Introducing Megan

What a roller coaster of events we’ve had over the past few weeks! I started to believe that I would NEVER pop and that I would be celebrating our child’s 21st birthday while it was still in my belly. Anyway, to put things back in perspective I ended up going into labour on the actual day she was due – so I wasn’t even overdue… just incredibly impatient. I had been having contractions on and off for a few weeks but at about midnight on the morning of the 20th June I noticed the pain had stepped up a notch. Dave and I headed up to the hospital about 1am to be informed by the midwife that the baby was well and truly on the way and so it was too late for my much anticipated epidural (bummer). Thankfully it was a relatively short labour with Megan Skye making her entrance into the world at 3.28am. Her arrival was greeted by one very tired, high on pethidine mother and a very proud daddy.

Family

I can’t post some photos on my blog without including some of our immediate family enjoying their first cuddle with their latest grandchild.
********
Vicki & Hank (Oma & Opa) were an absolute godsend over the past few weeks. They came for a visit from Melbourne with the intention of only staying a few days before heading off to explore this beautiful state of ours. I convinced them to stay a bit longer to help out while I was pregnant and I’m pretty sure they agreed to this because we were all so convinced that I would pop early. Little did they know that 5 weeks later I would finally oblige them! I don’t know how I would have coped without their help and support so here is a big THANKYOU to you both.

Nana
Grandad

Moule Family

Megan’s birth just happened to coincide with the wedding of Pete & Lee – congratulations to you both. Fortunately this meant that Dave’s sister, Annemarie and her hubby Gary packed the kids up in a caravan and made the arduous trek across the Nullabor especially for the wedding. The added bonus for us were a couple of visits where Aiden could spend some time with his cousins and Aunty Annie could get her fill of cuddles from Megan. Here are some photos of the cousins having a cuddle with Megan – unfortunately I didn’t get a shot of Rachel with Megan (sorry Rachel) so maybe Annie you can send me one?

Aiden

Everyone keeps asking me what Aiden thinks of his little sister. It was hard to tell at first because Vicki & Hank were here so Aiden had eyes only for Opa then for the first week it seemed like we had a revolving door at the front of the house as we had a constant stream of visitors so again Aiden was too distracted to pay much attention to her. It has only been in the last few days since it is just our little family on our own again that we can see his feelings. I am glad to say that he is a very loving brother already. He is constantly giving her kisses on the head and asks for cuddles all the time and is actually spending longer and longer each time sitting with her. He has also become a very good helper – insisting on getting her nappy and wipes ready and fetching other things for her. When she cries (and it is a LOUD cry) he gets very concerned for her well being… it is really quite sweet. So for now my fears of a jealous brother are allayed… let’s hope they stay that way when Dave goes back to work.

It's a Girl...

Just a quick note to let you all know that Sara has given birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Our new additon's name is Megan Skye. She was born on wednesday morning at 3:30am. She was just over 4kg (8lb14oz) and 55cm long.

Mum and Megan are doing well. We hope to have them home today (friday)

Lazy day Sunday

A quiet day today... Dave went off to bowls this morning leaving the rest of us home for a slow day. I decided it was about time I let Opa have a break from entertaining Aiden so I decided to attempt baking some biscuits with him. I have never attempted such a feat before and I have to say it was rather more successful than I had expected. Aiden helped with just about every part of the process; collecting all the ingredients, putting them into a bowl then mixing them together by hand and by beater, and of course the most important part - placing the chocolate drops on the top.


We were actually making "Teddy Bear Biscuits" and as you can see we did such a good job that it was VERY difficult to tell the difference between the picture in the book and our bikkies!

A day with Nana

Nana came down today to catch up with Vicki & Hank and of course, to see Aiden. Believe it or not Aiden actually let up on his obsession with Opa and today Nana was well and truly the object of his affections. We had a nice walk down at the foreshore followed with a yummy fish & chip lunch.

A very happy birthday to Hank

Today is a special day - Opa's birthday. Many happy thoughts to Opa... This photo was actually taken yesterday... the two boys took control of blowing (spitting) out the candles - I didn't think Hank was actually going to get a turn!

Festival of the jack fruit

We went to Dad & Rosemary's house yesterday for the "Festival of the Jack Fruit". This was a celebration of the first jack fruit to come off Dad's tree... as you can see he was rather proud of his efforts. For those of you who aren't familiar with jack fruit apparently it is similar to a jurien - very stinky but supposedly nice to eat. Aiden thought it was alright and kept coming back for more - and of course stunk of jack fruit for the rest of the day. Dad's specialty is cooking whole fish. This is one of his masterful creations - a red emporer. Although he complained it wasn't cooked properly so the flesh didn't flake off the bone, the rest of us thought it was pretty good.

More outings with Oma & Opa

Oma & Opa took Aiden for a walk to the duck pond with the customary bag of bread for the ducks. Apparently Aiden ate 3 slices so we now have a bunch of underfed ducks...
********
How cool is this photo? The very talented Vicki took this during a walk at the beach. ********
Apology - those of you who are also keenly watching Hank & Vicki's blog you will notice that most of our photos are much the same... which surprisingly will happen when we are all living together for a period of time.

Girl time

We've had a couple of occasions where 'the Girls' (Oma & myself) have gone out without Opa. The first trip was to the pool to watch Aiden's swimming lessons (you'll have to see Vicki's blog for some photos). The second outing was down to the foreshore to meet Cassie & Charlotte for coffee. On both these occasions Oma got to witness the special greeting we ALWAYS get from Charlotte when she first sees Aiden. It generally involves a lot of jumping or leg waving and a rather exuberant exclaimation of "Aidey, Aidey". Anyway, we had a nice time, the weather was glorious and the kids weren't too badly behaved. Here are some photos of Oma enjoying her coffee while our yuppy kids drank their Babycinos...

Be vewy, vewy qwiet... we're hunting...

SNAILS! Aiden has become a little obsessed with collecting snails. I have to admit that Dave & I were excited his parents were coming to visit because we like to see them and spend time with them but we also know how much they enjoy being outside in the sunshine pottering around in the garden. Our gardens are now looking magnificent with not a weed (or dead plant) in site. As part of this tidy up process Opa (with the help of one very keen little boy) has been collecting up all the snails. Here are some pics of them huddled over a plant in search of the offending creatures... and one of Aiden proudly carrying the booty to a special 'holding' bucket.

Spending time with Oma & Opa

It's been excellent having Oma & Opa here. They have spent a lot of time with Aiden and have kept him entertained by doing all the things he loves best - playing with cars, tunnels, doing jigsaws, etc. Of course while all this playing is going on I have actually managed to have a bit of a break - something I desperately need as my rather large belly is getting harder and harder to lug around. The only downside is that I suspect Opa is going to have nightmares for weeks to come about a little boy following him around EVERYWHERE constantly asking "Opa, what you doin' there?" or "Road? Tunnel? Outside?". Opa barely has time to get out of bed in the morning before the barrage of questions start. Needless to say we have one VERY happy little boy on our hands at the moment...
********
Aiden loves to do his jigsaw puzzles
This is the celebration when he puts a piece in the right spot