Our trip down to Coffs Harbour!

Now that February has started and I still haven't caught up and got my head around the fact that we are now in the year 2009 (I will work it out by the end of the year lol!). I thought I should make a resolution to get my act together and leave more regular posts on my blog, even if I have absolutely nothing going on in my life (no only joking, I wouldn't put that pain on anyone lol!).

I always say that things will settle down around March, but I must be delusional cause life just seems to be constantly busy these days, maybe that has something to do with the new little man in my life that is now 4 months old and growing at an extraordinary rate. Aidan's length is off the charts at the moment, so watch out world if he keeps this up he is going to be 10 foot tall lol!

Well this is going to be my catch up post doesn't that sound familiar(do I ever have a post that is actually current pmsl)!

So some where in between Christmas and New Year we managed to fit a small trip down to Coffs Harbour to see David's parents. It has been ages since we have taken Amber to the beach and for a trip down to her grandparents place(this was evident when she told me that she could not remember their home, I know it has been a little while but not that long lol) and for some reason she has been talking about going fishing in Opas boat for weeks now. I think she was watching one of those get away shows and thought that the sound of fishing sounded like a lot of fun! So in a couple of days we managed to fit in a fishing trip, an afternoon at the beach and a swim in the next door neighbours pool, plus a morning at the shops.

These photos are from Maclean when we stopped for a break on the way to Coffs!

Our day at the beach!

Amber couldn't wait to get her swim vest on to go fishing, they apparently caught a small fish that Opa told her to kiss and let go, but I think the thought of kissing a fish was more than she could handle lol! It was a very hot day so I think the trip was nearly over before it began and Amber hasn't really mentioned the thought of going fishing again, so she might be over the whole concept now lol! Her excitement at the beginning was just contagious though, I wish I had that passion and love for things like 4 year old has!

We also managed to fit in another Christmas dinner and there was also an amazing storm on the last day that produced some amazing thunder and lightening and I think a couple of houses in the area were affected with the telephone lines going out and David's parents computer blew up(lucky they had a surge protector)! It definitely put on an amazing show though and some gorgeous sunsets after the storm!

Snoopy getting in on the celebration!

I am glad we managed to do at least one thing this holidays and get away for a couple of days, it was really nice to have a trip away our first after a year of renovations and pregnancy, I think it was really healthy for all of us as a family! And hopefully there won't be as big a gap in between this time!

Where did January go!

I always find this time of the year is a blur, starting around mid December until the end of February. There seem to be a million birthday celebrations and then you throw in Christmas and New Year. But this year it has been a struggle to do basically anything with David working overseas and Amber starting school, I seem to be constantly running around in circles. I guess that is the reason why I am only just getting around to blogging about all the things that have happened this month.

Probably a saviour to all my family and friends that read this blog as then it is more of an over view rather than my usual blab fest!

So where should I start...........

Well I have to say that I am usually the main photographer in our house and these days with our little bundle that arrived in September it has been a lot harder finding a spare hand to take any piccys, but I do get plenty of cuddles. So there are slim pickings for Christmas day at home and at mum and Barry's. So I will try and find a couple, we did have a lovely relaxing day and the weather was gorgeous, a lot of time was spent in the pool which was very nice and refreshing indeed.

Amber was over the moon with what Santa brought her and Aidan, the trampoline that she had been asking for for the last 6 months and she has been on it nearly every day since! Like every year Amber was spoilt rotten but it was really lovely to finally have Christmas back in our newly renovated home (which we have already managed to fill quite well, who needs space right???), there truly is no place like home, and it just felt really nice to be back. It was even more special this year with the addition of Aidan to make our family four, its always lovely to have a baby around at Christmas. I know he won't remember anything about his first Christmas and the look on his face in the below photo says it all really, but it made it magical all the same.

Normal Amber with food all over her face!

Not the best photo but Amber was so rapt to receive her pony!





Aidan and Makayla on christmas day!

We had the fortune of having David's family for Christmas at our house this year and in early January, so Christmas was certainly spread out this year (not that Amber minded in the slightest, and I am sure if she could she would celebrate Christmas every week of the year) !

David was so happy that he could share his first Christmas back in the house, and with the arrival of Aidan it meant so much to him to share this with his family. Because of the distance we don't really get a chance to spend a lot of quality time with his sister, so it made him very happy to have this opportunity. And even though the day sped by it was really nice to catch up with them. I think the girls had a marvellous time especially under the sprinkler! What would Christmas in Brissy be like if it wasn't stinking hot lol!!! Thanks for making our Christmas such a special one!



















I just adore this photo, Amber loved playing with her cousin, messy face and all!




Here are a couple of photos showing the kids cooling down!








Well yet another Christmas season has come and gone, but we feel so fortunate that we could share it with family and friends! Thank you for sharing it with us and making it such a memorable one, I just this time of the year(craziness and all) xx. P.S. Sorry it took me till February to post this everyone! What do they say better late than never(definitely a motto made especially for me lol!

My clone babies!!!!

A little while ago on Vanessa's forum I did a post about how similar my children were as babies. So I thought I would share it with everyone so you could have a little laugh and hopeful don't get to confused lol! Give me a couple of years and I might struggle to recognize which one is Amber and which one is Aidan myself!

Our Crazy First Day!

Have you ever just had one of those days and it falls on a day that you try with all your might to make as a special one! Well that was our first day of school. I decided to write this separately as I didn't want to take away from Amber's first day post and photos.

It started from the moment we arrived at school, I must have checked Amber's bag ten times to make sure we had everything. We arrived on time which if you know us that is an amazing feat all on its own, to find out that Amber took her hat off in the bedroom when cuddling Aidan and that is where she left it. While searching in her bag I realized that her new water bottle is faulty and leaked through everything in her bag. Little did I know this was only going to be the start of one crazy day.

I took Amber to her new class and got her settled, then decided as she needed her hat that I would quickly dash home and get it for her. No time for tears I was on a mission lol! This is where the fun begins, as I get Aidan and myself in the car and turn the car on, I realize that the car is stuttering. This has happened before(I think there might be a fuel blockage), so as we stutter and crawl along the road at 10km/h(secretly praying that we make it home and don't breakdown on the side of the road), I am trying to keep calm and say that everything will be ok and its not the end of the world.

We finally pull into the driveway(but only just lol), I now have to decide whether I will move Aidan's capsule into Davids car or whether to let the car cool down and try again in around 20 minutes. I check the oil and water under the bonnet and everything seems fine there, so I grab Amber's hat and another non-leaking drink bottle turn the car over and presto the car is up and running again. So I throw Aidan in the car and just as I am doing this it starts pouring with rain.

We have a leaking problem at the front since the renovations so I decided to stay and start sweeping the water away so it doesn't flood the garage. As I am doing this I have a flashback with a conversation I had with our neighbours several days ago where they mentioned that two of our gutter catchments were full of leaves and that I would need to clean that out before it rains again. Well guess what I never did get around to removing those leaves so I quickly run out the back to find water pissing everywhere down our by-fold doors. So here I am soaking wet with Aidan in the car crying up a ladder scooping out the leaves. Thankfully this ceased the problem and soaking wet I get back in the car and head off to the school.

Yes Amber finally got her hat and her bottle of water, so her first day could run smoothly. While at the school poor Aidan and myself get rained on running Amber's epipen up to the office. So in my infinite wisdom, I decide seeing I am having a shitty day anyway, to keep going. So in my remaining two hours before picking Amber up, I decide to go to Amber's pre-prep and pick up her epipen from last year, then go back to Officeworks and exchange the faulty drink bottle, go to the bank for my father, head to the supermarket to get milk and bread, get Aidan weighed as he hit 4 months old and finally get home to have a quick lunch and give poor Aidan a feed.

We than got back in the car(Aidan had now been pulled in and out of the car approximately a 100 times) and go up to the school to pick up Amber. We thankfully made it with 5 minutes to spare.

And the silver lining to this mad day was that Amber had a marvellous first day and on arriving at the school the teachers had made up a gorgeous laminated poem and photo of my girl on her first day of prep. Which when her poor mummy started reading the poem she finally felt the tears start welling up in her eyes. It was the best present I could ever have asked for and made me so proud that I now have a beautiful young lady that is just starting out on this amazing new journey in life. You don't realize in life just how incredibly special those first years of school really are.

Thought I would share the poem with everyone as I thought the words are just so beautiful:

FIRST DAY

SHE STARTED SCHOOL THIS MORNING,
AND SHE SEEMED SO VERY SMALL.
AS I WALKED THERE BESIDE HER
IN THE SCHOOL HALL.

AND AS SHE TOOK HER PLACE BESIDE
THE OTHERS IN THE CLASS,
I REALIZED HOW ALL TOO SOON
THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS CAN PASS,

REMEMBERING, I SAW HER AS
SHE FIRST LEARNED HOW TO WALK.
THE WORDS THAT WE ALONE MADE OUT
WHEN SHE BEGAN TO TALK.

THIS LITTLE GIRL SO MUCH ABSORBED
IN LEARNING HOW TO WRITE.
IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SHE MUST HAVE GROWN
TO GIRLHOOD OVERNIGHT.

MY EYES WERE BLURRED BUT HASTILY
I BRUSHED THE TEARS AWAY
LEST BY SOME WORD OR SIGN OF MINE
I MAR HER FIRST BIG DAY

OH HOW I LONG TO STAY WITH HER
AND KEEP HER BY THE HAND
TO LEAD HER THROUGH THE PLACES
THAT SHE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND.

BUT SHE MUST HAVE HER CHANCE TO LIVE,
TO WORK HER PROBLEMS OUT,
THAT PRIVILEGE TO GROW AND LEARN
WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT.

AND I MUST SHARE MY LITTLE GIRL
WITH FRIENDS AND WORK AND PLAY;
SHE'S NOT A BABY ANYMORE -
SHE STARTED PREP TODAY!



We wish you our gorgeous little girl a year full of fun, joy and inspiration, I know that our lives are about to change in an amazing way and I am looking forward to the journey. Mummy, Daddy and Aidan love you very much and are looking forward to taking this amazing ride with you through all the ups and downs and all the inbetweens in this your very first year of school life.

Big snuggles and cuddles my little darling your mummy is so proud of you xx.

I can't believe our little girl is now a big girl and is off to school!

Well it only seemed like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms and bringing her home from the hospital and even though she is still my little angel, I had to hold her hand yesterday and walk her up to the gates and on her way to her first day at prep(big school). It has been such a crazy start to the year, with a new house and a new baby in toe, so to be letting go of my first born seems just insane. She is still so little, it kind of seems wrong to be sending her off to school!

I was talking to Amber last week and discussing what her first week of school was going to be like and how much I will miss her and this was her reply, "I need to have learning mum, and to be teached"! Ok she certainly needs a few lessons in English, but she just sounds so grown up and mature and with those two lines I thought well thats it I have lost my baby! So it made my night when the evening before she was off to school she lent over to me and said "I love you mummy and I am going to miss you too" and before a tear could well in my eyes she also said "But I won't be gone forever" and thats when I thought no truer words could be said, I haven't lost her, she is off on her first big adventure and one little step closer to adulthood and thats something to be proud of!

It has been a struggle for me over the last two weeks with David away overseas working and having to deal with a new routine and structure at home with Amber starting school, so you can imagine how much of a build up it was to even make it to Amber's first day of school. I was a little dissappointed that David had to go away for work and not be here for such an important occasion, but I understand we really have no choice at the moment and what a huge sacrifice it must have been on his part to go and not be here for her and us on her first day. I know it is for all of us but it doesn't make it any easier all the same. I tried to take as many photos as possible and video footage, so it will make him feel like he was here also.

I know I have been slack lately with blogging and I am trying to make a big effort but with a 4 month old and a nearly 5 year old to take care of and a husband that has been away quite a bit, it has been a huge challenge. It kind of comes down to whether I want to blog or sleep lol!

Well I am really proud of you Amber, you blended in to your new surrounding and school perfectly, mind you it did help that you had two of your best friends from kindy coming over with you from prep and luckily thanks to your teacher at kindy Lisa requesting that they be in the same class with you making your new start an even easier one and hopefully a happy and memorable one!

So finally here are some pictures of my baby's first day at prep and I was very brave there were no tears either end! We love you sweetheart and I hope your day was a special one!

Yes that is tears in the last photo, but that is a whole different story(Amber was just plain exhausted from her first big day)!

Well I still have a whole other story to tell about our first day of school but I promised to get these photos up and I also have a couple of updates to do, tomorrow sounds good lol or maybe the next who knows!

I hope everyone that has a little one that is about to start school this week has a special day as its not like every day we have the chance to experience something so special and hopefully their are not too many tears(from the mummys, of course) xx.