Little Alex's birthday

On Sunday the 10th of January, it was little Alex's 2nd birthday. We had a small party with some family to celebrate. Most of our house was packed up in boxes so we went to Moppy and Poppy's hotel room and had party food and lasagne for lunch.

Moppy and Poppy had an apartment room that had a fenced yard with a sandpit that the kids loved playing in.



Alex has become very good at opening presents since Christmas time.


Alex had an ice cream cake for his birthday, which was very enjoyable as it was a hot day. He had to be quick to blow out the candles before it melted. He wasn't quite sure how to blow out the candles and made a failed attempt and Uncle Jared and Daddy helped him.



We thought the top that reads "security" from Auntie Ness was quite funny, as he is the one that needs security as he is so hands on and into everything. He could be a child security guard though with all the strength that he has. He is so strong and is such a bruiser.

Maddi loves being silly with the teeth out of the party mix.

That evening we went for a long walk along the beach. It was such a beautiful night that people were still in the water swimming as it was so hot. Little Alex had a great 2nd birthday.

Holidays

After Christmas we came home for a couple of nights and then headed back to Hobart leading into the new year. On our first day there it was such a beautiful day and it was the Boxing Day holiday, so all of us, except Ness (as she's away on YSA convention) headed to the local beach, just a couple of minutes drive away called Hinsby Beach. We got one of those blow up boats just the week before and were keen to test it out.



There were lots of boats and yachts out in the water that day as I think they were hoping to meet up with the winner of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. Only it was behind schedule.


On Tuesday morning I went to take Maddi to to see the 3D movie of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The last time we had taken Maddi to the movies was about 12 months ago, and she wasn't quite ready back then to sit in a movie for that long, but since then she has grown up a lot and will sit and watch a whole movie if she enjoys it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to have some one on one time with her before life gets a bit more busy. Unfortunately just as we were heading off I discovered my wallet was missing and we sent out a search party for it, retracing everywhere we had visited including the beach. The kids thought it was fun looking for my wallet but then when Maddi realised that she was missing out on the movie because my wallet was missing she suggested "It's alright Mum, maybe my Dad can pay for the movies" and even starting accusations that maybe the neighbours had stolen my wallet! After a few hours of having no luck I cancelled all the important cards and headed to The Taste with Becc and Brise.

We were lucky to get there just at the right time as it is usually hard to get a table. The kids enjoyed their fish and chips from Mures. We later moved to Parliament Park which was a lot more child friendly as they had activities for kids. We watched some kids use the flying trapeze and watched some performers. I had a delicious scallop souvlaki from a stall called the Wild Things.
After the Taste I took the kids to the movies, as Maddi was so dissapointed about missing out earlier. There was only one early morning session of the movie we planned to see, and we had missed it. So instead we saw the Chipmunks movie. Little Alex was very active in the movie and even made friends with the teenagers behind us. He would watch a bit and go "Oh no" and "oh aww" at the appropriate times and would dance along to the music. I learnt that he's still a little young to watch a whole movie attentively and Maddi as much as she enjoyed the movie is still a wriggle worm and very concerned with the snacks you have at the movies!

On Tuesday night the winner (Alpha Romeo) of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race was due to come in and we listened out for it. Alex heard helicopters outside a little past 9pm and we raced out to watch it come up the river. It looks quite light in the photo, but it was quite dark and you could really only see the lights from the boats in the river. You could see so many flashes going off, as people were taking photos. We had a look with the binoculars and counted a flotilla of at least 25 boats.


We had such beautiful week weather wise that we took another trip to Hinsby Beach again on the Wednesday. Liz came along too as work ended up giving her the day off as it was quiet, and she looked after the kids for us so we could have a sleep in. I spent so much time in the water that day and got in the boat with the kids we were almost tossed out into the water as we going through the break water. Brise's Mum Manny, came along and brought her kayak and each of us, except myself had a paddle. That eveining I was looking out the window that evening and saw this massive cruise ship heading out the river. Maddi and Liz saw it arrive that morning.



The next day which was New Year's Eve Brise, Becc, Alex and I all planned to go to Clifton Beach for the day which is a surf Beach. Becc and I were unsure about how we would both go on body boards since our tummies are sticking out so far, as Becc is in the second trimester of her pregnancy now. Liz and Kevin had the day off and so kindly took the kids to the local beach and park for us. It was a scorcher of a day and got to 38 degrees. We ended up joining Kevin and Liz and the kids at Hinsby Beach as the swells at Clifton were low and it would mean an hours drive and Brise was called in to come into work after lunch. We thought it would be much more convenient to stay close to home again. After tea it was still very hot, and Becc and Brise had fun with the kids running through the sprinkler. It was so hot that no one seemed to mind that the kids were spraying us with water pistols after tea.



Maddi was a real party goer on New Year's Eve. At 9pm she was still awake and got scared as she could hear fireworks going off from the wharf and at the same time there was a huge thunderstorm going on with forks of lighting. We sat out on the deck and all watched the storm and then played a game of cards up until midnight. I learnt that Liz is a bit of a card shark. After the storm settled down Maddi settled into bed and fell asleep close to 11pm.

We had a lovely breakfast on New Year's Day and it was another perfect day. We had such a good time at Moppy and Poppy's that time seemed to fly by. Becc and Brise took Maddi to Brise's Parent's property for a couple of hours, and Maddi loved sitting on Shadow the horse and collecting the eggs.




We felt like we had a fantastic holiday with lots of rest. I especially was well rested, thanks to everyone who looked after the kids. If the kids weren't around at Moppy and Poppy's we knew that they must of visited the next door neighbours which are Becc and Brise. It was hard to stop the kids from following Becc and Brise home sometimes, and when they would go missing we would automatically assume that's where they were. It was great that we didn't get sunburnt at all after all the time we had spent outside, except for big Alex who looked very tanned the next day after his sunburn.

When we got home that night there was a message from someone who had found my wallet. It was such a relief that it had been found.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning the first thing we heard was Little Alex's footsteps at 6am. Maddi didn't wake until 7am and both the kids took a look outside to see if Rudolph had drank the bucket of water and eaten the carrot. Santa had taken the picture that Maddi drew and left a little note behind.

The kids were very excited to open the stockings to see what Santa had left them. The highlight for Little Alex was getting some more Thomas trains in his stocking. When Maddi got a girl train in her stocking Little Alex went and had a sticky beak and took it off her thinking it belonged to him.

We then had fruit salad and yoghurt for breakfast followed by opening gifts. Little Alex reminded us of a vampire.

Maddi had a chat on the phone to Auntie Gina.

Before we left Moppy and Poppy's we had some nibblies and said a quick goodbye to Moppy who was called into work for an emergency. At about 11am we headed out the door and off to Mum and Dad's for lunch. The kids slept most of the way up and were still sleepy when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's. Unfortunately Alex wasn't feeling too crash hot and came down with a virus on Christmas Eve and it continue on Christmas Day and was happy to sit back in the car and relax while I drove. Harri was very excited when we arrived not for our presence, but it meant it was time to open the presents!


The kids admired the gingerbread house that Grandma had made and Alex was the first one to have a pick at it.

It was a warm day perfect for eating lunch outside. Grandpa turned the slide into a waterslide for the kids and they had a great time going down.


I don't think Little Alex expected to come down the slide so quickly, and got scared off from going down again.

We ate so much food during the course of the day. For lunch we had seafood, lots of salads, ham and fruit and for dinner we had the traditional Christmas meal of hot turkey and vegetables. At the end of the night the kids all had a bath and got in their pjs ready for bed.

We had a great day, apart from Alex being unwell. The best thing was that we got to spend time with both families. It was just us and the Kings this year at Mum and Dad's house, but I wouldn't really say it was a "quiet" Christmas. The thing I love about Christmas is spending time with the family and seeing the kids excitement. Christmas takes on a whole new meaning when you have kids to enjoy it with.

Pre-Christmas events

Christmas comes around so quickly that I have been neglectful to the blog. But I wanted to put up a few snippets of some events before Christmas. This photo of the nativity scene was a display at our Ward HFPE activity which was held at the end of November.

We went to the ward Christmas Party at the Latrobe Pool on the Saturday before Christmas. There was a jumping Castle and other activities like swimming and face painting. The kids had a great time there and loved having a dip in the pool. There was also an obstacle course in the middle of the pool, that Maddi had a go on and enjoyed. The Bishopric put on a barbeque and Santa arrived on a Harley.


Santa gave the kids a bag of mixed lollies. If anyone knows little Alex they would know he is obsessed with food. So much that in the middle of the night he has been known to steal Tim Tams out of our cupboards. One morning we found him eating some Tim Tams. What made it so sweet (literally) was that he had layed a packet of biscuits alongside Maddi who was sound asleep in bed. He is a good little sharer sometimes. But got quite posessive of his bag of lollies at the Christmas party. We took our eyes off him for a moment and found him soaking wet from the waist up with a bag of saturated lollies. We can only guess that he dropped his lollies in the toddler pool and went into the pool to fish them out. He didn't give up his bag of lollies up for anyone that night.


Maddi at the Christmas Party


The Sunday afternoon before Christmas we headed to Hobart to Moppy and Poppy's house. We attended the Hobart Stake An Expression of Christmas Fireside where we heard beautiful music and hymns about the saviour. I love Christmas hymns and found it very uplifting to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We were very busy that week and did some family activities and caught up with some friends. We went to the Hobart Aquatic Centre one day and the kids loved going down the water slide. Maddi kept questioning where the red bucket was like the one from the Launceston Aquatic Centre.

Moppy and Poppy have a fantastic garden and had an abundance of cherries and raspberries. One day we picked the cherries for Moppy and Poppy. Maddi enjoyed supervising the picking of the cherries and would tell us off for not picking the dark ones and picking some red ones. She also tried to get rid of the bird that got trapped in the net.

Little Alex loved climbing the ladder and was a great helper at picking the cherries. He would pick one and then say "more, more", and continue to pick and eat them. Lots of nappies were changed that day!

The fruits of our labours.

Maddi got stuck into the cherries too and had juice all down her top.


Auntie Ness made a gingerbread house and shared it with everyone.


We finished our Christmas shopping one day and Alex gave me a treat to be redeemed during the week which was entry into the Savoy Baths and Day Spa. I spent a morning there relaxing in the pool, while Alex took the kids to Poppy's work for a visit. Unfortunately as I am pregnant I was unable to use the spa baths and sauna, but it was still relaxing to just have a swim in the pool and just float. While I was there the kids had a good look at a Mack truck at Poppy's work.


Apparently Little Alex liked beeping the horn.



On Christmas Eve we celebrated with the family and Nana (Alex's Nan) came over for Christmas Eve tea. The kids enjoyed pottering in the garden with Nana and picked some carrots ready for Santa's Reindeers.

We opened homemade bon bons which Becc made and she put in some great quotes on Christmas in them with an individual present. Maddi was very excited to get a new pair of sunglasses in her bon bon. We had a delicious seafood Paella for tea. It is becoming a tradition now to have Paella for Christmas Eve dinner. We all love Seafood and Maddi loved eating the muscles.




We opened a present each on Christmas Eve. We all got this great Christmas windmill that Kevin and Liz got from a Christmas shop in Germany.


The kids have been very hyped about Christmas and little Alex even seemed to understand that Santa was coming to visit. Maddi drew a picture for Santa on Christmas Eve and left some snacks for him. They couldn't wait till Christmas morning.

"What was I like at 3 and a half years old?"

I thought it was time for an update on Maddi at three years and 8 months of age to be more precise! What a way to title this post with a question! Maddi loves to ask questions and will analyse the answers. She’s not satisfied until she gets an answer and the questioning goes deeper and deeper until we end up saying “that’s enough now Maddi” Maddi is quite a chatterbox and will not only talk to people her own age but adults as well. Often when Alex’s work mates come to pick him up Maddi will run to the door to greet them and chat to them, on those days Alex tends to be running a little later for work! She could spend hours just talking if we let her and isn’t satisified unless you engage in the conversation with her. She has a good sense of humour and picks up quickly when people are being cheeky.

Maddi is a social butterfly and will make a new friend wherever she goes and often when we are in a waiting room, she’ll chat to the adults around her. She can’t wait to go to school and will walk on her tippy toes and say “I’m a bit bigger now..... I’m ready for school.” I know that Maddi would just love going to school for the sociality of it all. Maddi loves to draw and could go through a ream of paper just in drawings. She is very imaginative too, and will create animals out of things around the house. She loves to do craft (or crafting as she calls it). She is starting to write letters and numbers and of course recognises that her name starts with the letter ‘M’ which is the same as McDonalds.

She is very thoughtful in her prayers, and every night prays to “bless Bishop will get on his motorbike.” This has been going on for about 6 months now. We have no idea what she means by this, but we can only guess she wants Bishop to take time out to himself.

Maddi is a great sleeper. As soon as her head hits the pillow (once she has stopped talking), she is asleep and will sleep for about 12 hours a night. In the mornings she often comes out of her room with a clothing item on top of her head pretending to be a ghost. When the sun is up, she’s up too as she doesn’t want to miss a thing. She really could have a daytime nap, but won’t let you know that she’s tired as that to her is a sign of weakness, and there’s no way she will let anyone else nod off too. You definitely know when she’s tired as she changes from this sweet happy little girl into a devil in disguise. After 4 pm is about the time that the little devil in her comes out and she will be really whingey and demanding, but when she’s not tired and grumpy she’s a good natured girl. One of Maddi’s most commonly used phrases is “I’m hungry.” Maddi is a grazer and will eat all day long a little bit here and there. I’m not too fond of her being a grazer as she keeps me busy preparing snacks all day. However she is a good little eater and will eat what’s good for her and try new foods.

Maddi knows what she wants and won’t back down at all. She is very persistent and persuasive. Grandma and Grandpa think she will make a great lawyer or a great interrogator. She is very smart too and can manipulate things to her advantage.

Maddi loves to watch movies. With the wet winter that we had, she got hooked on watching the same movies over and over. Her favourite movies are School of Rock with Jack Black in it and The Little Rascals. She quotes parts of the movie and sings the songs and knows all the kids names from School of Rock and knows what instruments they play. Maddi loves singing and music and picks up songs very quickly off the radio and will sing the tune later on with different lyrics sometimes. Like a while ago she picked up the Beyonce song Single Ladies and sang, If you like it, you should put some rain on it!”

Maddi is really sweet and positive most of the time, and will tell you how much she loves you and will often tell Little Alex that “I love you more! And have a good sleep Little Alex!” before his daytime nap (if that happens). She can be really positive too and say she LOVES this and that. She reguarly comes up and give me compliments throughout the day, which of course makes my day. Maddi reads people really well and watch people’s facial expressions. She will say to me “Mum, why have you got your grumpy face on?” Sometimes I won’t even realise I have a grumpy face on and she will show me the facial expression I’m showing, which doesn’t look good at all!

Maddi has been having a sympathy pregnancy with me. She told us she was having a baby girl called Lucy and she was going to be born at Christmas time. She picked up a lot of things from my pregnancy and related it to her own pregnancy. One day when she had an upset tummy and she told me Lucy was making her feel very sick. On days she was tired- Lucy was making her tired. The other week Lucy was born according to Maddi. Now she is such a good little Mummy to Lucy, but told me that I will be feeding Lucy when our real baby is born!

We recently went to the Child Health Clinic and Maddi was weighed and measured.

Height: 98.5cm ( Just above the 50th percentile)

Weight: 14.85kgs ( Just below the 50th percentile)