On our anniversary

On Friday the 3rd of December it was the day of our sixth wedding anniversary. We had a sleepless night as Little Alex still had the gastro, and we had to get up during the night to change his bedding as he had a few accidents. When he's sick you barely know it, as he bounces around and is full of energy and still eats normally. So there was lots of mess to clean up, as he had eaten a full meal the night before.

Maddi had a much awaited trip to Sydney with Moppy and Poppy to visit Gina and Damien. She was very excited and we were surprised that she managed to sleep. She was very involved in the preparation with packing and picking out what she was going to take. At her first round of packing she packed lots of belts, hundreds of hairbands, her favourite t-shirt, 5 pairs of shoes and insisted on packing her gumboots just in case it rained. Little Alex was clued in on what was going on and started packing lots of his items in the suitcase. I kind of felt sorry that he was missing out, but he's not ready for a big trip just yet. Maybe in a couple more years he'll be ready.

We were running a little behind time to drop Maddi off at the airport, and when we went to start the car it turned out we had a flat battery. It was one of those days! Alex had to go ahead to Launceston to get Maddi to her plane on time, while I waited for the guy from RACT to give us a charge up. Alex managed to get Maddi to the airport on time. It was lucky that Maddi only had carry on luggage as the check in time had closed when she got to the airport.

I traveled into Launceston with the boys, and discovered how nice it was to travel in peace and quiet, as they slept and I didn't have a little girl talking to me the whole way and asking hundreds of questions. Alex and I managed to get some Christmas shopping done with the boys and stopped at The Sushi Train for lunch.


We kept Little Alex on minimal food as we didn't want a public accident!


Linc enjoyed the sushi too.


Poor Little Alex had an accident and it wasn't from the end that we were expecting. We had a visit with the Kings and freshened Little Alex up. It was such a beautiful night that we went to the gorge for a walk. The boys were very intrigued with the peacocks. It was nice and peaceful and we realised how much easier it is to take two kids out instead of all three.

This last wedding anniversary was definitely one we'll never forget! Thanks to Moppy, Poppy, Gina and Damien for having Maddi for the weekend. There will be photos and details of the trip on here soon.

The Christmas Parade

On Saturday it was a "special occassion" according to Maddi. It was the annual Christmas Parade. Every year that we've lived up here, it's rained on parade day, and it was no different this year. We got there a little earlier and got a spot under cover, so we were fairly well sheltered. There were heaps of floats from the different organisations in the community and lots of giveaways. Little Alex absoultely loved watching all the trucks, tractors and emergency vehicles with their sirens on.





Next year I will try and get more photos of the floats!

Meeting Jack

Last week we got to meet our nephew/cousin, Jack. We met him on his due date as he was three days early. He is small and very cute. We think he looks a lot like Kelsea as a baby. Little Alex immediately wanted to have a look at him, as he seems intrigued with babies. Linc wanted to touch Jack and patted his head. It's so strange to think that these boys will start school together as they are both born in the same year, only Linc was born at the beginning of the year and Jack at the end. We're looking forward to getting to know this little fella.

Baby Picasso

Linc has very good fine motor skills. Recently we noticed him picking up pens and trying to draw, in a purposeful way. So this afternoon when Maddi and Alex were having a drawing session Linc had a bit of a draw with correct pencil grip and all. It turns out that he is ambidextrous. He started with his right hand

Then he swapped the texta over to his left hand.


Here is the picture that he produced. Maddi pointed out that he wrote a letter 'S', and was in stitches of laughter about it.

Maddi's picture. She says it's a "colouring in" picture.

Alex's picture. He said it was a car with a man.

We may have to get the kids to keep practising so they can get their pictures printed onto plates, like we did as kids! I don't think we'll be leaving the pens and textas out in random places anymore, with Linc on the move, wanting to create!

At 10 and a half months

Our baby is growing up quickly now. Here are some facts about Lincoln at age 10 and a half months.

1. He is a little chatterbox, and can say "Mum" and "Dad" and can imitate sounds really well. A few times we have seen him look at Maddi and say "Mad". He makes lots of sounds and has a very cute laugh. ( He also has a very determined cry!)
2. He has three teeth.
3. He doesn't crawl or even get down on his tummy to crawl as he has no desire to do so. He bum shuffles and slides across the floor. He can move metres efficiently by putting his hands in front of himself and pulls along the floor. He can do this really efficiently on the polished floor boards. He is very strong in the trunk.
4. He is very loveable and a cuddly little one, who gives you his heart.

5. He is a Mummy and Daddy's boy.

6. His favourite foods are stewed fruit, roast meals and chicken soup.

7. He has a milk allergy, it took 9 months to figure this out. If he has milk in any form he suffers from reflux breaks out in hives and rashes and doesn't grow like he should.
8. He is small and cute and weighs 7.25kgs. He is very flexible.
9. He is an outdoors boy and is so happy when outside.


10. He has big eyes, that beam.
11. He is a bright little spark and learns things quickly.
12. He waves bye bye, claps his hands and gives high fives on demand.

13. He has cute little feet.


14. He smiles lots and interacts well with people
15. He is loved and adored by us all and we love him to bits. He has a theme song by Maddi where Maddi has changed the words by using a tune off Playschool. He gets excited to hear this song

Having fun at the beach

It was a gorgeous day today so we headed to the beach with Grandma, Becky and the kids. When I said to the kids that we were heading to the beach, the kids raced around to get ready. I've never seen them move so fast! Maddi was very proactive about taking all our beach gear and toys.

Becky and I commented that we always seem to be at the beach when we're pregnant as both of us have had two babies due in summer. Becky has just two weeks to go until the baby is due and is looking really well.


Maddi found some cuddle fish.
The kids had a blast and could of stayed for hours.

Catching some waves!





The boys are so into trucks and machines. Little Alex always makes a beeping sound when he reverses his toy trucks. They are getting along more and more even though there is 12 months between them. Alex is always excited to see his cousin Eamon.

Maddi commented that it was a good day for an icecream on the way home, but being close to tea time we gave it a miss. We all love warm days and are hoping to get a hot summer.

Tough as bricks

On Thursday evening the kids were outside playing while I was preparing tea. Maddi started crying about an incident, and we soon discovered that Little Alex wasn't wearing gumboots and had dropped a brick on his toe. As a result his big toe was lacerated and his big toenail had split in half and was just hanging on. Luckily Alex has just completed a refresher First Aid Course and was on the scene to help dress his toe that was bleeding profusely. Alex took him to emergency, and not long after they were home again. He is such a tough little boy, he only cried a little when it happened.

Little Alex was proud of his little visit to the hospital, and didn't make any fuss while he was there. He didn't get any stitches as they thought it would be too hard for his age, so he came home all bandaged up and with a certificate of bravery

And some McDonalds fries which he shared with Maddi.

I'm not really the type of person to get all weak at the sight of blood, but everytime I look at his toe I cringe at the thought of it, and get shivers down my spine. It is still bleeding, but hopefully it will heal up soon and stop bleeding. So from now on he will be wearing gumboots, as his toe is so sensitive. Somehow I don't think he'll mind too much, because that's all he wants to wear, even to church!

Cousins

A little while ago Kelsea came to visit us for the day. We had fun in the sun, and had a picnic outside.

We went for a walk to the park. Maddi and Kels are real girly girls sometimes, and stopped along the way to pick all different types of flowers.


Little Alex sometimes gets annoyed at the girly things they do, like disliking their ballet school sessions, and having fairy DVD's on the TV, but loved his play at the park.

It's been awhile since we've all got together for a family dinner. On Sunday we finally caught up without Grandma and Uncle Chrish. We got this photo of all the cousins together. They all got along so well, playing together.

Early Risers

Tuesday morning was no ordinary morning. Alex and I were first woken up at 3am by the i phone 4 which woke us up an hour before it was supposed to! Then at 4am Linc was awake for his night feed and was wide awake and wouldn't go back to sleep again. Alex was going on another work trip, hence the reason for the early morning. After a little while we heard a little voice call out "Dad, I want to say goodbye." It was Maddi that was calling out, and she was wide awake. Not long after Little Alex stumbled into our bedroom with a grin on his face. The whole family was wide awake to say goodbye to Dad as they knew he was going in the early hours of the morning. There was no way that the kids were going to go back to sleep anytime soon, so we took a trip to the airport to farewell Dad in our Pj's (Well some of us anyway!).



Little Alex enjoyed watching the plane take off.


We stopped by and had breakfast with Becky, Kelsea and Eamon before we travelled back home. It was nice to see the sun rising, but was very difficult to see the road as we were driving towards the sun. The kids all managed to have a catch up nap during the day. I still haven't figured out how to get all three to sleep simultaneously. We are looking forward to seeing Dad soon.

My Birthday

On Monday it was my birthday. We celebrated it by going out to Anvers for brunch. I'm very lucky to have a sentimental and thoughtful husband, who took the day off work to make the day special for me.

The kids had their favourite-Chocolate rice bubbles.


I had a little surprise in my Chocolate Mousse Cake!

Linc enjoyed some cake.
The kids always have a play on the chocolate truck.


Maddi was excited that it was my birthday and made me a card with a heart on it, and said she put a heart on it " because I love you." The kids were very excited to give me a present from them-Some flowers, peanut butter cups and peanut butter M and M's. Alex cooked a delicious dinner of my requests. Prawns cooked on the barbie with an avocado salad for entree.

Tandoori lamb cutlets and salad for main.

We finished off with Cold Rock style ice cream for dessert.