Busy couple of days......

Yesterday Mom and Frank came over to help get some things done around the house... so the mission for the day was to get pictures hung up around the house....

These photos were all taken today - so they're not really in order of things being done....

Yesterday arvo Dad and Mom came back to the house so that Dad could look at the blinds that we'd bought up in Rocky probably a month or so ago... (it's been THAT busy here lately - this is the first chance we've had to get it done)....

So, yesterday we managed to get the pictures hung and get Jade's blind up.....

Jade's got the princess blind (of course!!)

(the picture to the right of the window is a cross stitch that my Aunty Marilyn did back in '98)

Dad doing the final check on Blake's Cars Blind....

Mom and Dad's wedding picture on the "family" wall... we're hoping to get other family photos up here...  I've got plans in my head.. just haven't got it all sorted yet... we'll get there....

On this wall we have Jade's photos from 2006 (1yr photos) and her birth certificate

(once Blake turns 1 - we'll get his picture done like Jade's and put his birth certificate under it - next to it on this wall)

This is a cartoon picture that Rob had a guy in France do up of me on my Firestorm....

One of our wedding photos... this has replaced my graduation photos on this wall... so I've got to work out where they'll go now....

This wall will be changing...  The baby pics are Rob and I (you'll have to click the pic to see a bigger version) and my favourite of our wedding pics....

This wall will eventually have Jade's 1yr photo, Blake's 1yr photo and then Prom photos of Mat and Greg (if I can get hold of Mat's one...  I may end up getting a pic taken of Greg rather than having to wait til the end of next year for a prom photo)

And now for the other work that has been done.....

We've decided to shade cloth in the front verandah... it's not used enough as it is as I'm afraid of the kids climbing over the edge...  So, we've decided that if we shade cloth it in, then it can become a toy area for Jade and Blake to play.. this way they can make a mess and we're not going to be tripping over it in the lounge...  it'll just be somewhere else for them to go rather than having to play in their rooms.....

Mom and I went to Bunnings this morning and spent about an hour and a half trying to find all of the stuff that we needed, but we finally got it all and then headed home...  we took all the timber cover strips off the roof of the vito and put them on the trestles and gave Rob, Jade and Greg paintbrushes and paint for them to paint these ready for tomorrow.....

Jade had a ball!!!

(and she loves her blue cordial.... yay cottees)

I'd put her into an old t-shirt and I was happy enough for that to be ruined - but I didn't imagine her painting her hat....  oh well... that's life.. she had a great afternoon.....

Greg's mate dropped by to say hi... and got roped into painting too!

Jade was eventually bored with painting and went to play on her dirt pile again....

Blake had Macaroni Cheese for the first time tonight... was leftover food that I just shoved in the blender and then added milk to as it was a bit cluggy without it... but he loved it!!!

(he even smooshed it all over his face - including up his nose!  this kid has style!)

The plan for tomorrow is that Mom and Dad will be back over to help put the shade cloth up and then we'll hopefully be able to arrange chairs etc so that we can sit outside with the kids... the swing will remain out there also - but we may need to find a way to peg it up when it's not being used......

EcoFest is also on tomorrow - so we'll probably go check that out in the morning when Dad is off riding with Mac....

Two years on.....

It's been two years since we lost Chloe...  I'm surprised at how I'm feeling today, I thought I would have still had my sad moments.. .and although I've still thought about it - I've been feeling a lot better about it....

This time last year I was still really sad about it all, but I think that was because i was pregnant with Blake and really nervous about how well it would go.... but that's all over now - and we have a perfect little guy - and Jade loves him to bits.... 

Rob got home tonight too... so that was good timing... he's been away just under two weeks (well - 1 day under two weeks)...  so I'm ultra exhausted... but I'm pleased to say that for the last week (except for the night of his 6mth needles) - Blake has been sleeping through the night.... well from 5:30pm til 4:30-5am...  so that's been a really nice change....

All in all - Life's pretty good :)

6 month Needles.....

We tried to get Blake in for his needles at the 6 month mark... but they'd had a problem with a fridge dying and then all of their supplies went bad so they had to get more in - and then there was a back log - yada yada.... so he's 3 weeks late... but that's ok...

Height - 68cm

Weight - 8.24kg (so he's put on 4.04kgs since birth... nearly doubled)

Head - 45cm

(Jade at 6 months was 9.4kgs and 72cm tall....)

So he's average for height and weight and got a big head...  so no real change except that he's not as "chubby" as he was last time I guess with his height and weight last time being in the 75% (although - she said average and didn't give me the percentile figures... so I'm not 100% sure...)  Oh, and because he's crawling already - he's considered "advanced"....  all she wanted to know was that he'd push himself up if you put him on his tummy... which he's done for months now...

Trying to stay standing for the photo....  I didn't have to readjust him though - he stood himself back up... (mind you, he does have his bum on the cushy part of the seat - so he's not totally standing their on his own - but you can't expect THAT much at 6 months! - - well - nearly 7months...)

so serious.....

Anyway, with finally reaching 8kgs - Blake can now travel facing forwards!!! yay!!!  This has made Jade's month as she can now have her seat back in the middle of the car - which helps with counting utes when travelling with Daddy.....

The Best Big Sister.....

Jade is what anyone would consider "the best big sister" - she loves Blake to bits... and it's not just for show when other people are around... she's always wanting to help - even when it comes to changing nappies.... but now that Blake is sitting up and crawling around she's even more involved.... and it's all about playing with him and making him laugh....  (she's even getting better about sharing toys...  although that could probably still do with a bit of work!)

((VIDEO))

Jade has an obsession for watching herself in the mirror.... when she's getting dressed, when she's crying...  anytime she's near a mirror she watches herself to see what she looks like throughout various expressions...  we've all noticed this over the years... but I never realised that while she's playing so well with Blake - she's STILL watching herself.... you can see it in the vid.... she keeps looking over Blake to look at herself....

Dad's always said she's going to be an actress.... she obviously thinks that she's going to be one too!

((VIDEO))

Blake now has all of his baths with Jade... she wasn't overly excited about bathing with him when he was laying in the bath... but now that he's sitting up - she's in there for every bath... (even the one he had to have this morning after making a real mess of himself....)

I borrowed a bath seat from Bec when I borrowed the bouncer, we put Blake into it twice - but now he's sitting in the bath quite happily on his own and playing with toys... he's only lost balance a couple of times but he manages to keep his own head out of the water (even though I'm there to make sure nothing bad happens - I've left him to sort himself out else he'll never learn it for himself....)

((VIDEO))

Blake's crawling!!!!

Blake's crawling....  he's no longer just going backwards - he's going forwards too...  he's not up and off yet... but these things take time...  he's getting himself forward but after about 1mtr he gets tired and then it's all sad....

Unfortunately, by the time I got the phone out today to get vid he'd already done his 1mtr dash and it was a challenge getting anything else...  but here's what we did manage to get....

((Video))

he'd already crawled about 20 cm to get to where he is at the start of this vid... but again, i was trying to get the video going and he was already busy trying to get to the remote....

((VIDEO))

Here, he's trying to crawl to get Abby Cadabby...  but on the way there he decides it's all too much and goes to Jade for a bit of moral support....

Blake's new bouncer.....

We've had a shocking week with Blake this week, it's most likely teething - he's not sleeping much during the day - 1hr at most - 20mins is the general sleep - and he's been grumpy (totally out of character)...  so on Thursday I msg'd Bec to ask if we could borrow her bouncer - it's one of those vibrating ones - I figured if he'd sleep in it - it's worth it right about now....

Well, he loves it...  although it's SO exciting that I'm not sure if he'll go to sleep in it - unless I take the jiggle toys off it...  but we'll worry about that when we're actually using it to try to get him to sleep... at the moment it's just somewhere to put him so that I can detach him for a few minutes at a time...  (he's a little clingy atm ... but teeth can do that)

Anyways, thanks bec!!  this has made for a Mr Happy!!!

Dylan's birthday party.....

Today we had Dylan's birthday to go to...  after, of course, Jade went to Gymnastics.... even she wasn't going to let us forget that Saturday is Gymnastics day....

We got up and got Jade ready for Gymnastics and then Blake and I headed to Mom and Dad's place while Rob took Jade to Gymnastics...  apparently as he'd taken her to school the day before - he had to take her to Gymnastics...  I think he was a bit nervous at first - but they were both happy by the end of the class so all went well.....

Once they got to Mom and Dad's place we got Jade dressed for her party and headed off....  We haven't been to the Kubby House since Cardyn's birthday (Dylan's little brother) in October last year (just before we had Blake) - so it was good for Jade - she loves it there....

Blake fell asleep on the drive to the Kubby House - and managed to sleep for nearly an hour - so that was good...

Rob got stuck having to fix computer issues over the phone... and then got to spend the afternoon up in Rockhampton fixing the balance of the issues onsite...

Dylan jumped into the hole...

Everyone came to look at Dylan in the hole....

I think Jade is getting just a tad big for the cars....

Cardyn

down the slide....

Jade even managed to score a balloon... 

(Dylan's entire Kindy class was there - so getting a balloon was a challenge)

And now for Jade brag time.... one of the ladies at the party today was commenting on how beautiful Jade was and was asking me about whether I'd ever considered putting Jade into modelling because she thinks she'd be a perfect candidate...  I was so happy to have someone make those comments... but nah, not up for the whole modelling thing...  it's just nice to have other people tell you how great your kids are....  they are both fantastic - but we're biased... (oh - and suffice to say that Blake is always getting comments on how gorgeous he is... he's such a happy little guy and smiles at everyone.... and I do mean everyone)

Crawling Vids.....

Blake is really really really trying to get crawling sorted... he can move around - but he does it backwards.... and he can lift his body off the ground... unfortunately the lifting of the body and the crawling movements aren't a combined effort yet....

he moves around on his tummy...  and when he gets his body up off the ground his feet and toes remain stuck in the one position...  I don't think it'll be long now though...

These vids were taken today... 

Moon Crawling (31 seconds)

Crawling, Rolling, Clunk and Waaah..... (1min 53secs)

Pushups!! (21secs)

Rocking - nearly there..... (34secs)

Sorry that the vids are a little longer than usual - I've put the times on them so that you know what you're in for before you try to watch them....  enjoy....

Ouch!!!

The brain is amazing...  before kids - when you trip/fall you fall in a way to minimise damage to yourself.... once you've got kids - you stop caring about damaging your own body and just make sure the kids are safe...  it's happened quite a few times in the past...

ie. earlier this year, I was walking up the stairs with Blake when I caught my foot on a step and fell - so the brain tells you to hold up the baby which meant that my knees took the brunt of the fall as well as my calves - I was bruised reasonably badly....

Today I was walking back to the car carrying Jade and I rolled my left ankle... so down I go... my right hand side did everything it could to keep Jade off the road.. my left side took the damage...

two gouges in my palm....

this is my knee - you can't really tell...  I think it'll bruise up in a day or so.. but it never shows up - it hurts - believe me!!!

Elbow copped it too... my elbows always seem to cop it...  motorcycle accidents and now this! :)

Unfortunately I wasn't 100% successful in protecting Jade... she got a bit of a scratch up the back...  after about 5mins it had totally disappeared... she was upset when she hurt herself until she realised I was bleeding... she's the sweetest kid....

Happy 17th birthday Greg!!!

Greg's 17th Birthday today....  he was up at 5am to head to work experience..  luckily I was up - so I managed to make him lunch before he had to leave... poor kid is stuck working from 6am til 4:30pm each day this week - he finishes earlier on Friday though...  here's hoping the early mornings don't kill him...  his other work experiences have all started at 7am which hasn't been as MUCH of a shock to his system....

Anyway, all birthday festivities were left til tonight... Kylie came over for dinner too..   I made a cake - and had more success this year, I made a REAL from the ground up cake....  (and it was really nice too if I do say so myself!!!)

Jade loves everyones birthdays!  (she's now counting down until her birthday!)

And now a step back in time....

Mat, Lil & Greg

Beach Shot...

(always been a little poser!)

School Excursion Koala pic...

Greg's been up in Gladstone 19 months already... time flies!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

After getting up this morning and heading home to pick up Rob, we headed to the bakery and picked up croissants for breakfast and headed around to Mom and Dad's place....  

The three mothers....

The womenfolk.. :)

(four generations)

After breakfast we got dressed into our gear and got onto the bikes to head to Manypeaks... we headed there last Mothers Day for Greg's birthday.... this year we didn't have Greg - he was too tired from the party last night - so he and Kylie decided to sleep in before cleaning up the rest of the yard and shed......

All in all was a good day.....  but early to bed tonight - been a long weekend!!!