The Bray Clan!

Knox Leader, 08 Jun 2010. Page 30

2010-06-09T00:18:00.001+10:00

Knox Leader
08 Jun 2010

Ooops....

2008-04-30T01:34:00.000+10:00

This is how I found Fraser after his nap today......

he was crying out in a way like he needed help, and this is why! He was stuck! Hehehee

Cookies and Cream

2008-04-09T21:56:00.003+10:00

We were so proud of Isabella today!
She was chosen to be one of the faces on Peter's Classic Ice Cream packaging!!!

We got the call last week that she had been casted and were so excited. After weeks of encouraging her to wobble her top tooth so it comes out, we had to tell her to stop wobbling it so it was still in for the photo shoot!!! Not to be! She lost her tooth the night before :) It didn't matter, the Peter's people were fine with it and commented that it added to the cuteness :)

After hair and makeup she went to the set where they chose "Cookies and Cream" as her flavour. They made her a cone of icecream and all she had to do was lick it and smile. She loved it!!

She was such a natural too... the comments the photographers / stylists were making were just like from Top Model. Things like - she has such wonderful arms. Who says that??! LOL They were talking about how natural they were and not stiff. It was so funny!

They kept topping her cone up and melting it with a hair dryer so it was running down her hands. Anyway, after about 3 icecream cones they took some shots with a paddle pop.

Isabella was such a natural! During the shoot and afterwards when we were going through her photos they asked her if she would buy the icecream - and she nodded and said a big 'yes'.
But afterward in the car she said to me: "Oh mum, that was so disgusting!"
Oh dear!!! But what a true professional not to let them know she didn't like it!

The new packaging should be out sometime in August / September. In the west of Australia it will be marketed as Peter's. But in the Eastern states it is known as Toppa Icecream sold only in Woolworths / Safeway.

Here is a sample of how it may look. The images they took were amazing.... I wish I could have kept them.

She has a Target catalogue shoot next week too. I wish she got more work as she really does love it.

TOP TOOF...

2008-04-08T22:07:00.000+10:00

Isabella FINALLY lost her top tooth today! It has been wobbly since last year and we were certain it would be out by Christmas!!

She was a bit sad when it came out as there was quite a bit of blood and it was while she was in bed in the dark too.

But after 5 minutes she loved the feeling of sticking her tongue in the hole! LOL

7 Months old

2008-04-05T21:25:00.002+11:00

Well our little munchkin is growing up so fast! 7 months has certainly flown.

Giggles with Shabba

Me and my buddy Sean.... I am 3m older - can you tell?? :)

Sucking on my toe!!

Fraser has really enjoyed his solids so far. He is now on 2 meals a day which completely satisfies him. How loves all his veggies and fruit – not too keen on tinned baby foods that have meat in them but likes home made meats. He mainly has home made food but still handy to have canned food when we are out. I haven’t really dropped a breastfeed as yet but maybe next month.

He also is sleeping through 11 – 13 hours a night again. Ever since we moved him to his own room and started the solids he has gone back to being a great sleeper. He is also having 3 good naps a day for about 2 – 3 hours each. Nice to be back in a routine which I think helps him. He loves his room – as soon as we walk in there when he is tired he starts sucking his thumb and relaxing on my shoulder as if he is relieved he is going to bed!

He really does remind us a lot of Isabella – she was exactly the same.

Fraser well and truly recognizes us all know. His little face beams when his sisters walk in the room and also when he sees mum or dad. He loves it when Rick puts him at the front window when I get home from picking Belle up from school – he watches us walk in with such a big grin and a little happy dance. He is also recognizing strangers and becoming a bit wary of them.

He still isn’t sitting up on his own – shows no interest at all. He is more than content just playing on his belly and is starting to attempt commando crawling. He sees a toy he wants and has such a determined look on his face, purses his lips and off he goes belly shuffling. He has tried to get up on his toes but doesn’t quite know what to do after that. He has commando crawled once while he was in the nuddy! He also mastered pushing himself backwards in his walker which he just seems so chuffed about.

Apart from his laughing and ‘oohs’ he isn’t really talking much. I do catch him ‘practicing’ his raspberries and changing the shape of his mouth (like he is trying to talk) but he only does that when he thinks no one is looking – he won’t do it for us! He is giving big open mouth kisses now though which is so adorable – except for the pool of drool he can leave behind!

Still no teeth! Everytime I am sure they are coming – they don’t! The gummier the better I say! He loves to hold my finger in his mouth and shake his head to make a squeaky noise against his gums. He thinks that is so fun! Oh and Fraser is completely in love with his talking spiderman baby doll! Loves him!

One day I will get the hang of this thing....

Ohhh we all just love him to bits – he is so delightful and happy.
You can see all his photos from this month HERE.

Easter 2008

2008-03-23T20:40:00.005+11:00

This kids had a blast this easter! The Easter Bunny didn't go overboard at all which was a nice change.

Fraser however, managed to unwrap this egg and pick it up to suck on it!! No child of mine escapes the fun of chocolate - no matter what age!!

Ahhh the joys of eating chocolate for breakfast......

Does this go in my ear??

First Footy Match !

2008-03-22T23:30:00.001+11:00

We took Fraser to his first AFL match tonight! It was St Kilda v Sydney.

This is always the game we take the kids to as I am a Swans supporter and Rick is a Saints supporter. So it is always an.... um.. interesting night!!! When we took Isabella when she was a baby the score was a tie!

Mummy forgot to bring the swans jumper but take special note of the football booties!! Oh and Saints won in a nail biter by TWO POINTS!!! Bugger!

VIP DAY

2008-03-19T22:53:00.005+11:00

In the classroom

Isabella's school held their annual VIP day today. It was a chance for students to invite a special person to the school for a tour and a concert.

Due to work commitments our family members couldn't make it - so I was Belle's special person today :) Even though I am there almost everyday in some capacity she was still so excited to show me around and show me what she does everyday.

One of Bella's favourites... naturally!

Playing with the music / performing arts teacher's hats!! Mr Piggot is known for his crazy hats.

And of course the concert was a hit as always! I love how all the students end the day by linking hands and forming a big circle around the amphitheater and all the guests. They all then sing a gorgeous 'circle of friends' song that always brings a tear to the mums' eyes!!

I know the uniforms look a bit messy at the moment. The school is in the throws of changing their entire outdated uniform.
Isabella is in the 'old' uniform that is brown and yellow. You can see most of the new uniform being phased in (Navy and Teal).

6 Months Old

2008-03-05T22:39:00.005+11:00

Our poor guy has fitted into the ‘third child’ role perfectly. On a daily basis he is dragged all over the place and often plucked out of a warm slumber to drop off one of his sisters at school, kinder, dancing or swimming. He takes it all in his stride though and each time he goes in the capsule he just looks at me as if to say * sigh * ‘Here we go again”.

Fraser started waking overnight again this month. Sometimes every 4 hours but then every 2 hours! Eeek! We rode it out and I just put it down to another growth spurt, plus he has had a bit of a chest cold and a cough which probably hasn’t helped. Later this month he slept in his cot for the first time in his own room. He loved it – and better still we could turn his ceiling fan on full which drowned out the noise from him sisters!!

Fraser started solids at almost 6m old too. We figured the overnight waking could also indicate he was hungry so we started him on rice cereal but he didn’t appear to be ready. So we waited another week and tried again with veggies and he loved them. So far no real issues. One thing he does that is extremely cute … if he finds a particular food yummy then he sticks his thumb in his mouth after each mouthful. It is like he is trying to ‘savor the flavour’. If I give him something he doesn’t like he just spits it out after several facial contortions and gags.

It seems Fraser has inherited his Mummy’s eyes – looks like we have a brown eyed boy J Just another feature that makes him look like Isabella moreso than Alexandra. His eyes still aren’t completely brown but the centers are starting to darken even though the outside are still quite light. Would be nice if he had green eyes – one of each then!

Fraser is rolling all over the place now. He LOVES tummy time – something his sisters never liked. He gets around on his tummy too – not commando crawling but more of a 360deg turn. He would much rather lay on his tummy and play but does roll over and play with toes too – oh and suck on his big toe. I think he loves having 4 options to suck on now!

He still isn’t close to sitting on his own but he is happy enough laying down for now.

He takes a cup of water with no problem and is trying ever so hard to hold it by himself. Just hasn’t worked out that he needs to tip it.

Favourite toy at the moment is mummy’s hair – still! Just like Alex he loves to twirl my hair while he is breastfeeding. And when he isn’t breastfeeding he loves to eat my hair!

At his 6m checkup he still hadn’t gained a lot of weight – only gaining 450g in 2 months (making it a gain of only 590g in 3m). He dropped from the 50^th% to the 25^th%. The MCH nurse suggested we started him on two meals a day but otherwise he is happy and content. He just isn’t a chubba bub. His stats are:

Weight - 6760g

Length – 63.8cm

HC – 43.5cm

Still wearing 000 / 00 clothes.

More photos of his 6th month can be seen HERE.

Oh and I am starting to get terribly clucky….. arghhh!! When will it ever go away??

Isabella's haircut

2008-02-22T22:49:00.004+11:00

While I did expect my girls to attempt to cut their own hair at some stage in their early years, I did NOT expect it to happen when Isabella was 6 !!! I thought she might skip that 'rite of passage' but no......

Here is her lovely, adorable attempt at trimming her fringe. What a silly chicken!

Thankfully it isn't too bad! But she does have a Target catalogue shoot in a few days so it will have to pinned up!

Roller Skating Lessons

2008-02-08T14:04:00.001+11:00

Alexandra had her first Roller Skating Lesson today. She loved it - had an absolute ball.

She went with her friend Bailey and they learnt how to stop, get up after you fall, and played a few games and sang songs to help with their balance. Then it was snack and drink time. After that they got to play hockey with a balloon and a hockey stick. So much fun had by all!

She wants to go back again but it is right in the middle of our Playgroup session so we will have to space them out. At least she is confident on her skates now. She was skating up and down our hallway but always had the wall to rely on, so this was a good challenge for her.

5 Months Old

2008-02-05T23:43:00.000+11:00

What a fun month it has been. Fraser has grown so much this month and started to do lots more things. He really loves rolling! And one thing that the girls just didn’t enjoy is tummy time – but Fraser LOVES being on his tummy. He props himself up and watches the world go on around him. He is also holding on to things a lot more now and reaching out for things too.

His aim is getting much better. But everything he gets his hands on goes straight into his mouth! Another thing the girls didn’t do – suck on everything! You would swear he was teething… but of course you can’t predict these things. I thought the same of Isabella at 5 months but she didn’t get her first teeth till 13 months. I love gummy babies so I hope Fraser’s teeth don’t come too early. He spends most of his waking hours gnawing on my fingers so that won’t be lasting too long once the teeth come.

He started to play more in his Jolly Jumper. He is happy just to hang there but once we get going he will copy me and jump about. Cracks himself up he does! Thinks he is very amusing. He has also started covering his face up to get himself off to sleep . Freaked us out the first time he did it!

This month Fraser went for his first swim. We went to a friend’s pool but he HATED it – probably because the water was icy cold so that was a real flop. He only got his toes wet too!

We had a trip to the Emergency Dept this month. Fraser had very high temps that were fluctuating. He didn't have any other symptoms so I wasn't too concerned at all - until we noticed his fontanelle bulging. It was bulging so much that you could see it from across the room. It didn't go away when we sat him up so I thought it safer to go have him checked out. The staff were wonderful and didn't make me feel like an over cautious, over-trained nurse mummy!!
He did have a few nasties growing in his urine, and of course as with most kids, the time it takes to get to the hospital and be seen they come good. The doctors weren't sure why it was bulging so much and because he had no other symptoms weren't too concerned - just stumped! But he was fine and that is the main thing.

We went on our annual family ‘camping’ trip this month. Well – camping has slowly turned into caravanning and now cabin-ing over the years as we continue to breed! Fraser was an absolute gem and I am sure loved the adventure as much as Bella and Alex. We spent a lot of the time in the pool at the park we stayed at and as it was a heated pool, Fraser loved it! He was so content floating around in his swim seat and also didn’t mind going under water. I don’t hold back when it comes to this and have always put the kids under water from a young age. It also seemed to help his conjunctivitis. Poor thing had it pretty bad for a week and took forever to clear up. He kept waking up with his eyes glued shut from all the gunk and you can see in the photos this month and from camping just how sore it looked.

He does like his routine of a good morning sleep and a good afternoon sleep. He has been such a great sleeper but started waking again overnight. It isn’t so bad as he is such a cuddly co-sleeper that he just comes into bed with us and I feed him if he wants it.

Still a happy breastfed bubba.....

More Photos can be seen HERE!

KINDER KID :)

2008-02-04T22:07:00.003+11:00

Well FINALLY Alexandra started Kindergarten! She has been so desperate to go to school or kinder for such a long time now so it was a very welcomed day!

She just loved getting ready and waltzed in like she owned the place. However, she was rather disappointed that she doesn't have any 'kinder clothes' to wear. She meant a uniform like Isabella wears to school!

She took great pride in choosing her hooks for her bag and hand towel.

As suspected she had no issues with me leaving at all. After I picked her up I asked how her day was. Her reply - 'Good! Now can I go to school? I have done kinder'.

Didn't have the heart to tell her that she still has 2 years of kinder before she can go to school!

Werribee Zoo

2008-02-02T23:15:00.000+11:00

Today we ventured off to Werribee Zoo to celebrate my Mum's birthday (Happy Birthday Mummsie!) and to watch my younger sister's boyfriend perform. He is a dancer with the Rhythm of Africa twilight shows the zoo was running over summer.

The day started with us setting up camp on the grass and then heading off for a safari bus tour. This was fun! The kids loved seeing all the different types of animals up close. Fraser found it all too exhausting and had a quick nap on Daddy.

After the safari we had a walk around the zoo looking at the animals we didn't see on the safari. The lions were our favourite and we spent a long time watching them - so majestic!

The twilight shows started and it was good to see some of Raelene's friends perform. Her boyfriend was amazing - as were all of the dancers and drummers. Mum got right into it and was bopping away with them - it was hard not to actually. After the last set Shabba (Raelene's boyfriend) did a bit of a dance workshop and got all the crowd up to dance. It was awesome - the place went off! There were hundreds of people there all getting into it. Alex adores Shabba so went up to him and started dancing with him. The kids loved it.

Bella and Alex got their faces painted and looked the part :) Me and Alex aslo got a braid put in our hair.

It was quite a hot day which made for a lovely evening. We took our picnic dinner and made such a good night of it all. The band sang happy birthday to Mum and got her up on the stage.... helps that she is the future mother-in-law of the star of the show!!

Lots more photos of the day can be seen HERE.

Back to School

2008-01-30T22:50:00.000+11:00

Well Isabella started GRADE ONE today!!!

She is such a big girl now.

Camping .... errr, well sort of!

2008-01-29T23:59:00.000+11:00

Over the Australia Day long weekend we ventured down to Wonthaggi as we do every year. Again, we went with the Finch and the Bradley families. This year however, we didn't take the tent or the campervan but decided it was time to lash out and book the cabin! As much as we love camping it was just so much easier with 2 kids and a baby to have a self-contained cabin. Wise choice - made packing and unpacking SOOOOOO much better too! The drive down didn't start off too good as Isabella had terrible travel sickness. Poor love spent most of the way throwing up into a bag. She was so brave though. Fraser also had a bad case of conjunctivitis which hit him pretty bad. His little eyes looked so sore and he often woke with both eyes gunked shut. Alex however, tough as nails! :) We had such a great time and dare I say it, quite relaxing!

Our cabins were a mere 25 meters away from the pool so that was a big hit. The kids spent a lot of time in the pool which made them happy. Fraser's first 'real' experience in a pool too. He had attempted to go in a friend's pool a couple of weeks ago but it was fair too cold for him and only got as far as his toes! But he really loved the warm water and was quite happy to float around in his seat. He even went under which he didn't mind either. Alex spent most of the time floating around talking to her invisible friends and practicing her swimming!

And Bella had a ball with Matilda, Georgia and Michaela!

Saturday night saw us have our traditional Australia Day dinner with all of our families plus Amanda's Mum and husband and a few friends. The boys spent all of Saturday out on the bay fishing. They got such a great haul for our dinner! On Sunday, Moon had arranged some helicopter flights at Phillip Island for us all - THANKS MOON!! It was so much fun. Rick and I have already been in army helicopters but the kids were so excited to go this time. It was great fun and they loved having the headphones on and talking to each other through the microphones. It was a bit of an overcast day but still got to see such beautiful views of Phillip Island and the surrounding area.
After our flights we headed to the chocolate factory that we have been meaning to go to for several years now. We had lunch at the cafe and then went and bought some chocolate. MMMMmmm yes well you all know how I feel about chocolate.

We also took the kids to see the wind farm - another thing we have been meaning to do for years. I find them quite spectacular and so much friendlier than ugly power stations. I got a bit excited though when I found a information box that had some education flyers inside. The box looked like a clue box from the Amazing Race so me being me, pretended to be on the Amazing Race and had a bit of fun! Ok, must have been the sea air that did it to me! :)

Anyway, another successful camping trip. Actually, Emma did remind me that we really should stop calling it camping - as it was so far from camping it was not funny! All the happy snaps can be seen HERE.

Fairies in the Park... again!

2008-01-20T23:27:00.001+11:00

Well it was blogged back in Jan06 when I took Isabella to the Fitzroy Gardens to see the Fairy Panto. 2 years later we were back! But this time the whole family in tow! We spent the day in the city with the Unwins (Scott, Lisa, Brihny and Bailey) and we all had such a great day. I love being in town this time of year - especially when the Australian Open is on as there is just so much to do. We caught the train in which is half the adventure for the kids. Then we went by tram to the Gardens (another adventure in itself - interesting with a pram!) The kids watched the Fairy show and sung and danced and had fun. We had a stroll around the gardens and explored all sorts of things... the fairy tree was again a hit.

After that we went and had lunch and then went to the Shrine of Remembrance. The children were fascinated with this place and we spent a few hours explaining the eternal flame, all the statues to them and touring inside the shrine. Isabella and Brihny (6) didn't stop asking questions the whole time and really showed an interest. It was great for Rick too who had never actually been inside.

We then went to the Royal Botanical Gardens and explored the Ian Potter Garden. What a fun place!! The kids thought it was the bee's knees - a playground with nothing but nature to have fun in. We stayed here until it closed but the kids didn't want to leave. They had a lot of adventures here.

We met my sister Raelene and her boyfriend at the garden cafe and we all had coffee and a chat. Then we walked all the way back to Flinder's street station - stopping at the infamous flower clock and the water-wall at the museum. All the things I remember doing as a kid :)

The kids were exhausted - as were we!

It's a girl thing......

2008-01-19T22:34:00.002+11:00

Just wanted to share some great photos of my girls in their element today. They had so much fun with their makeup - and had even more fun when I let them loose on me!

And here are some funny shots taken a few days ago.... happy times :)

And a nice one of the kids to finish up on......

Bella's Party

2008-01-06T13:30:00.000+11:00

Today was Isabella's 6th birthday party!

She had so much fun with her friends roller skating! Most of the children hadn't been skating before so it was a new adventure. For some of the Mums and Dads it was a case of 'getting back into the grooooove'!! I had so much fun too - and we were all going so well until the very last 30 seconds of the session where Donna and I ended up on our bums! It was hilarious - I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up :)

But more importantly Isabella had a great day. She can't wait to have a few formal lessons to teach her the tricks of not only skating - but stopping!! Alex did a pretty good job too.. she is quite confident up and down our hallway but was a bit overwhelmed at the big rink. Thankfully they had a hand rail all the way around that most of the kids made use of. Isabella was skating without it by the end of the session.

I made a roller skating cake at Belle's request. A bit slap-happy but it was near 40deg and we had a party the day before so it was all I could do given the circumstances. She was happy with the result though and Alex was very fast to nick all the wheels before the others could get to them ( she LOVES marshmallows!).

4 Months Old

2008-01-05T00:56:00.000+11:00

I can hardly believe it was a year ago that we found out we were expecting! Wow, so much can happen in a year!

What a great month we had! Fraser celebrated his very first Christmas… he of course had no idea what was going on – but the rest of the family did and we had so much fun as a family of 5. We had to put the morning ritual of opening presents on hold half way through as it was all too much for him and he had to go back to bed!

Watching Bella's school xmas concert

My stocking

Xmas with my Pa

My cousins....

xmas morning

Xmas with Aunty Raelene

We were very spoiled a few weeks back when Fraser had a 13 hour sleep overnight!! It was great for all of us! But since just after Christmas he started waking up overnight again. We put it down to all the festivities over xmas and New Year’s, and not to mention the heat waves we have been having that has upset his routine. Also, without having to get up for school everyday has surely thrown his routine out of whack. Now that life is slowing down again he has gone back to sleeping through most nights but occasionally will wake for a quick feed.

Playing is so tiring!

HUH?

Our boy is rolling! He first rolled at 3.5 months with the help of the bottom of the couch or the cot. He was using it as leverage to get over but now right on 4 months old he started rolling on his own. He still gets his arm caught under his belly though and hasn’t quite worked out how to get it up but when we help him it isn’t long until he rolls back onto his back. He is quite proud of himself and look of accomplishment on his face is priceless. He is also quite accomplished at reaching out and holding on to things now. He loves his toys and anything that can be sucked or drooled on is a favourite. Speaking of drool – this boy dribbles more than the Harlem Globe Trotters! (I stole that line from a friend! Sooo fitting though ) I dare say he might be teething but I am still in total denial about my baby growing up so don’t even want to toy with that idea!

WOW I did it!!! What do I do now?

Fraser also started giggling and laughing :) He doesn’t do it much but when he gets on a roll it is the most adorable sound. He is just starting to get ticklish and still doesn’t know whether it feels good or not. Quite an uncertainty about him when he tickle him… but then he might surprise us with a cheeky giggle.

Fraser still sucks his thumb… ok I know, I know… a lot of children suck their thumb! But to me it is still such a novelty as the girls were never into it. I still go ‘awwww’ when he does it! At the moment it is great though as he self-settles so easy! I am sure if he still has this habit in 3 or 4 years time it won’t be such a novel thing! But right now, it is just so cute!

This month saw Fraser move out of his bassinette and into the portacot. I still don’t have the heart to have him in his own room so the portacot by our bed works well. It has a bassinette insert so at least I don’t have to bend down to pick him up. We decided it was time when Rick went in and found Fraser had done a 180 and his head was down where his feet should have been! Clever boy :) He loves his cot though and enjoys playing in there after he wakes during his day sleeps. He also likes to be wrapped / swaddled still… his arms end up out but overnight he likes the swaddle and he stays on his back all night as well.

He didn’t gain much weight at all this month – just 140g ! The MCH Nurse wasn’t too concerned as he was still a good feeder and happy baby. Just need to check his weight in a month or so. His stats at 4 months are:

Weight – 6.3kg (13lb 15oz)

Length – 62.3cm

Head Circ – 43cm

He is in 00 growsuits now but still wears 000 clothing.

So as you can see we are really enjoying our happy, smiley, drooly baby boy! Isabella is just loving being on school holidays so she can spend more time with him and there are often fights between the girls as to who’s turn it is to play with him! They came up with the rule that whoever Fraser is looking at is the person who is allowed to play and talk to him. So because they made it up – I am happy to go along with it. If things go wrong I remind them that that is ‘their’ rule and they have to stick to it :) So far so good. I often get ‘Muuuummm, it is your turn to play with him as he is looking at you now’.

More photos of Fraser's 4th month can be seen HERE.

I love my new swing!

My buddy Sean

Tasty shirt..

Happy 6th Birthday Isabella !

2007-12-28T22:44:00.000+11:00

Today Isabella celebrated turning 6 !

We started the day opening up presents before heading off to Anakie (Whoop Whoop!) to the Fairy Park. We had heard great reviews about this place but had never been so Bella decided that is what she wanted to do for her birthday. The girls loved it! It really helped that they knew most of the fairy tales.

They especially loved the Alice in Wonderland display... that is Bella's latest favourite movie. (Personally I think Lewis Carroll was tripping when this was written! ) It was a hot day (34 deg) to be climbing the side of a mountain but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. They girls LOVED the medieval playground.. and so did I! Rick was impressed with the model train display.

There are some great snaps of the kids and the park HERE.

Everyone was so exhausted on the way home.

Aunty Raelene came over with some more presents that evening and we had a small cake and sung happy birthday.

Celebrating with Pa

So our big girl is now six ! It is hard to comprehend all of her achievements in such a short life already. She is now reading and writing, she has lost 2 bottom teeth this year and the two top teeth are almost out! She is so much more confident and her attitude is a lot more daring :) I miss her when she is at school.... so looking forward to some quality time over the school holidays. Isabella asked to have a disco party for her birthday, but seeing as though it was hard to find a suitable venue she decided a roller skating party would be 'cool'. Her party is in early Jan so will post the pictures then :)

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y Sweetheart XXXX

School Photos 2007

2007-12-28T10:15:00.000+11:00

Here are Isabella's first school photos! These were taken at the beginning of the year and I just kept forgetting to post them! She looks so little here.

I love the package and the designs that were on offer, however I was a little disappointed that they chose a photo of her with her tongue poking out (thanks to a slight lisp!). Anyway, she still looks adorable and it matches her kinder photos where her tongue was out in most of them!

I just wanted to share my big girl in her winter uniform. I really hated the brown and yellow so much but we are used to it now. I still thinks she looks like a big bruised banana! LOL But the pinafore is just so cute :) She loves wearing the pinafore more than anything.

Now that we are used to the uniform... it is getting changed!! GRRRR over the next two years it will change to navy blue and a teal (green) shirt! UGH! Think I would rather the brown!

Some Christmas happy snaps....

2007-12-27T00:11:00.000+11:00

Updates to come shortly! But for now - here are some happy snaps taken around christmas 2007.

3 MONTHS OLD !

2007-12-22T22:06:00.000+11:00

We can hardly believe that our baby is 3 months old already! I knew it would fly by so I have been trying so hard to enjoy every minute of having a little baby for now. Things are going so well with Fraser – we feel so very blessed and super lucky. He is SUCH a good baby now!

I can officially say that he is sleeping through the night. Since just before he was 12 weeks old he started going from 6 hours to 8 hours, and then 10 hours… and now sometimes 12 hours! AWWW! He also sleeps so well during the day. He seems to have his feed/ play / sleep routine down pat and is really easy to get off to sleep. Particularly if we are out and about! Makes shopping so much less stressful :) He usually sleeps most of the day away… probably helps that he can resettle himself now that he found his thumb!

Yes… at about 10 weeks old he spat out the dummy and put his thumb in and hasn’t looked back. It is fantastic!!! I can tell when he starts to get tired too as he brings his hand up to his mouth and sticks out his thumb. The girls never really sucked their thumbs for extended periods so it is just so novel and cute! But more importantly helps him sleep through and I don’t have to worry about losing a dummy or getting up just to put it back in.

Fraser is such a happy baby too… full of smiles and is now starting to try and giggle!! He adores his big sisters – and his face lights up when Isabella gets home from school. He talks away to her like he is catching up on the day’s events. He is also smiling more at Alex – probably because she doesn’t poke him in the eye or stick her finger down his throat so much anymore !

At his 3m1w checkup his stats were:

Weight – 6170 grams (13lb 6oz)

Length – 61.3 cm (51.3 inches)

Head circ – 41.5 cm

He started to attempt rolling – he gets his legs up and then rolls onto his side. That is about it… but I am in NO hurry for this boy to grow up and reach too many milestones so quickly. He is also using more consonants when he ‘talks’ now instead of just ‘oooooo’ all the time. I love how he tries to imitate us when we talk baby talk to him.

He has also started to reach out for the toys hanging above him in his play gym – especially the little mirror :)

Can you tell we are absolutely madly in love?!

More photos from his 3rd month can be seen here.

Dance Concert!

2007-12-12T11:41:00.000+11:00

Well it was that time of year again when the girls performed in their dance concert.
I was so proud of them both! Isabella has improved so much and has so much fun. Alexandra started lessons earlier this year just before she turned 3 and we couldn't believe how quick she picked up the routine.

Here they are at their dress rehearsal... their tap dance routine was done to a Minnie Mouse song. That is Bella at the front and Alex is behind her - 2 from the left.

Their jazz routine was part of the spook-a-rama finale and they were bats (they don't have their capes on here). Isabella is on the far right and you can't miss Alex!

Here are a mixture of photos from rehearsals, the big day and lessons.

They really love their dancing and have so much fun. Next year Isabella said she wants to try Cheerleading... but we will see.

2 MONTHS OLD !

2007-11-05T22:04:00.000+11:00

Wow! What a difference a month makes in a baby’s life! We have a new baby!

I am not sure what happened but Fraser is now such a happy, content little thing. He no longer cries at every nappy change – in fact loves ‘free-balling’. He now only protests AFTER his bath when we take him out and dry him… well actually he doesn’t like it when Mum fluffs about and covers him in pretty smelling baby stuff!

A few things happened this month which may have contributed to my boy settling right down. I went and saw a Lactation Consultant when he was 6 weeks old and tried a few new things with his feeding position. She seemed to think that I was overfeeding him (which I didn’t think you could do with a breastfed bub, but nonetheless I took it on board). He had gained 700g in 2 weeks so she suggested that I don’t offer him both sides at every feed. She thought that maybe his belly was holding too much milk which was causing all those belly aches and wind pains. Even though he wasn’t throwing up afterward, which usually indicates that he is full, she still suggested just offering one side. So with the new positioning techniques in place and only feeding from one side each time really made a difference. From that day he changed! This woman was now my best friend! She used to be the girl’s MCH nurse so I already had a high opinion of her, but she was like a miracle worker!

I also started Fraser on Infant Gaviscon as he was showing signs of reflux. The colic medicines weren’t helping but after a dose of Gaviscon he was 100% better. He hasn’t been on that regularly but probably twice a day on and off. That seemed to be enough of a dose to help him. I am so grateful that it wasn’t a bad case of reflux though. He still gets it but certainly not as bad.

Fraser also accepted the dummy this month. He doesn’t like it all the time and probably takes it only 30% of the time – usually when he is so tired and on the border of falling asleep. However, he has also found his thumb! So he self-settles quite easily now. I try and put him to bed as much as possible when he is still awake and he usually drifts off to sleep without any intervention. Such a good boy!!!

So throw in the ‘normal’ 6 week unsettled period ending and he is just so good now! He actually slept through NINE HOURS at 7.5 weeks old. Oh boy, did I feel soooo good to have the rest – but oh so sore!! I fed him from one side and then expressed 150ml from the other! And I was still full! He hasn’t slept that mammoth amount since but still goes up to 5-6 hours overnight.

He is just like the girls were now – so content and happy to sit back and watch the world. Such a great, happy baby and I am really so in love!

He is full of smiles too – especially to Isabella! I don’t know what it is about her but as soon as he sees her, his face lights up and he talks away to her and giggles. He does love his sisters – and he does give Alex the same reaction when she isn’t shoving her face into his or smothering him with ‘love’. J

Fraser’s 8 weeks stats are:

Weight – 5450g (12lb)

Length – 57cm (22inches)

Head circ. – 39.5cm

He has a little granuloma in his belly button still that is quite weepy. (It is a small pink lump of cells / extra tissue). Might have to get the doctor to freeze it off if it doesn’t settle or dry out.

He also had his first round of immunisations this month. He was so brave and gave out a cry and then gave the nurses a greaser look – just like his dad!!! He has started with the one eyebrow raising just like his Daddy’s favourite wrestler/ actor – The Rock. It is so cute.

There are more photos from Fraser's 2nd month HERE.

ONE MONTH OLD!

2007-10-08T23:09:00.000+10:00

Fraser’s first month certainly flew right on by!

Our little ‘Muscles’, as he is affectionately known by, is growing fast! At his 4 week check up he had gained 530 grams in just 11 days! His stats are now:

weight - 4390g (9lb 6oz)

length – 53cm (20.8 inches)

Head circ. – 38.3cm

The Maternal and Child Health Nurse was very happy with his weight gain and everything else is developing as normal. However he does have a hydrocele, which isn’t causing any problems so we just need to keep an eye on it.

Fraser now LOVES his baths. He really settles during and after a bath and loves being on his belly in there too. He is getting used to being naked slowly and probably only screams the house down every second nappy change now J Unfortunately, he has broken out in his ‘milk rash’ and the poor fella is covered in pimples. They look so yucky but I know it is completely normal and will go away soon.

He is starting to follow a sound or an object with his eyes although loses it still and goes cross-eyed! At 3 ½ weeks he gave me his first real smile. They are still few and far between but each day we are getting more and more. He does plenty in his sleep – especially after a feed. But there is nothing more adorable than that first smile right at you.

He is feeding so well and we haven’t had any issues with breastfeeding. I do think that I might be getting a bit of nipple thrush again which is a killer.. but will get right on to treating that. He is still demand fed and will go up to 4 hours between feeds (4 - 5 overnight). Lately though it has been 2 – 3 hours as I think he is having a bit of a growth spurt. He has taken a bottle of water without dramas so hopefully when the time comes to have EBM it won’t be a drama. However, he won’t take a dummy…

Fraser has been quite an unsettled baby so far. To some degree I know it is normal but then he seems to be in quite a bit of pain. So far we put it down to colic but some days he can be rather inconsolable and we beginning to think there might be another underlying cause. The nurse suggested reflux but we need to wait a few more weeks to determine that one correctly. She also put me on to a baby chiropractor to take a look at him as it might be something structural that needs correcting. But we are waiting it out until at least 6 weeks. We have him on some colic relief medicine, which is making a bit of a difference. I think we were quite spoiled with our girls though. Fraser is certainly our most vocal baby! We think he has cried more in his first month than our girls did combined in their first 6 months! But at least he is sleeping – especially overnight. He particularly loves co-sleeping with me in our bed and I love it! He also loves his swing. Motion really settles and long drives are not something I am hesitant to take these days!

The girls are still completely smitten with their little brother! I have the two biggest and bestest helpers anyone could ask for. In fact – they tend to want to help TOO much! Feeding time, bath time and nappy change time seems to be a family affair and seldom do I get to do those things alone. It is nice to see how maternal Isabella and Alexandra are though. There has also been no signs of jealousy from the girls. I wasn’t quite sure how Alex would take to having a younger sibling but she has been great. Just driving me batty with her usual 3yo mischievousness! Bella just seems to have matured so much since having a baby brother. She has also been on school holidays and loves being home with him.

We are really seeing both the girls’ features in Fraser. He has Bella’s colouring, head and eye shape but Alex’s facial features and expressions. He also has Bella’s distinct ‘curly toes’ or crossed toes which she thinks is the best!

Click to play - Fraser's funny bath time noises

Going home...

I was Isabella's 'show and tell' at school @ 5 days old

Euuuwwww Muummmmm!!

I love to sleep on my tummy

Two very proud big sisters!

My first shower with Dad... I fell asleep :)

Tired boy after a feed

Brrrrr - get me dressed!!

Tulips..Tulips... everywhere!

2007-10-05T22:47:00.001+10:00

This week I took the kids to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in Silvan. It was such a lovely day and being 'kids day' they got a free potted plant to take home. They also did a gnome hunt and joined in numerous other entertainment.

Having lived in Holland for 15 months I always love these festivals .... mainly to get my dose of Poffertjes and croquettes!

I especially loved watching all the children run through the fields of tulips! Such a gorgeous site and the colour combinations are extraordinary. I particularly liked the dark purple tulips as they looked almost black. There was this one white tulip growing in the middle of them which was a contrast!

Here is my little garden gnome going for a wander (with half eaten croquette in hand!)

You can see more photos here.

Family Portraits 2007

2007-10-04T23:21:00.000+10:00

Well as usual, we had our family portraits taken back in August for our Playgroup fundraiser. This year we were so pleased with the results and love the package. Here are a few of our favourite shots. To see full size just click on the images.

I was 37 weeks pregnant and Isabella lost her two bottom teeth just days after this shoot, so it was good timing. To see more just click HERE :)

As a bonus we got 2 collages. The photo was too big for our scanner but you get the idea.... :)

Fraser’s Birth Story

2007-09-13T22:59:00.000+10:00

Fraser Clarke’s Birth Story

It was about 10pm on the night of Tuesday 4^th September 2007 I started to get a lot of gurgling in the belly. Wasn’t sure if it was the whole pineapple I had eaten that day or Rick’s curry we had for dinner… but I couldn’t stop going to the toilet. I was also feeling particularly restless and couldn’t seem to sit still.

At about midnight I started feeling contractions. They started rather low in the front and weren’t lasting very long – but they were definitely different to the Braxton Hicks I had been having. Over the course of the night they started coming every 10 minutes or so and were still in the lower belly. It wasn’t until 1am when I went to the toilet AGAIN for the 20^th time and I noticed my plug had come away – it was a blood stained mucous show. Just like Alexandra’s labour, I knew it was time J

I called the hospital and told them that the contractions were now 6 – 10 minutes apart but not very strong. I still needed to breath through them but they weren’t entirely painful as yet. I called my sister and mum and warned them that they should start making their way over as I was sure to be leaving for the hospital soon. I then went and woke Rick up and told him that I don’t think he would be working in the morning as labour was starting and then advised him to go back to sleep. Of course, he couldn’t! But that was all I could think of saying to him as I was getting really nervous at this point. Just a roller coaster of emotions… and it was this point that it finally hit me… I was having a BABY!! Only took me 8 months to get over my denial! I kept pacing around the house wondering what I needed to do. Of course there was just the last minute things of packing toiletries into my suitcase and making sure Bella had school uniforms for the rest of the week!

At about 3.30am we left for the hospital. The contractions were now anywhere from 5 – 8 minutes apart, and although regular, still all over the place.

At the hospital we were taken into the birthing suite and made ourselves at home. The midwife wanted to check how bubs was doing first so hooked me up to the CTG to get a good trace. Initially, she was a bit worried and the doctor was called. It appeared that the baby’s HR was dropping with every contraction instead of accelerating and they were a little concerned. I had to stay on the CTG for longer than anticipated and they called in the registrar from home to come in. Due to my frequent toilet trips I had to keep getting up and disturbing the trace, but by the time the doctor came the CTG was now showing a good trace and he was happy for me to continue on my own with no further intervention. There was talk of inserting a scalp moniter amongst other things and I was really scared they were going to talk ceasarian section. I was so relieved! I didn’t want any of those things.

The internal showed that I was 3 –4 cm dilated so I knew I still had a little while. At about 7.30am the contractions were starting to heat up so I knew it was time to have a shower. I really enjoy labouring in the shower as the hot water on my lower back really helps. Contractions were now 2 minutes apart and coming stronger and harder. I ate some breakfast and had a cup of tea while under the shower – I was so hungry and knew I needed the energy. I was left alone which was nice and just kept breathing through the pain. At one point Rick was talking me through each contraction… to which I politely asked him not to! I told him that when he talks to me during contractions I put his voice inside that little box I am putting the pain into, and I am breathing him away along with the pain! He found that quite comical!

I asked the midwife to check my notes as to how far dilated I was last time when they did an ARM (artificial rupture of the membranes). She told me I was 6cm and after the ARM Alex was born 20 minutes later. I then asked for another internal to see if I was ready for the ARM as I wanted to move things along.

At 9.40am I was 5cm dilated but well into established labour. The doctor offered to do the ARM and I totally agreed. It was so very painful this time and took forever! The intern asked if she could do it and I agreed (always happy to be a guinea pig!). She poked and prodded and something went ‘pop’ but there was no waters to speak of. She wasn’t sure if she had done it so the registrar tried and wasn’t entirely convinced that they were ruptured. I had nothing come out at all, so she got the long alligator forceps to try and pull a piece of bub’s hair out to determine if the membranes had ruptured. Well, with the midwife pushing down on my fundas and the doctor poking and prodding – it was sooo painful! There was nothing more they could do and I asked them to stop. If they hadn’t successfully done the ARM then surely my membranes will break on their own.

At this point a graduate nurse asked if she could come and observe my birth as she had never seen one. ‘Sure!’ As I said, happy to be a guinea pig! She sat quietly with her eyes wide and her mouth open most of the time J

By 10.30am I was well into labour and the contractions were now painful. I no longer breathed through them but moved onto moaning. It felt so empowering to moan out loud and push the pain away. I also found it most comfortable standing up leaning over the bed rocking side to side at this point. The midwife had to keep checking bub’s HR with the CTG and there was nothing more comforting than that dull whooshing sound of your baby’s heart beat while you are labouring. It really helped me get into the ‘zone’. The midwife placed a pillow on the floor between my legs at one point – got me wondering if she expected my baby to just slip out? I would have asked her, but it seems that I was nearing transition and all the conversations I thought I was having out loud only happened in my head!

I was getting quite exhausted now and was really tired. I even found myself drifting off to sleep between contractions – so I must have been REALLY tired as they were only a minute or less apart now.

At about 11.00am I got on my knees and leant over the bed head. This felt really good as the pressure was taken off my sore pelvis ( I suffered Symphyis Pubis Dysfunction with this pregnancy). I alternated from my knees to sitting on my side and the moaning got louder as the contractions became more extreme.

I knew it was close and got back onto my knees ready for second stage. I am not sure what was more of an issue – the pain of the contractions or the fact that I was so frustrated the baby wasn’t here yet! I kept saying out loud ‘c’mon baby… c’mon baby… please come down’. I had some urges to push but nothing significant. I remember trying to push hoping it would hurry things up.

At 11.40 I was ready to really push…. It all happened so fast from here. Once the baby started crowning and I felt that first burning pain … it bought it all back! I thought to myself – ‘oh no, I remember this bit now’. After my second push I remember asking the midwife if the head was out – nooooo not yet! But nearly. I re-focused and told myself I can do this… I had to do this. This was the last time I was ever going to experience this so I can’t lose focus now. So I pushed as hard as I could until I was told to do little pushes so the head could come on it’s own. I am sure at this point I screamed the walls down. Rick assured me later that he hardly heard me so maybe I was doing all the screaming my head again? But whether it was out loud or in my head – the screaming helped. The head was out. ‘Oh I can take a quick breather now’ I thought. I collected myself ready for the last push. This is my favourite part of birthing. The urge came around quickly and I pushed as hard as I could trying not to let the pain get in the way and making me stop. Then I felt the quick ‘pop, pop’ of the shoulders coming out, then the amazing feeling of the body plopping out I felt completely fulfilled. All that pain suddenly blew away and I heard the first cry of our baby. I asked Rick ‘what is it?’ to which he smugly replied ‘have a look’. The midwife passed my baby up to me through my legs and I saw boy bits! I wasn’t entirely convinced so took a second look! Yep… definitely a boy! At this point I think I went into a pleasant shocked state. I also noticed a huge cyst on the umbilical cord that was the same size as his boy bits and this threw me so I had to take a third look just to be sure.

At 11.44 our beautiful, perfect little boy was born.

I ripped off my old faithful birthing t-shirt (that I wore with the girls too) and just held my new little guy to my chest. I turned over and sat down with him and just stared at each other. His first breath took ours away. My first impression was that he looked so much like both the girls. But his colouring and head shape was so Isabella, and his face was very much like Alex. He just seemed to bond us all together. The other thing I noticed immediately was his skinny little ‘chicken legs’. They were just like Isabella’s at birth but what really spun me out was he looked EXACTLY like the baby that came bursting through my stomach in a dream I had a couple of months ago. Same legs, same sex and same face! That blew me away.

It was time to cut the cord as we had opted to donate our cord blood. I really wanted to birth the placenta prior to having the cord cut but being able to donate the cord blood was a higher priority for us, and we missed out the last 2 times due to having our babes in the middle of the night. It was great to sit calmly and watch them clamp the cord. Rick had the honours of cutting the cord again. It took about 5 minutes or so for the nurse to collect the cord blood. I didn’t have a lot of blood to offer, as I tend to only have short cords. We were informed later that there wasn’t enough blood to go to donation, which was disappointing, but we were still happy to donate it to research J

The placenta was now ready to come out and with a gentle push it plopped itself out. Strange feeling! We all had a good look at it afterward and the midwife showed us all the bits etc.

The graduate nurse thanked us for letting her watch.. she looked a little shell shocked so I asked her ‘how was it?’. She replied that she won’t be doing that anytime in the near future but it was an experience!

Once the placenta was out I started breastfeeding bubs. He was a natural and took to it like a pro. He sucked for a good 15 minutes on the right and then I swapped him to the left. What a clever little boy.

As it turned out the ARM was actually successful. We knew this because our poor little man had so many bloody scratches on his scalp from the little hook that ruptures the membrane. There was a good 6 – 8 long scratches and he also had a few little divots in his head from the alligator forceps L He looked pretty banged up. It was such a ‘clean’ delivery and he didn’t need to be wiped down at all. There wasn’t much waters to speak of and the midwives asked if I had been leaking for a week or two. I hadn’t at all – well not that I noticed anyway. His skin was quite dry and flaking and the doctor wondered if I was quite a bit overdue. Going from scan dates I was only 4 days over EDD so not really overdue. It just seemed like there wasn’t much amniotic fluid at all as there was little mess. Unlike my first delivery where I saturated the doctor with my hind waters! Anyway, it doesn’t really matter as we had a healthy little boy!

Rick had taken some great birth shots too! It is great to look back at them and see how my boy entered this world. Quite amazing really.

We were at a loss as to what to name him. We had only agreed that the middle name would be Clarke after Rick’s Dad. I actually sms’d a friend and asked her to bring in her baby name book so we could go through it! The names on our list just didn’t seem to suit him. So it wasn’t until a good 6 hours later that we decided on a name.

Fraser Clarke Bray

Was born via natural, drug free delivery at Birralee Maternity Services, Box Hill.

He arrived on Wednesday 5^th of September at 11.44am weighing 3470g (7 lb 10oz).

He was 51cm long and had a head circumference of 35.5cm.

Apgar scores were 9 / 9.

Labour lasted less than 12 hours from very first niggle. Established labour probably 6 – 8 hours.

Big sister’s Isabella and Alexandra couldn’t be happier. They are so thrilled to have a baby brother! Isabella keeps telling me that she just knew it would be a boy! Alex just wants to ‘pat her’ all the time! I was convinced we were having a girl even though all my dreams quite vividly were about boys.

I have fallen completely and utterly in love all over again and absolutely thrilled to have another man in my life. Rick is just so chuffed that he has a little boy and has a smile from ear to ear.

We have now officially completed our family. I feel so complete but a little sad that I will never experience being pregnant or giving birth again. But now we can concentrate on being a family and raising our 3 wonderfully healthy children.

IT'S A BOY !!!

2007-09-08T22:27:00.000+10:00

IT'S A BOY!!!

On Wednesday 5th of September we welcomed our newest addition to the family.

Fraser Clarke Bray

arrived at 11.44am

weighing 3470 grams (7lb 10oz)

51cm long

35.5cm head circumference

He is just perfect and both mum and bubs are doing great.

Labour lasted less than 12 hours from first niggle of a contraction and it was a natural, drug free birth.

Big sister's Isabella and Alexandra are just THRILLED to have a baby brother!

Glenda is completely shocked that she has a SON and Rick is totally chuffed!

We will fill you in on the finer details over the weekend as life is a little hectic with the girls being quite unwell at the moment and Glenda needing some sleep!

The Bray family is now complete (yes we did say that 3 years ago!) and we couldn't be happier! We feel very lucky and very blessed to have 3 healthy children.

Thanks again...

Glenda, Rick, Isabella, Alexandra and baby Fraser.

40 week update

2007-09-03T21:10:00.000+10:00

Well today I saw the obstetrician for my 40week checkup. We were due over the weekend but as expected we didn't have our baby by or on our EDD.

Health wise - all is good :) Nothing to worry about there. Bubs isn't measuring overly huge and he anticipated that bubs wouldn't be a big baby. His exact words were 'you have a solid little citizen in there but I would guess no bigger than 8 pounds'. Well, to me that is huge LOL

I asked him to perform an internal so I know what is happening. It appears I am already 2cm dilated and my cervix is nice and thin.... so it could be any time. The good news is that if I want to go back and be induced then they can easily break my waters. But I think I will just let nature do it's course now. I am under strict instructions to get to the hospital asap once labour is established. He said that if my waters break spontaneously I have to 'drop and RUN'. I have a history of super fast labours once my waters have broken... but in saying that - they have never spontaneously ruptured either and had to be done by the doctor. So that made me a little nervous and now I don't want to go far from home. He also sent me off for CTG monitering just to be sure. The HR fluctuated from 140 - 170 but averaged around 162bpm.

Alexandra was a funny little thing. She is convinced she has a baby in her belly too and made sure the midwife doing my monitering was aware of it. Alex told the midwife that it was 'her turn now' to have the moniter on so there she was... on the recliner next to me with a CTG scanner on her belly. She was offered iced water and biccies just like me too!! HEHEHhehee. Oh and she showed the midwives how her baby moved too. They were all in hysterics and welcomed her back anytime!

Isabella got excited as I wasn't there to pick her up from school (I didn't expect to be put on CTG). And when she saw I wasn't there went up to my friend and delightfully screamed 'MUM's HAD HER BABY!'. Apparently, she was let down gently!!
Poor thing... comes into me every morning saying she had a dream I had the baby and checks my belly. The girls are SOOO excited! So is Rick... he is funny! His mum noticed he was a little edgy and nervous over the weekend. Probably used to walking on egg shells around his crabby, moody wife!

Anyway... that is all to report for now. Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later. Been having some funky pains and contractions tonight but nothing like labour yet.

LUNAR ECLIPSE - pictures!

2007-08-29T13:54:00.000+10:00

For those who missed last night's lunar eclipse - I managed to take a photo for you!!!

HEHEHEHEEEE

And here are the latest belly shots - 39w2d. Can hardly believe that we are about to have a 5th family member any day now. I am STILL in complete denial and don't think I will be able to fathom it until we are holding our baby. Seems like last week we found out.... boy this year has flown.

MADE IT......

2007-08-22T14:11:00.001+10:00

....... to the final!

Thanks to all those who voted last time. Now we need your help again please!!

If you go to http://www.pascoepopart.com/?cO=au&popArtPortrait=competition or HERE our photo is the second one. They made it with a blue background and yellow dress.

Would really appreciate your vote!

Apparently, if you have access to multiple computers it helps! And also, having multiple users on your own pc means you can also vote more than once. :) Up to you!

Thanks guys.... fingers crossed and will let you know how we go.

Take a guess......

2007-08-03T21:01:00.001+10:00

PLEASE VOTE!

2007-08-01T20:01:00.000+10:00

Hello all!

I have entered one of my photos in a competition. I would love if you could all vote for Isabella's photo. It is still one of my favourite photos I have taken!

The link is here:
http://www.pascoepopart.com/?cO=au&popArtPortrait=competition

and the photo is:

Thanks guys!

Our Update

2007-08-01T09:13:00.000+10:00

Hello all!

Well we now only have a month to go! Can you believe it??! I certainly can't that's for sure.

I saw the hospital obstetrician last week at my 34 week checkup and bubs seems to be doing fine. I gave the doctor the letter from my osteopath and she didn't even finish reading it. She just gave me this big sympathetic look and the next thing out of her mouth was talk of induction. You see I have SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) now... yes my pelvis is seperating - YOUCH!! And along with the sacro iliac joint pain (also called Pelvic Girdle Pain) that I have that has been causing the sciatica - I am not in a good place! After she examined my pelvis and nearly sent me jumping through the roof in agony she decided that I need to keep going back to the hospital from herein rather than seeing my usual doctor, and said that next fortnight we can discuss induction. I really don't want to be induced - it isn't like the baby is in any sort of danger. It is purely for my benefit. But I guess I need to be able to function! The pain is quite severe as the day goes on and nothing like feeling your pelvis separate and rub together! Feels like if I sneeze the baby will just fall out - one can only wish! LOL

Anyway, will see how the next few weeks pan out before I even entertain the idea. I am not sure though that her talking of inducing me actually bought home the fact that I AM HAVING A BABY!! You see, I think I really am still in denial!! LOL

She took my GBS swab too - and bubs was measuring spot on for dates.

Some other news that I am a little perturbed about. A few weeks back my GP office gave me my ultrasound films from my dates scan back when I was 8w pregnant. I had a quick look and didn't think much of them until yesterday when I read the report. It said that I had 2 x 3mm cysts on the umbilical cord that were consistent with aneuploidy. I did some searching as I hadn't heard of this term and was shocked to find that it was a chromosomal disorder - more than likely Downs. (Check out Google). I did some further searching and found that a single cyst poses no risk but women with multiple cysts in the first trimester were at a high risk of having a trisomy or Downs baby. So now I am freaking out!

The report went on to say that careful examination at the nuchal translucency scan was needed. But I had this at the hospital and not in the private clinic so how were they to know? I was so mad that no one told me as I would have made sure that the sonographer was to check. As it turns out the scan and relevant screening blood tests said that I was low risk - but still!!! It is too late NOW to do anything about it - but it would have been nice to have the option or at least make sure they re-checked the umbi cord.

So now I am trying really hard not to be freaking out. I will have a chat with the hospital when I see them next week. I am probably making a big deal out of nothing but when it was there in front of me in black and white it was very confronting.

Paranoia has set in - everything this baby does or doesn't do makes me wonder! Even the fact that I haven't felt any hiccups yet and the girls had them all the time by this stage. See.... now I wish I hadn't read that damn report! ARGHHHHH

Our PHAN-TASTIC weekend!

2007-07-23T11:41:00.000+10:00

This weekend Rick and I went and saw The Phantom of the Opera at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne. We missed out last season and desperately wanted to see Anthony Warlow in the role that is really 'his'!

The show was spectacular and the sets were breathtaking. I have been a fan of the music since I was about 18 and have only seen the DVD so to finally see it in the theatre was so exciting. We decided to make a big weekend of it and stayed at The Marriott Hotel.

We went with Sophie & Greg and Bianca and had such a lovely time. Before the show we dined at the Windsor Hotel Restaurant and experienced how the other half live!

Then after the show we went back to the Marriott's cocktail lounge and had some chocolate & delicious pina coladas - well Sophie and I had mocktails as I am 34 weeks pregnant and she is 20 weeks pregnant! For breakfast we spent 2 hours at the Essence Restaurant in our hotel enjoying my most favourite meal - buffet breakfast! Totally gorged on all the goodies on offer and walked (well waddled) away feeling very satisfied.

After we checked out Rick and I strolled around the Vic Market and got some nice goodies from the deli before coming home. Aunty Raelene had the pleasure of staying with the kids all weekend and took them to see Shrek the Third, for icecream and McDonalds - so they were happy!

Here is my latest belly pic - 34 weeks here :)

Goodbye Jasper :(

2007-07-20T10:05:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday night we farewelled our beloved boy Jasper.

He was our 'first born' baby and Rick and I got him before we even moved in together. He had such a great life and was nearing 13 years old.

Our female Rotti Angel is so sad. She spent the day crying yesterday and was a bit lost without her partner. He is all she knew and has been with Jasper since we bought her home from the breeder. They were the best of friends and snuggled up together everynight. Over the years they had 3 litters together too.

Poor Jasper lost the use of his back half suddenly and one minute he was ok and the next completely paralysed in the back end. It was terribly traumatic and he was stuck out in the rain crying unable to move. I couldn't leave him there and probably should have called for help but I just flung a towel under his belly and carried / dragged him into the laundry. Not the best thing to do with a 50kg+ dog when you are nearly 8 months pregnant and have a back injury.... but I just couldn't leave him there.

Rick and I spent the day with him giving him lots of love until that evening when he was put to sleep. We are both very very sad and will miss our 'mate' immensely.

Rest in Peace Jab!

RATED G

2007-07-08T23:16:00.000+10:00

Thanks for the link Shayne!

Well if only they knew how much I tone it down for my blog!!!

Oh yes.... I was recently tagged by Shayne so best fill out my answers!

I need to list:
1. Four of my favourite jobs
2. Four of my favorite local places
3. Four of my favourite foods
4. Four of my favorite international places
and four people who I am tagging.

1. Four of my favourite jobs
* Being a mum definately!
* School nurse - I loved my job at a secondary school as the nurse. I left when I had Isabella but hopefully one day will return to adolescent health. Very interesting indeed!
* Au Pair - I was I was a live-in Nanny in Holland for 15 months. WOW! Lots of good times - lots of bad times but one of the best things I ever did in my life.
* washing / laundry. Ok... I have always loved this job! I am a bit of a freak when it comes to my laundry!

2. Four of my favorite local places
* Well I am sure my friends will all agree one of my fave local hang outs is definately Knox City - my local shopping center! It is my second home... don't need to shop though. Can just hang out and enjoy coffee too :)
* Home - I am a bit of a home body and as much as I love going out - I also love a good day at home.
* Melbourne in general. I love what this city has to offer. I guess I take it a bit for granted though and know that everything I want to do is here - just need to get out and do it and visit all those special places more often.
* Struggling to think of a fourth as I think my third covers it!!! LOL

3. Four of my favourite foods
* Oh dear - listing only four?? ok, Thai
* CHOCOLATE (that is a food group yes?)
* anything delighfully sweet and disgustingly bad for you!
* anything that I don't have to cook!!

4. Four of my favorite international places
* Thailand
* The Netherlands (Amsterdam is something you just need to experience to believe!)
* Hong Kong - loved it - would have liked to spend more time there
* Egypt - never been there but would love to experience it.

four people who I am tagging:
Emma, Abbey, Amanda, Rae

ROCK CHICK!

2007-07-06T17:30:00.001+10:00

Just wanted to share a photo of Isabella and her cousin Brendan. She is now officially a rock chick!

And here she is more subdued in her Hi-5 PJ's perusing the latest toy catalogues!!

Her school had a dress-up book parade on the last day of term. Isabella wanted to go as Meg (from Meg and Mog). Here is my witchy-poo!

*sigh* growing up so fast!

Brain not working.....

2007-06-27T00:14:00.000+10:00

Another pregmentia moment! Ok..... nothing as stupid as throwing out my $450 orthotics by accident!!

But tonight the kids were having fruit salad for desert. Alex had a grape on her spoon and here is our conversation:

Alex = 'Mum, what's this called again".

Mum = a sultana

Alex = noooo, what's it called

Mum = a sultana honey

Alex = muuuummmmm, what IS it called? (she obviously knew it wasn't a sultana!)

Mum = ALEX! It is a SULTANA honey!

Alex = Muuuuuu....

Mum = BABY..... look at it! it is a sultana (getting irritated now I was). Taste it honey, you will see

(Alex puts it in her mouth and chews)

Alex = Mmmmmmmmm a GRAPE!

And the penny dropped......

leaving me feeling like a total dipstick! I burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Rick just sits there shaking his head.

Bella = (giggling) 'mum, you are crazy!'.

Sad thing is I was sooo adamant it was a sultana! Brain just doesn't seem to synapse lately!

Third Trimester!

2007-06-14T23:43:00.000+10:00

Gosh, when did that happen??!! This pregnancy is really flying by and I can't believe I am almost 29 weeks!

Things are going great! I really have to try and remember to stop and enjoy this pregnancy though.

I had an appointment with the hospital today and so far so good. I am measuring a week ahead, my BP is perfect, bubs' heart rate is 150bpm and all my tests (urine and GCT) were all normal. Which is a good thing as I really don't have the time for anything to go wrong. . . hheheheee.

We are all getting very excited as we enter that final 10 week stretch. The girls are so thrilled and everyday Isabella is asking me how big the baby is now. She wants a baby brother and Alex changes her mind daily. Alex is also convinced that she too has a baby in her belly and it even kicks when you feel it :) It is so cute - as Isabella was the same when I was pregnant with Alex.

I haven't really weighed myself but I have a feeling that all that good work I did last year to lose 22kg has come back and bit me in the bum.... well at least returned to my bum!! I can't help myself and really give in to the cravings. Thankfully, I have gone off chocolate and am now into salads! (For now! Tomorrow is a new day!)

here are some 27 week belly pics. 'Scuse the expression on my face.... it was the end of the day and I am completely drained! But don't you love my purple uggies??!!

" But I look pretty...! "

2007-06-14T23:08:00.000+10:00

Alexandra is always one to make us laugh!
And tonight was no exception.

She came into the loungeroom tonight and showed off her new makeup to Rick and I. We couldn't quite work out what it was and it wasn't budging.

So we asked her to show us...... she took us to the desk drawer and pulled out LIQUID PAPER! I can't get it off! But she won't let me anyway as she thinks she looks so pretty!

Everytime we went to chastise her for using liquid paper she just looked at us with big eyes and interrupted us with 'but I look pretty!' Ohhhh she is a hoot!

*bugger that my camera was on the wrong setting so they are a bit blurry :(

And here is a drawing of a duck she did the other day for her friend Declan. Isn't she clever?

~* Happy Birthday Alexandra !! *~

2007-05-08T17:14:00.000+10:00

Our baby turned 3 today!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!

At 3, you....

can count to 20 - albeit missing a few teen numbers!
can sing your ABC's
can spell your name
can write a few letters - A L E X
will spend hours just drawing and colouring
can draw faces and shapes
know all your shapes
LOVE dance lessons
LOVE to sing
emulate your big sister
are looking forward to being a big sister
have your Daddy wrapped around your little finger :)
still twirl your hair
are so independant at times
can swim all by yourself with no floaties
smother us all in kisses all day long
bring a smile to everyone's face
make us SO happy :)
Alex had her party on the weekend and we decided to hold it at Playdays. We normally do home parties but it was just all too hard this time and being pregnant I didn't fancy having to clean the house twice in one day and do all the work associated with a home party. So the playcentre was fantastic and nice to kick back and let the kids tire themselves out without feeling that way ourselves.

We still had a small theme and Alex chose Penguins (Happy Feet). She is crazy about anything penguin at the moment. Here is her invite:

I also made her a penguin cake which she just loved! She wanted to skip all the normal food and play and cut straight to the cake - that's my girl!!

You can see more pictures from her party HERE.

Now an update....

Alex started dance lessons about 5 weeks ago. Bella's teacher said she could join in prior to turning 3 as she felt she was 'ready'. After spending the last 1.5 years watching her sister she was busting to start lessons. She settled in perfectly and really loves it. We had open night this week and I was so surprised to see that she already knows the entire tap routine almost by heart! I was so proud. Isabella loves having her in the same class too.

All signs of our 'baby' have gone!!! Alex has been night trained for about 3 months now which is great. I was really worried that it would take a while as she is such a heavy, solid sleeper but after a handful of accidents over a week or two she mastered it. After the coin incident she was a bit worried about poo'ing again and was reluctant to go. But we got through it... again!!!

We have so much fun together during the day. Even though she misses Isabella while she is at school it nice to be able to spend good quality time with Alex. We often just go shopping and have a 'chino' together. We sit and chat and have lots of laughs. Otherwise, just playdates or stuff at home. Her swimming is going great! She just moved up to the next level in the 'big pool' so that is exciting.

Today Alex had an audition for a Pura Milk TV commercial. She did well in the audition but I have learnt not to get too excited when it comes to these things as they audition a lot of kids. Will find out in the next day or two.

Here are some pictures of our angel celebrating her big day. As you can see she absolutely loves her Baby Alive doll. She has been asking for one for months and hasn't let it go since she opened it.

This is Alexandra's page of A's. She did this about 6 weeks ago and can now do her full name :)

The saga of the swallowed coin.....

2007-04-24T21:46:00.000+10:00

A few weeks ago now I returned home from a 20 minute trip to shop to catch the tail-end of a commotion.

Rick was consoling Alex who was looking very sorry for herself. When I asked what was wrong she told me that she swallowed money! Well, I know kids swallow all sorts of things so after a quick assessment realised she was physically ok which was a relief. Rick said that she was coughing and choking a bit in the other room and he called out and asked if she was ok and she replied 'yes' but then came out to him with wide eyes and informed him of her latest snack!

She was still able to eat and drink so I knew it had gone down to her stomach. I called the nurse-on-call - which by the way, is a fantastic service!! I have never used it before and was very impressed. It was just nice to get some reassurance that what you have done is the right thing. She told me to just inspect her poos for the next 3 or so days as it should pass. At this point we thought it was a 5c coin - but then getting a history from a 2 year old isn't exactly easy.

Well, a week had passed and poo-patrol was getting a little tiresome! So I booked her in at work for an abdo xray and then booked her in to our GP to get the referral. Would you believe this was her VERY FIRST visit to the doctor?!! She is nearly 3 and her first doctor visit was for a swallowed coin! Hmmmm!!!

Anyway.... here is the Xray:

As you can see there is a big whopper coin sitting right in her belly. It looked bigger than a 5c piece which raised some concern about obstruction etc. I took her back to the GP that afternoon and she suggested I take her into the Children's Hospital the next day to either have it removed via endoscope or for further review. Alex however, wouldn't leave the surgery until she had been examined on the bed. She said 'we can't go yet, I am not better yet' and demanded her examination! What a hoot!

So, in we go all the way to town. They were fantastic though - we waited in ED for less than 10 minutes before being called in. The doctor immediately said that they wouldn't do anything at this stage and would just let it go. But took the xray and consulted with his registrar. He came back with the same advice. I was a little annoyed actually as he told me that there was no need to check her poo anymore and just to 'let it go'. I was instructed to bring her back IF she got ill, had bleeding, distended abdo etc etc.

This just didn't sit right with me as there was no way I was going to 'leave it' and not check her poo! I wanted to know when the thing was gone!

Anyway, a very disappointed Alex and I left. She was absolutely loving the attention she was getting!!

When I got home I did a little bit of research and found that the general concensus was that coins shouldn't be in the gut for longer than 3 weeks (It had now been 10 days when we went to the hospital). I feared it getting stuck in her bowel and needing an operation so I was going to wait till the 3 week mark and then take her back.

Well low and behold, 2.5 weeks after ingesting this bloody coin she passed it!! (on the day my sister gave birth!) A very black, corroded TEN CENT coin came out. It must have been a bit sore as she was saying over dinner that 'her belly was talking to her and telling her she didn't want to eat'. Awwwww.

Now she is very proud and doesn't hesitate to tell people that her tummy is a money box and the coins come out of her bottom!!!

*don't worry - the coin has been cleaned, disinfected and cleaned again!

AUSSIE OF THE MONTH!

2007-04-24T20:35:00.000+10:00

**** I can't believe this post has been sitting in my drafts since the start of MARCH!!!!! OOPPSS!! Anyway, better late than never! ****

Here is a photo of all the preps at Monday morning assembly with the entire school. They started going at the second week and they just look so tiny. There are only 170 students at her school so they can all gather in the ampitheatre nicely. There's Bella up the front toward the middle.

This particular day Isabella was awarded the Aussie of the Month award. I was just too proud!! Every week a student from each class gets the student of the week award and every child will eventually get this over the course of the year. But Aussie of the Month is a very special award and not every child will get it :) She was presented her certificate from the Major of Knox City too.
here she is getting her certificate.

I'M AN AUNTY !!

2007-04-21T15:39:00.000+10:00

My big sister Tina and partner Bruce welcomed their new baby girl into the world!! After being induced at 41.5 weeks Tina had a natural birth and safely delivered JORJA LEE !

Everyone is well and of course I am thrilled to finally have a niece! I seemed to be the only one producing nieces for my sisters so it was nice to get a taste of it!

Jorja weighed 8 pounds and is just the cutest little fairy.
Bella and Alex were absolutely besotted and it was a nice insight as to how they will be in about 4 months time with their new brother or sister.

Oh boy I was ever so clucky! Thank goodness I am already pregnant as I tend to come home and harrass Rick for weeks after seeing a new baby!

Our Scan

2007-04-16T23:09:00.000+10:00

Well we had our 20 week scan over the weekend :) Still coming to terms with actually being pregnant - let alone HALF WAY!!!!!!

The girls were more excited than anyone I think! They LOVED seeing the knees and feet and watching it kick. They also had such a giggle when the doctor was measuring the head and bubs started scratching the back of it's head!

Everything looks great... bubs is measuring only 5 days ahead now and the heart rate was 136bpm. So now do I think boy ?? At our 12 week scan bubs measured over 10 days ahead and heart rate was over 160bpm!! That got me thinking girl.... so who knows!!!!

I didn't find out the gender... but Rick did :) I didn't want him to really but he has as much right to find out just as I have as much right NOT to ! Rick also found out the sex with Isabella and managed to keep it a surprise so I have no problems this time.

We went to COGUS again but unfortunately the whole 3D thing was wasted this time as bubs had his or her face snuggled right up into the placenta and had one of his hands covering half it's face. Oh well. We did manage one good 3D pic very quickly. He was also kind enough to put the whole scan on DVD for us so we can watch it on our computer as well.

Feeling lots and lots of movements and kicks now. Still can't feel from them from the outside but I love snuggling up on the couch with my belly-buddy and feeling him or her doing somersaults and kicks :) Awwwww.

Here is the 3D picture...... ok, bubs looks a bit alien-like. Isabella and Alex were a bit unsure so I had to explain that it doesn't have chubby little cheeks yet :) You can see it's arm over it's face and the placenta it quickly turned away from.
Here is my new ticker.... it would have to be my most favourite of all of them on the net.

KICKS !

2007-04-08T16:46:00.000+10:00

Well it didn't take long after my last post!
I felt the first 2 kicks just the other night at 18w4d.

And now lots and lots of movements... not just flutters.
Awwwwwwww......

Just wanted to share :)

PREGNANCY UPDATE !!

2007-04-04T13:12:00.000+10:00

Well I am now 18w3d pregnant! And boy hasn't it flown??!

I started feeling good about 2 weeks ago as the nausea settled and the tiredness isn't too bad now. So I am really enjoying having a belly full of arms and legs :) I have been feeling more and more movements - no kicks yet though. Still those flips and flops and the occasional flutter. I had my scan at 12w4d and I totally forgot to send the update I did, so here it is:

I had a scan at 12w5d and all was well! It took over an hour as bubs wasn't co-operating at all. It was lying upside down and the technician couldn't get a good picture so after jumping up and down for a while and then emptying my bladder it helped!

All the necessary measurements seemed good and he had no concerns. I had the blood test screening for Down's and I haven't heard back from my doctor so I am assuming that I am low risk.

Bubs was so cute.... hiding his/her face most the time but gave a few waves. The technician was a bit of a loss what to do with my dates though - I was 12w5d but bubs was measuring 13w6d ! He said had I not had the earlier scan he would change my EDD but the earlier scan (at 8.5 weeks) would be more accurate.

Regardless... I am due somewhere end of August / early Sept. As we know - not an exact science! Especially when I have no idea of conception LOL

Anyway, starting to feel better although the vomiting hits me at random times now - like last night. Expanding a lot more now and even though I am almost 4 months I am still in shock LOL

Belly pic at 14w1d

So that was a while ago now..... here are some recent belly pics. It feels nice to actually look pregnant and not just rounder.

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and all my blood tests / screening were fine. My uterus height is also measuring spot on and everything else is great. My scan isn't until after Easter and I will be 20 weeks... I am so excited!

I bought rick a nice t-shirt which he takes pride in wearing :)

The girls are so excited now and Isabella loves asking me everyday how big the baby is now. I can't wait to see how Alexandra goes with a new baby - I am sure she will be doting but hopefully won't mind giving up mummy too much! Rick is also loving my belly-buddy. Now that the shock of actually being pregnant has 'almost' worn off (!) we are so excited and happy. Thankfully at this point we won't need to buy a new car - but the house might be on the market in the next year or so I think!!

~* VIP DAY *~

2007-03-30T17:49:00.000+10:00

You can read all about Isabella's VIP day at her school HERE on my sister's blog.

Enjoy!

Ever been this tired??

2007-03-25T01:04:00.000+11:00

The other night Rick and I were in the loungeroom watching TV. We heard Isabella get up and go to the loo and just expected her to go back to bed as she always does. We didn't think anymore of it until about 30 or 40 minutes later when Rick found her on the bathroom floor fast asleep.

Poor little munchkin had no idea where she was! When Rick woke her she tried to climb on the toilet to get back into bed (she has a loft bed and has to climb a ladder). It was just too cute!!

The next morning I told her about her antics and showed her the photos and she just cracked up at herself!

Bella's Celebrity Look-alikes

2007-03-16T22:00:00.001+11:00

http://www.myheritage.com

Alex's Celebrity Look-alikes

2007-03-16T21:45:00.001+11:00

http://www.myheritage.com

A bit about me...

2007-03-16T21:06:00.000+11:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

If you go to this website HERE and click the little box in the top right hand corner to switch the view, you can read more! It is so true!!

Raelene is home!

2007-03-05T23:16:00.000+11:00

My baby sister arrived home from the UK last month - FOR GOOD! It was great meeting her at the airport and causing a big scene :) She loved it too! She was very sad to leave behind her boyfriend of 2 years but Rick tried to make her feel at home by having him sitting at our dining table when she walked in. She loved that!!

Anyway, the girls were thrilled to have "Aunty Rarleeeen" back home and haven't left her alone since!

Here they are with their England shirts on!

Best Listener

2007-03-05T23:10:00.000+11:00

Isabella was SO proud when I picked her up from school the day she won the "Best Listener" trophy!

Every few days a different student wins the award for their listening skills in class. I was thrilled when Isabella won it during her second week at school! And so was she. She took it everywhere we went - and even bought it along to the airport when we picked up Aunty Raelene!

Here she is with her trophy!

Now where does one get one of these to keep around the home?????

Camping !

2007-03-05T22:25:00.000+11:00

Back in January over the Australia Day long weekend we went camping again. Like last year we went to Wonthaggi with the Finch's and the Bradley's.

It was another fun 4 days and as usual the kids had a ball. They spent most of the day in the swimming pool or riding their bikes up and down the road.

Look at these two! Wonder if they will be doing the same thing in 15 tears time?Me - well I was hitting prime morning sickness time and felt rather ill most days! I desperately needed a nanna-nap in the afternoons but it was quite difficult to acheive. And poor Emma was a good 5 months pregnant and suffering from a badly sprained ankle so spent the whole time in agony! We were a bundle of laughs!

What's inside your jumper?

We did manage to enjoy the views of comet McNaught that passed our galaxy! It was such a spectacular sight and something you don't see every day!

On the way home we stopped off at a homestead for lunch in Castlemead. The kids enjoyed the petting zoo and it was a nice way to wind down before getting home for the big clean up!

More photos from the weekend can be seen here.

Bella's modelling...

2007-02-27T13:10:00.000+11:00

Late last year Isabella was chosen for more modelling work and her picture is finally up on the website.

www.millandmia.com

if you click on 'clothing' you can see her in the red and blue skirt. It is such a tiny photo though :( The company are apparently sending out the disk from the photo shoot as we were there for 2 hours and they took heaps of shots.

Anyway - just wanted to share :)