......the rest gets thrown around the room. I went into Lincraft the other day and bought a big sheet of PVC to cover the floor with but his food still lands on our lovely floors :) We've also taken to eating outside at night and putting Ollie on the grass so that whatever mess he does make, gets eaten up by our resident possum.

The photo on the left is Ollie at 15 months feeding himself yoghurt and the photo on the right is Jett feeding himself at 15 1/2 months.

19 November 2009

Welcome to the world....

......Lil Abbey Dee! The boys (and us of course) welcomed a new little cousin into the world on 4 October. Poor Fi had a horrendous birth but she has been rewarded with the most placid, contented little girl. She drinks and sleeps beautifully and I swear I got a gorgeous, dimpley smile out of her this morning :)

Ollie doesn't think too much of her yet - his world is all about him at this age but I' sure that'll change as her gets older and Abbey becomes mobile. Jett just adores her - he doesn't usually show too much interest in babies but he's so gentle with Abbey and gives her the sweetest little kisses.

Here's lil Abbey.....

Cousins Cousins Cousins!

Our boys are so lucky - they have so many little cousins! Family is the most important thing in the world to me and it makes me feel so happy to know that our precious boys come from such a big, loving family. At last count, the boys have 7 cousins (there will be more) - my sister Anney and her husband Andy have 3 boys, Joseph (10), Timmy (8) and Elijah (nearly 5), my brother Mal and his wife Lindy have 2 girls Sophie (7) and Aimee (nearly 4), my sister Fi and her partner Scotty had little baby Abbey 2 days ago and Jimmy sister Sarah and her partner Matt have Miki (8 months)......Jett is great friends with Elijah and Aimee and Ollie will hopefully be great friends with his little cousins, Miki and Abbey :)

We went up to Sydney on Sunday, just after I'd met little Abbey in hospital, for Sarah's 30th birthday and we got some cute photos of the boys with Miki. Miki is just the happiest little thing - sometimes her face looks so serious, like she's really concentrating on something and then you just have to look sideways and her whole face lights up with a big smile!

The face says it all!

Ollie just loves being on the trampoline - he tries to bounce by bending his legs but he hasn't worked out how to get any air off the mat. If I try to call him off the tramp he just runs to the other side where I can't reach him - in fact, this is what he does around the house too.....if I call him over to me, he thinks it's a bit game and just runs away giggling!

His latest little game is when we're all watching TV at night, he runs up to the TV and pretends to turn it off. As soon as he puts his finger on the 'off' button, Jimmy, Jett and I all say "NO Ollie!" and he turns around and gives us this huge cheeky smile. Then he does it over and over again, laughing his little head off.

He's a real sneak too - Ollie just loves water and as soon as we have our backs turned, he sneaks down the hallway to our bathroom and climbs into the shower - we'll find him in there a few minutes later, slapping his hands on the shower floor and splashing in the water. Another favourite of his is toilet paper - if we haven't shut the toilet doors, he sneaks in there, grabs hold of the toilet paper end and pulls it off as fast as he can - if he wasn't such a gorgeous little thing, I spose I'd get quite annoyed about it :)

Look at that little face....he is just the cheekiest little thing!

Our baby is 1

Lil Ollie turned 1 on Sunday and gee that time has gone quickly - I remember so clearly, sitting in hospital quietly with him, cherishing that time with just the two of us....it was such great bonding time. And now he's a walking, babbling, happy little 1 year old. Ollie has been such a delight for us - he's so easy going and laid back - and man, he's a happy little baby. He sleeps beautifully - when he wakes in the morning, he sits up in bed and waits for us to come and get him....when we do come in, he waves his arms about and jumps up and down on his bottom with excitement. He has adjusted to childcare extremely well - they tell me he never cries (I so hope this is true), he eats and sleeps well and just cruises around the room checking out what everyone's doing.

For Ollie's party on Sunday, we had mainly family and a few of our close friends over for an afternoon tea celebration. Ollie was sick for his birthday which was a bit sad but he still seemed to enjoy himself. Fi made him a gorgeous 'Spot' the dog cake and the big kids ate fairy bread, cheezels, lollies and other yummy party food. Matt, Sarah, Baby Miki and Lesley stayed with us for the week end - the house was bursting at the seams but man it was fun - the busy-ness and activity was the best.....Jimmy said he felt a bit down on Monday because he'd had such a great week end :)

Week end at the coast

Last week end Jimmy and I took the boys down to Kioloa for the week end and we had the best time! We stayed in a caravan park in this lovely, 2 storey, luxury house they have there - it was huge and the boys loved having the extra space to explore and play in. Purely by coincidence, Fi and Scotty were also down the coast for the week end and we met them on Saturday afternoon at Funland in Ulladulla followed by a yummy dinner at a classy restaurant.

Jett spent his time riding his bike around the caravan park and playing at the little playground they had there and Ollie spent his time trying to climb the stairs and watching Jett get up to his funny little antics. We went for a few walks on the beach (I spotted a whale breaching on one of my runs) and Jett even got to stick his feet in the water! Jimmy and I felt really relaxed over the week end - it was such a nice time to just chill out.

We had such a good time that we've booked the same house for a week end at the end of January - the house has a nice, big deck, so we look forward to eating al fresco :)

Here's a few photos taken over the week end 26-29 June 2009

The end of day sleeps???

Since Jett had his tonsils out, he's been such a happy little boy (still a bit whingey but definitely not as much) - he's sleeping beautifully at night and waking up in the morning happy and refreshed (mostly). We think he must be having much better quality sleep now because only a couple of weeks after his operation, he's started not needing his day sleep as much. There's been a few times where he hasn't slept at all (I was most upset) but mostly it's taking him at least an hour to go to sleep and then we wake him up at 3 (otherwise he takes too long to go to sleep at night)....we actually don't mind if he doesn't sleep - as long as he has some 'rest time' in his bedroom and gives us a little bit of a break from his constant questioning/talking/activity :)

The last couple of days we've put him in rest time, we've been sure that he wouldn't sleep because he's taken so many 'treasures' to bed but then we've been very surprised to find him fast asleep on his Thomas lounge. I know the end of day sleeps is near...he is over 3 now afterall but it will be sad for me not to have my daily nana nap :)

Here's a photo I took of Jett today on his Thomas lounge 21 June 2009

A Tribute to our Neighbours......

At the beginning of last year (2008) we were extremely blessed to have the BEST next door neighbours move in.....Paula, Aaron, Phoebe and Leah! Paula was pregnant with her 3rd little girl (Hope....born in September) and I was pregnant with our little Ollie (born in August). I'm calling this post a 'tribute' because they're all moving in 2 weeks and we're going to be extremely sad....even if they are only moving 500 metres down the road.

Paula has become one of my best friends over the last 18 months - we've shared countless cups of tea together, vented our frustrations with eachother (over our children of course....not husbands - ha) and I'm almost positive that having her calming company just next door she has prevented me from going through that lonely post-baby blues period. Jimmy and Aaron get along really well together too and the kids (when Jett's not annoying the girls) get along beautifully - the photo below is of the 3 kids up on Jett's bed just last night - they'd been tearing through the house squealing and laughing and then ended up on Jett's bed playing some sort of funny game. Ollie and Hope sit opposite eachother on the floor - Hope trying to eat Ollie and Ollie trying his hardest to grab Hope :)

20 June 2009

Shower time

Jimmy and I recently worked out that it's much easier to clean the boys at night in the shower with us - rather than running a bath and having to watch closely in case Ollie slips under the water. We block the drain hole up with a facewasher and the boys just love splashing about in the water while we enjoy a lovely shower....it's great becasue when we finish showering we just turn the water off, hop out and dry ourselves, take our time getting dressed and then get Ollie out to dry and dress him.....Jett can stay in there for ages and when he gets out he just dried himself off and brings his PJ's out for us to help him get dressed. It's so cute watching Ollie crawling around the shower and then sitting directly under the stream of water - he seems to love the water going over his head and face - I'm hoping this means swimming lessons will be pretty cruisey because he's so comfortable with water :)

I took this photo on Saturday night - 13 June

Our lil Ollie

It's been over a month since I've posted any photos to the blog and I thought it was about time I put up some new pictures of Ollie.....he's just looking so cute in his little overalls and red t shirt! Ollie's now 9 1/2 months old and I can't believe how quickly that time has gone - what a cliche! He's the most delightful little baby....always smiley and super laid back. He started crawling at 8 months and now he gets around so quickly...he's just started pulling himself up to standing which is a bit scary. He says 'ba ba' all the time and 'da da' and I'm sure he said 'ma ma' the other day but I haven't heard him say it again. He doesn't have any teeth yet but he's got some top teeth that are just about through....any day now which worries me because he's also just started biting me - YOUCH!

We wrapped Ollie in a muslin wrap from birth and weaned him off it at about 4 months, when he started rolling. I unwrapped 1 arm at a time and then just wrapped him around his middle. In the end I'd just give him his wrap to go to sleep.......anyway, he feel so deeply in love with his beloved wrap that we still give it to him to go to sleep. It's just gorgeous when we lie him down in his cot - he gets so excited about seeing his wrap - he grabs it and rubs it over his face and rolls around with it before falling asleep with it clutched in his little hand - I love it!

Ollie loves his bath time with big brother Jett - he gets so excited while we're undressing him - his arms and legs flap about and as we carry him to the bathroom he twists his little head around the corner of each room in anticipation of seeing the bath....with Jett splashing around in it. He sits in the bath, splashing about, having toys snatched off him by Jett and also having cups full of water poured all over him (again, by Jett).

Ollie's favourite toy would have to be some toy eggs that Anney gave Jett - they came in a plastic egg carton and there's 6 eggs that all have a shape on the bottom that fit into the carton. His favourite little game is to wait for us to put all the eggs in the carton and then he flaps his arms about until the eggs are all out, spread around the room in a 5 metre radius!

1 June 2009

Family Pic

We went to a wedding on Saturday (Mark and Kath Rassmussen) which was just beautiful! It was fun getting all dressed up...the boys looked so handsome that we thought we'd use the opportunity to take a family photo or two.

We had the biggest fright just after this photo was taken - Jett had a really bad choking episode and we thought we were going to lose our precious little man. Jett has massive tonsils which don't allow much space for food to travel down (or back up if it goes down the wrong way). We've had 3 episodes now where he's choked and not been able to breathe - it is the scariest thing I have ever been through so we've decided that the best thing to do is have his tonsils taken out....this should happen next month. Yay! Jimmy and I just can't handle the stress it brings and the pain when we see the terror on Jett's face. Poor little man.

Anyway, here's a photo of us all looking relaxed and happy......man, I love my 3 boys! Aren't I lucky?

18 April 2009

Our little man is 3!

Jett turned 3 last week and we just can't believe it! We celebrated his birthday with a party at the local park with about 10 of his little friends - some from school, the little girls next door, his cousins and some of our friends kids.....Jett had the best time playing pass-the-parcel and having a scavenger hunt for chocolate money. Auntie Munda outdid herself again with her cake making and made Jett 2 firetruck cakes...one red and one yellow because she and Scotty just couldn't agree on what colour it should be :)

The lucky boy got some awesome presents - car tracks, bath toys, a firemans outfit, books, toy trucks, clothes and from Jimmy and I and the grandparents he got a brand new TREK (bike).

Another Monkey

After taking the monkey photos of Ollie last week, I just had to take some of Jett too.....before he outgrows his monkey suit! He loves having his photo taken so it was no trouble getting him to dress up and come outside for a bit of a photo session - he's well used to these now :) It's another thing getting him to smile for photos but I thought these ones were really cute......there's one where he reminds me of me when I was a little kid - I'm sure I've seen a photo where I'm pulling the same face......

21 March 2009

Jett and his cousins

The Boys and I have just come back from 3 nights in Dubbo, visiting Anney and the boys. I had the best time with Anney......we didn't go out heaps or do lots but it was just so nice being with eachother and Jett being able to play with his cousins - especially Lijey who's only 18 months older than Jett. Jett just adores Lijey - they slept in the same room in Dubbo and the 2 of them had so much trouble getting to sleep - they'd giggle in bed until we had to take Lijey into Anney's bed until they both fell asleep. Joseph and Timmy had school each day but when they were home, Jett was right in their faces asking them endless questions and following them around. Ollie was a little dream while we were there - sleeping pretty well and being entertained by the boys and cuddled by Anney :) The photo of Ollie on the right was taken after Timmy stuck stickers on his face.....I couldn't resist taking a photo! Jimmy commented that it doesn't look heaps like Ollie - I think that might be because he's squinting from the camera flash??

We missed Jimmy heaps - especially because it was our 2nd Wedding Anniversary while I was away....how time flies when you're having fun! That 2 years has just flown by!

24 March 2009

Lil Ollie

Our baby turned 7 months this week and that time has just flown by! Every day I feel so blessed to have such a happy, healthy little man (make that 2 happy, healthy little men) - he gets whingey when he's tired but apart from that, his day is spent laughing at his big brother. Jett just adores him and plays with him all the time....fetching toys for him and making up silly songs to make him laugh. Last night, Ollie woke up at 3:30am for some reason and before I got to Ollie's bedroom I heard Jett calling out "Ollie it's OK" - my heart melted!

Ollie outgrew his capsule this week and we've moved him into his car seat - he's still a little on the light side so he's still facing backwards but it still felt like a big milestone :)

He's sitting up all by himself these days and can work himself onto his hands and knees - he rocks back and forth on his hands and knees but hasn't worked out the art of crawling yet.

He's eating 2 solid meals a day - cereal/weet bix/pureed fruit for breakfast and mashed up vegies at night followed by yoghurt....and he loves it (although he doesn't think much of pureed broccoli or cauliflower....I can't say I blame him).

I got busy with the camera yesterday and had a ball taking these photos.

19 March 2009

Me and the boys

Jimmy and I were looking through some photos last week and we realised there are no photos of me with the boys......I tend to be the photographer in our house which means I don't get to be in any photos (which I spose isn't such a bad thing). Jimmy's been making a big effort to take some candid shots of me with the boys - we took this one yesterday and although it looks REALLY set up, I promise it wasn't - we were getting ready to head into Civic to read books at Borders, the boys were lying on the bed and Jimmy suggested I get on with them and he take a photo.....and he's done a good job! We all look happy :)

22 February 2009

Party in the Park

On Saturday, Aaron and Paula next door looked after Jett while Jimmy and I (and Ollie) went out for brunch at Fruitylicious (Aaron and Paula gave me a voucher for there for my birthday) - it was yummooo and very relaxing! While we were there Aaron and Paula took Jett (and their 3 girls) to Forde for the 'Party in the Park'....Jett has his face painted as one of the cats (Narjee), he jumped on the jumping castle, fed tonnes of farm animals, ate sausages and drank coke (for the first time ever!) and had his first pony ride ever!!

7 February 2009

Adventure Man

What can I say?? Jett is a dare devil - he has no fear ( or no sense at this age)! He loves jumping in the pool off the diving blocks, he asks me to push him higher and higher on the swing and on Monday, I came outside to find him scaling the fence! I was horrified and went to help him get down - he assured me he was fine, that he could get down by himself and that right now, he was busy watching the cats over the next door neighbours fence - ARGH! I was a little bit amused so I came inside to get my camera and after I took the photo (below) he started inching along the fence to the corner, behind the tree. There was a pot behind the tree which he used as a step - he must have missed his footing on the way down because he came down heavily on his hip and took a heap of skin off (I should have gotten a photo of it!). The poor kid was in so much pain - he recovered pretty quickly but I felt terrible - next time I'll trust my instincts and get him down ASAP!

11 February 2009

Backyard fun

We've just came out of the WORST heat wave....without airconditioning, we were really struggling! We ended up buying a portable airconditioner which took the edge off things (and helped with my irritability). It was hard keeping Jett inside, out of the 40 degree heat but on Sunday morning we set up a little waterslide for him which he loved....check this out....

8 February 2009

Swinging at the park

We often go for walks in the morning to one of the many parks around Amaroo - it helps Jett burn some of his endless energy, Ollie can get some fresh air and I can keep the cabin fever at bay! Jett doesn't sit in the pram anymore - he likes to run or just walk by my side holding my hand.

At the park he looooves the swings and he asks me to push him really high! He also takes Ollie down the slippery dip (with me holding onto him). Here are some photos of the boys on the swing......

4 February 2009

Starting Solids

Ollie started solidas this week - how exciting! We did start him at 5 1/2 months with some rice cereal - we only tried once and then he got a cold so we put it off for a few more days and now he's eating rice cereal in the morning and pumpkin at night.....we might try him on apple this week! There is nothing more satisfying than steaming and then blending up your own vegies to make baby food (mash)! I had heaps of fun making yummy dinners for Jett and freezing them and I can't wait to do the same for Ollie.

It took him probably 3 days to learn to swallow the cereal but now he seems to love it! Below is a photo of him trying rice cereal for the first time.....in hindsight, I realise why he wasn't that into it to start with - look at how much cereal I had on the spoon?? How quickly we forget!

11 February 2009

Jolly Ollie.....

The other day we put Ollie in the Jolly Jumper for the first time......he was starting to want to stand up all the time and jump on his little legs so we thought it was time. He didn't do much the first time....he just stood in it and bent his knees every now and then. I put him in it the next day (yesterday) and he had a bit more of an idea of what to do.....he stepped with his little feet and bent his knees up and down lots - it was very cute! Here are some photos of him looking very pleased with himself.

Monday 5 January 2009

Our Christmas

Christmas day was a great one for us....the excitement started on Christmas Eve when Fi and Scotty came over to help me put up Jett and Ollie's new trampoline (photos will follow) - Jimmy took Jett out for the morning while we put the tramp up and then we had to keep him out of the backyard for the afternoon. Jett came to the Dungowan Street Carols with me that night and he was such a good boy - he's not a big fan of sitting still but he managed to sit on my lap and listen to my terrible singing for 90% of the time!

I don't know what it is about Christmas day but Jett slept in AGAIN! Only until 7:30 this year which wasn't too but but ohhhh I was so excited about giving him his presents (especially the trampoline!). 'Santa' came during the night and left a pillowcase full of presents for each of the boys and he took a bite out of his banana cake and a sip of his milk (Jett was very taken with that).

After our present opening we went to visit Mum and Dad and wish them a Merry Christmas. Dad even let me mow his lawn....he's usually very particular about the lawn being mowed but he'd had a big skin cancer cut out of his leg and had to stay off his feet. We then came home for family sleep time and then went back to Mum and Dad's in the afternoon for the Barker-Hedgecoe-Grant-Sparkman Christmas celebrations (all 17 of us). Fi and Scotty had made a piniata for the kids which was such a hit (ha ha).....the 6 big Grandkids each had a turn and when it finally fell apart they all got Freddo frogs, Sesame Snaps and Apricot delights (Jimmy and I bought the healthy piniata snacks).

It was such a relaxing day and felt so nice to be surrounded by our awesome and loving family.