Some cute photos of the kids

These were taken earlier today when I went in to get Aiden up from his midday sleep

The boys

Both the boys went for a haircut the other day. This is the first time Aiden had his cut exactly like Daddy's - clippers on the top & sides. You can see he's got the same widow's peak as Dave!
How's this for love? Dave getting down on all fours and crawling on the cold, hard tiles just to entertain his son. They were being turtles by the way...

Oma & Opa are still flavour of the month

Aiden still talks about Oma & Opa ALL the time. I'm not sure why but we were going out for coffee the other day and he seemed convinced that they were going to meet us there... had to break his heart and tell him otherwise. The next best thing we could do was write a letter and speak to them on the phone. Here is Aiden speaking to Opa on the phone - they were talking about animals and making animal noises when Opa mentioned a kangaroo. This prompted Aiden to start hopping around like a kangaroo and completely forgetting to talk on the phone...
In this photo he is stomping like some animal - I can't remember what animal it was

A first!

No doubt over the next few months I will be reporting on Megan's 'firsts'. We have achieved the first two 'firsts' in the past few days.
We had been to see her Health Care Nurse on Thursday where I was asked if Megan had started rolling yet, to which I replied she was close but hadn't quite got there. Sure enough the very next day I put her on the floor for some tummy time and she immediately rolled over onto her back. I was just recovering from my shock when she then proceeded to roll back over onto her belly again. So we achieved both rolls (front to back & back to front) in one go.
Today's first is the introduction of food. I have been noticing how much Megan watches us at the dinner table. She watches the food off your plate and into your mouth and her little lips quite often move as if she REALLY wants some. So today I obliged her with her first go at some rice cereal. There was only a slight screw up of the face when I gave her the first mouthful and then every mouthful afterwards she opened her mouth up wide for me to put the spoon in - so she was keen. I must admit that there was an awful lot of cereal that was simply pushed out of her mouth so I'm not sure how much made it into her belly. Anyway, I would call her first taste of food a success. Here are some photos of the occasion - they are quite blurry because it is difficult to feed a child for the first time with your right hand and take photos at the same time with your left hand...

House news

It hasn't sold yet! We had a young couple come through on Friday for a look then we had our first home open on Sunday. 3 groups turned up - 2 thought the house was too small and 1 was looking for an investment property and is mildly interested (whatever that means). I am sooooooooooo over cleaning. We have another home open this weekend so keep your fingers crossed for us.

One for Oma & Opa ...

... to show how much Megan loves the toy giraffe you gave her.

Too fast

Megan is growing up way too fast. This outfit was a gift from Nana and is a size 00... it wont be long before she is out of all her 000 clothes.

Full of kisses

Yep that's right... Aiden was so full of kisses this morning he just had to share them around.

I even got kisses too...

Summer dude

It is such a beautiful day today (expected max temp of 28 deg C) that I packed the kids up and took them for a walk down at the foreshore. Since starting at daycare Aiden now knows he has to have a hat on when he is outside. I have even bought him his own sunnies - some funky red and silver 'Spiderman' sunnies - but does he wear them? Noooooooooo... he far prefers these old work safety sunglasses of Dave's that are about 5 sizes too big!

Family update #4 - Our house

As part of the selling process the real estate agent got in a flash photographer who took these pictures. We are pretty pleased with the way the house looks. For those of you that know what the inside usually looks like you will notice we have removed a fair amount of the furniture to make the house seem more spacious. Fingers crossed all of our efforts will actually result in the house selling as soon as possible. It better work because I have packed away all my scrapbooking stuff and am now having withdrawal symptoms becasue I can't play...
If you want to check out all the photos taken go to the web site www.open2view.com.au and enter the ID# 36384.
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Almost everyone that sees the front of our house comments on our beautiful kangaroo paws.

We have installed a new oven and cook top although I'm not real keen about the effort required to keep stainless steel appliances looking clean & shiny!

Family update #3 - Dave & Sara

It's official! Dave has been promoted and is now the Maintenance Planning Superintendent. He starts in the role in a week or so. I don't really know any more details than this so maybe he can post a blog with more info. The only downfall with all these jobs with added responsibility is that he seems to be working longer hours... so I am really looking forward to moving up to Secret Harbour to cut down his travel time - less time in the car means more time with the kids.
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I don't have any exciting news to report about me... I'm just doing my job as a mum...
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I rolled my ankle the other day and of course when Dave strapped it for me Aiden insisted he have a bandage on his 'sore' foot too.
This is our life: our two gorgeous kids....

Family update #2 - Aiden

How can I best describe living with a 2 and a half year old? Difficult, eye-opening, infuriating, rewarding, draining, sometimes fun, mostly an uphill battle... Aiden is no doubt doing what all other kids do at this age - trying to discover himself and his independence while still desperately clinging to the safety of his parents. Hmmm - I think that sums it up. Unfortunately I think all the disruptions of buying a new house, packing up most of the contents of this house, the endless cleaning and the consequent lack of attention he is getting from us at the moment means he is feeling a bit out of sorts. Our fingers are crossed that when we move in to our new home and things settle down again then he too will be less of a challenge.
On a positive note, daycare is still going really well. Although there are still tears when I drop him off apparently he is settling quite quickly and seems to enjoy the whole day. He is always really chatty when I pick him up and his vocabulary seems to be increasing at a rapid rate.
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This is Aiden's idea of helping Dave move some heavy furniture

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I had e VERY pleasant surprise the other day when I checked the mail. There was a package from Hank & Vicki containing a very generous lump of aged gouda cheese. This cheese has become my favourite but I can't seem to find it anywhere in the shops - the only time I get to eat it is when we visit relies in Melbourne or when the in-laws bring it with them when they come to visit us. Of course Aiden thought it was pretty special just because it had been sent by Oma & Opa (he still talks about them ALL the time and one of his favourite toys is a toy caravan -"Opa's caravan").

So a big THANKYOU to Hank & Vicki for our little gift

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Dave's work had an open day so the public could come on site and have a look around. I was really keen to take Aiden so every day when he asks where Daddy is and I say, "at work" he now knows what I'm talking about. Unfortunalety he now thinks that Daddy spends all day playing with animals, riding in a bus, eating sausages and icecream and getting your face painted!

We were rather surprised when Aiden said he wanted his face painted rather than just the usual spider he gets drawn on his arm. After it was done the painter showed Aiden his face in a mirror. Aiden was so taken with his tiger face that he must have gone back to the mirror for a look about a million times (no exageration!).

Family update #1 - Megan

I can't believe Megan is already 16 weeks old - the time has flown by. Thankfully she is almost fully recovered from her bronchiolitis with only the occassional cough. She has been chatting for quite some time and has recently discovered her squeal - which she seems to enjoy practicing at 2 o'clock in the morning... I am trying to give her lots of floor time and I reckon it won't be long now before she rolls over - she's about half way there when I place a toy off to the side and she reaches for it. She is still getting lots of kisses from her big brother but has occassional spac attacks at his noise/exuberance.
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With all the house stuff going on at the moment I have gratefully received lots of help from my mum & dad. Both have been enlisted in babysitting duties while the house is inspected or removalists come, etc. Here is a photo of Megan with her Grandad (must get one with Nana to post on the blog).

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This is the first time I put Megan into the walker and she did better than I expected. She sat up and supported herself quite well and by the look on her face she thought it was alright...


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Her beautiful smile

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Dave commented the other day that she was getting a but chubby and here's the proof!