Beach days

Today was the third day in a row we have been to the beach. On Wednesday we went to Hawley Beach with our Playgroup Enrichment group. Yesterday was our second trip to the beach, which was unplanned. We went on our almost daily walk into town. We go the long way to town through the park. Maddi has a play at the playground and I get some exercise. I much prefer to walk with the kids in the pram than to get the kids in and out of car seats. By the time we got to the park which is next to the beach I thought how nice it would be to walk up the beach through the water with just our feet in. Maddi decided it was time to get wet and went into the water up to her waist. So an unplanned trip to the beach we had.

A play at the playground afterwards.

Maddi loves going really high on the swing. She is such a dare devil and the higher the better. She loves Big Alex to (safely) throw her up in the air. She calls it "up in the sky" and can't get enough of it.

Today was our third trip to the beach. We had the company of Moppy and Nessy. Poppy had a truck delivery to make up this way, so Liz and Ness came along for a vist. We spent the afternoon at the beach. The sand was so hot that you couldn't stand on it and we had to run into the water just to prevent our feet from burning. The water was just perfect. It was just the right temperature to cool you down, while not being too cold. We went in the water several times. Alex and Kevin knocked off work at 4 and joined us for a swim. It was lovely to have a decent swim as there were so many people to look after the kids in the water.

Maddi with Auntie Ness' sunnies on.

After our swim we headed out for tea to our local hotel for a counter meal. Four Essendon Football Club "players" (Used loosly - as they really suck) were there for a football function. Some of Alex's work colleagues are big Essendon supporters and were there also. I don't think they were too impressed that Alex and Kevin showed up there with Hawks t-shirts on! (Alex says that they have to understand that they are in HAWK COUNTRY) Kevin, Liz and Ness left not long after tea. It was great to see them, even if it was for an afternoon.

I took this photo this morning of the kids. Maddi keeps asking to hold "Baby Alex" . He's not really a baby anymore, and is catching Maddi in size (only 2kg between them)! The other day Maddi was holding Alex's hand while they were in the pram. Alex's hands and feet are so big and there is not much difference in their hand size at all. Maddi has a fixation for putting stickers on everything at the moment and stuck some stickers on Alex's forehead. I love moments like this when they have fun together and get along. I think it's every mother's dream!

NOTE: Nicki takes no responsibility for the italisised text.

Our Nephews

We had an exciting day Sunday. First up we went to see Lachlan receive his blessing at the Deloraine Chapel. Lachlan is now 5 months old, so it was interesting to see if he would sit still during the blessing. He was a perfect little angel during the blessing, and it was lovely to witness his blessing. He wore a lovely white suit which Harri was blessed in. Alex was also blessed in the suit when he was three weeks old and it still fit Lachie! Lachlan has the biggest, gorgeous brown eyes. He is such a happy little boy and often gives the cutest smiles. I didn't get a photo of him on his blessing day. This one was taken at Chloe's party several months ago.

After church I was dying to meet my new nephew Eamon Leigh, who was born Saturday night. We saw Becky while she was in labour, so knew he wasn't too far from arriving. We all had a hold of Eamon and agreed he looked a lot like Kelsea as a baby. Becky gave good reports about him. So far he is content to sleep. We didn't hear a peep out of him the whole time. Becky was looking and feeling great.

Maddi was very curious about Eamon and commented that he had little ears.
Eamon is just about the same size as Alex when he was born. Just half an ounce lighter than Alex. There is a year and a week age difference between the two of them. It's hard to believe that he was once this small. Last year two of our nephews were born. I was suspicious that Eamon was going to be a boy as well, because of the pattern. The year Maddi was born all girls were born in the family. Starting with Maddi, Kelsea and then Chloe. Last year it started with Alex, Kobe, Lachlan and now Eamon. I think it's great as I can see them all having so much fun together in years to come.

Fun In The Sun

On Tuesday it was a warm day so we headed to the beach in the morning. We filled the pram full of the essentials and we walked down there. The idea was to make the kids very tired so that they'd have a big sleep in the afternoon. Maddi didn't have an afternoon nap but we still had fun. Alex takes to the beach like a duck to water. He is so content just playing with the sand. We dipped out feet in the water and it was quite warm. Maddi loves jumping the waves.

Little Alex got another bruise when we got home. He was playing in his bedroom and whacked his right eye on the built-in cupboard. I took this photo a few hours later, and it looks even worse now as it is all black now.
Wednesday was a hot day, we headed to the Devonport Olympic Pool. We met up with Becky, Kelsea, Sarah and her kids. Later Toni and Carli and their kids arrived. Becky is just two days off her due date now and was feeling the heat. Her feet were swollen so she dipped her feet in the water and hopefully got some relief. Below is a photo of Becky. She looks great, but I'm sure isn't feeling it.



Maddi had fun in the toddler pool with Isaac. I got her dressed and left her with the others as I went to the kiosk.
When I came back this is what I found. Maddi having a dip fully clothed, hat as well!

When I asked her why she got in the pool with her clothes on She replied, "I'm hot!"
Kelsea

We had to borrow Kelsea's dress as she had no spare clothes. Maddi was quite excited that she got to wear Kelsea's clothes home! I wonder if this is the start of sharing clothes?

Grandma's birthday

I have a bit of blogging to catch up on. Starting with Monday, being Mum's birthday. We surpised Mum by turning up with lunch. She was planning on having a quite day reading her library books while sunbaking, but we changed those plans! We all hid quietly in the bedroom. Dad was in the ensuite shower, and I was a bit worried that he was unaware that we were in the bedroom and would stroll on out! Mum beat him and came through the door and this was her reaction when we yelled out "Surprise!"

The Grandkids all adore Mum. She always joins in the fun with them. Here she is jumping on the trampoline. I think being a Grandma is a good excuse to be a big kid. All her Grandkids were present except Noah.


Since it was a warm day we attached the hose to the slide. Dad went and got some plastic and Mum put some dishwashing detergent down it. The kids had a ball. Here's the birthday girl going down the slide. You don't find many 50 plus year old Grandmas doing this. What an advantage it is to be small sometimes.

Blowing the candles out with the grandkids.

1st Birthday Party

Alex gave our birthday boy a hairstyle for his birthday and a lot of people couldn't work out what was different about him.

We headed to Hawley Beach for the day and were joined by family. The day Alex was born was a very hot day and I was hoping it was going to be hot like the day he was born. It was warm, but definitely not hot! Alex loves the outdoors so I thought it would be nice if we had an outdoor party and we took advantage of summer.

This is a photo of Alex on his first trip to the beach almost 12 months ago.

We ate chips and potato cakes on the beach. Alex was into his food and was after everyone else's as well.

The cake got a bit warm in the car! I went to get the cake out of the car after lunch, and I turned around to head to the beach and there was a big black snake slithering into the bushes. I hate snakes! I waited for it to be out of sight before I moved again.


Becky has not long now.
Auntie Ness and Auntie Becc with Maddi and Harmony.
Poppy gave Alex the cheapest Mack Truck he had.

Alex was the perfect little Birthday boy, he was so content all day. He loved exploring and playing with some of his new toys. He kept getting his face planted in the sand, but didn't whinge once. We gave him a cold shower to rinse him off, and he barely whimpered.

Alex kept getting in and out of the ice bucket. He had a great time sitting in it and splashing around.
Here Alex is waving to someone with his pointy finger.

Kobe and Alex

Lachlan was a good little boy and had a peaceful afternoon nap.

We walked out to the island and met Eden and his boat there. Eden took us out for a spin in his boat. It was fairly rough which made it fun. I was a bit worried that Lisa's camera was going to get damaged on the trip, but there was no time to take photos as we had to hang on tight!


We headed home in the late afternoon. Before we even got to Wesley Vale the kids were sound asleep. We all had a great day but suffered the consequences of being out in the sun. Maddi got burnt badly on her cheeks. Fortunately the birthday boy just got a tan and no sunburn.

We had Moppy, Poppy, Auntie Becc, Uncle Brise and Auntie Ness all stay with us for the night. Alex opened more presents up and we had a barbeque for tea.

Our Baby Boy

Our Alexander Perry turned 1 on Saturday. The last year has gone so fast. Before he was born I had the usual fears that a second time round Mum has, wondering how I could possibly love another baby. Of course it happened! He has brought so much joy in our lives over the past 12 months and I just thought I 'd dedicate this post to our gorgeous little boy.



Born at 3.52pm on Thursday the 10th of January 2008. This boy kept me waiting to see his face. I had the first contraction on Wednesday afternoon, and 26 hours later I finally saw his face! Lucky I had a midday nap before labour started.

Some of the things we've learned about Alexander Perry in the last 12 months.

1. He has a happy placid nature. He is such a gentle peaceful boy. He is very affectionate, and often crawls up to us just to have a cuddle.

2. He loves his family. He adores and looks up to his big sister even though she often leads him astray and bosses him around. He is so forgiving of her, he will often go back and play with her straight away even if she has wronged him .

3. He has a passion for food. He LOVES food! He will eat more food than Maddi. He is so vocal when he is eating. Tea times are not quiet in our house. Often people think he's upset at tea time as he's so vocal but he's just enjoying his food. He loves grocery shopping in the fruit and vegie section on the supermarket. The other day without realising, he had grabbed a cherry and enjoyed it so much. Cherry juice was smeared all over his face. I quickly wiped the evidence of his face before the fruit thieve had been sprung. He definitely knows what food is good.

4. He is a fun boy. He loves playing rough and tumble games with his Dad. He is such a dare devil. He loves being thrown in the air and loves doing flips. He becomes so hyperactive at these times. He loves jumping, standing and riding the trike. He loves the water, especially bath times.


5. He's a cheeky boy. If you ask him to come to you he often shakes his head and grins. If he is about to get up to mischief, he gives himself away by looking at you and shakes his head rapidly.

6. He has a gorgeous smile. When he smiles his whole face lights up. I often talk to 'big Alex' on the phone during the day and when Alex hears his Dad's voice his whole face lights up.

7. When he waves he uses his pointy finger. When we go somewhere in the car he waves to the house with his pointy finger. He does this cute little facial expression (usually when he is excited) where he screws his nose up and breaths through his nose really loud. He growls a lot and makes really boyish noises. Sometimes you wonder how such a deep sound can come out of such a little boy.

8. He is such a giggle pot. He often laughs with Maddi. He laughs a lot when being tickled.

9. He is a 'people person'. He loves the company of others and is happiest when someone is talking to him. He interacts with people all the time, even strangers. He'll often smile at someone down the street and be interested in what people are doing by observing them.

10. He loves playing with 'boys toys'. He is often pushing a truck or car around or riding the walker.

Sarah's Shower

On Saturday the Youngs and I threw Sarah for shower. Little Isaac wanted to join in on the party and was present at his Mum’s shower. You wouldn’t know it though as he slept peacefully the majority of the time and was cuddled by various people during the shower. Sarah and Isaac got home from hospital just hours before, so I guess it was a house warming party for Isaac too.

We played guess the number of lollies in the baby bottles and Ruby (Sarah's niece) who is just 8, was so close to the number it was scary. There were 1123 musks in the bottle and Ruby said there were 1121! We played a pass the parcel version where you had a chance of getting a gag in the layer.

Mel got a gag and had to drink a sippy cup full of milk in under 1 minute and managed to do it under the time limit. We found out during the game that Sister Peggy is the best dummy spitter as well. Who would think that though as she is just the most loveliest lady with such an even temperament.

Louise made this beautiful quilt with a giraffe on it just the night before. She has a 3 month old, and little Will who is in this photo, and she didn't use a pattern. What a super Mum she is!

Sarah got some lovely presents and it was all perfect for a baby boy as everyone knew the news. The house was decorated in blue balloons that read "It's a boy!"

There was so much yummy food. Some of the food was coloured blue and we had blue punch to go with it. I went home very full that evening! I couldn't help but wonder what the night would bring for Sarah and Tim. My babies all seem to come alive when they come home from the hospital. Hopefully they had a good nights sleep.