Kisses From Kate

Last week I took Max over to my friend Nat's place for a play date with Baby Kate. Normally when I take Max around there he is tired and cranky from a busy week of catching up with my Hervey Bay friends and family and he just sits on the floor and cries when Kate comes near him. Not this time! I fed him lunch as soon as we got there and then he was super happy to play.

They did a lot of alongside playing, but they also interacted quite a bit. They even gave each other a couple of kisses. It was so sweet!


Kate is walking already and I was hoping that she might inspire Max to give it a go, but he just crawled around after her. He's a champion stander, but shows no interest in walking!

It was really nice to see them happily playing for the first time without bucket loads of tears :)

After a couple of hours we put them both down for a nap so that we could have a grown-up catch up and lots of snuggles with little Emily.

A perfect day, thanks Nat!

A Busy Week

This week I'm on annual leave from work and Max & I are up in Hervey Bay. I booked the time in so that I could spend time with my sister and her new baby girl. I'm also loving catching up with all my Hervey Bay friends and family.

I'm trying to fit as much as I can into the week that I am up here and we ended up having a huge day on Wednesday.

We started out the day at the local library. Jen had the great idea to take Max to the under 2's reading session. It was called the Rhyme and Rattle class and max absolutely loved it! We sang songs, shook maracas, danced, read a story and did lots of clapping. I loved it as much as Max!


After that I took Max home for a 25 minute power nap before we went out to 2nd Kitchen to have lunch with Cat. Max was on his almost-best behaviour and lunch was delicious. Plus I got to catch up with one of my favourite girlfriends. Good things all round!

Max was absolutely exhausted after lunch so I planned to take him home for a real nap. On the way back to the in-laws (where I am staying this week) I remembered that I promised to take Max into their shop so that the girls could see him. Whilst I was there my brother-in-law asked if I could take him grocery shopping (he doesn't have a licence at the moment). So I did, cos I'm nice like that :)

Next up Jen and I packed our kids (Max, Ava and Emily) and took them out to have a play date with another of my favourite friends and her two gorgeous boys. The three older kids got along beautifully and Max spent the whole time trying to join in with them. When Max wasn't following the kids around he was pressed up against the window 'talking' to Ange's dog. So cute!

Ange has a cake making business (Angel Cake), so we also planned out the cakes for Jen's baby shower. I can't wait to show you the photos, it's going to be gorgeous!!

Max fell asleep in the car almost as soon as we left Ange's and slept the 20 minutes it took as to get back to the in-laws. We tried to bath him, feed him and give him some cuddles before bed, but he wasn't having a bar of it. Poor little baby was exhausted!

Two days later I think he is still playing catch up on his sleep. He's needing three naps a day instead of two :)

Weeks like this where I get to catch up with some of my closest girlfriends, spend the days with my sister and see Max spoilt by family make me really want to move back to the Bay. It wont be happening though... It looks like we are going to be in Brisbane for at least the next five to ten years.

The Social Network

Yesterday my Sister and I decided to take our babies to the cinema and see The Social Network. I never (never, ever, ever) go to the movies so I was really looking forward to it.

We decided to go to the 10am session, that way there hopefully wouldn't be too many people there and they wouldn't mind too much if we had our babies.

I planned ahead. I kept Max awake through his usual 9am nap, I packed two bottles, I packed a blanket, 5 dummies and heaps of quiet toys. I figured I was pretty well sorted.

Nope.

While Jen's gorgeous baby Emily slept and fed through the movie. Mine smashed his bottle in record time and then proceeded to yell 'DADA' and other cute things at the movie screen.

Needless to say Max and I spent most of the movie out here...

I did get to see the start, a few bits in the middle and the last 5 minutes and it looks like a great movie. I will definitely have to get it out when it's released on dvd.

In the meantime I think I will find a babysitter next time I decide to go to the movies!!

Brain Dump

I really don't have it in me to construct a sentences and paragraphs today, so a bullet point brain dump is what you're getting. Sorry.

• The Big Man started a new job on Monday, so I've taken the week off work to look after Max and arrange some childcare for him. The Big Man has been working from home since Max was 10 weeks old and I went back to work. It's a big deal for me, putting him into childcare... But Max and I spent an hour together at the centre on Tuesday and it does seem really awesome. I'm sure he will love it.

• Ever since Max was born I was adamant that Max would go to family daycare when the time came. It wasn't until I actually had to go and find somewhere for him to go that I changed my mind and decided on a childcare centre. It might seem like tough love, but I kind of like the idea that he will have to become a bit more independent and stand up for himself a bit more in a group environment. Mean Mummy?

• The Big Man has been working really long hours for his new job. He's at work again this morning (Saturday) and has already done 60 hours this week. He's going to need to let his boss know that it can't stay like that, we have a baby and a life outside work. He needs balance. His role is a management position, but I still think that they are asking too much of him. A happy and balanced life will allow him to be so much more focused when he is at work anyway...

• This week has been really rough for me. I started out with a cold on Monday morning, but was all better by Tuesday. Then Wednesday night I started to feel really nauseous and off colour. I have spent the last two days (Thursday and Friday) with an upset stomach, vomiting, constant nausea, and no appetite. Nasty. I thought I was feeling better this morning, but as I got up and started playing with Max it hit me again. Max is napping now and I am in bed with my laptop and bucket :(

• Last night I was feeling my worst, but still cooked the Big Man dinner, did his laundry, cleaned the house, vacuumed the floors and moped the bathrooms because I know how hard he has been working and didn't want him to come home to mess and no dinner. Does anyone else get the cleaning bug real bad whenever they get sick? I think it is maybe my subconscious telling me that my surroundings could be making me sick and I need to scrub all the germs away...

• I am so grateful to my truly awesome friend Emma who took Max for two and a half hours yesterday so that I could have a sleep. I owe her big time!

• The cost of childcare is absolutely staggering. At this point I am struggling to work out how we can get ahead whilst paying those kind of fees... Hopefully I get a promotion and start earning some decent money in the very near future.

• I am really missing my sister, my bff Erin and my Hervey Bay girlfriends at the moment. I would love to be closer to them all and be able to catch up with them on a weekly basis.

• I haven't been taking photos lately. In fact I can't remember when the last time I picked up the camera was. You will just have to trust me when I say that Max is still incredibly gorgeous :)

• I have still been reading all of my favourite blogs, but I haven't been commenting much lately. I still love you all and will get around to commenting soon xx
  

Ok, brain dump over for now. I am going to try and get some sleep before Max wakes up again.

An Afternoon in the Park

This afternoon Dez and I decided to take our beautiful baby boys down to the park for some fresh air.


Ethan is still a bit young to fully appreciate the outdoors, but Max absolutely loved it. He watched the big kids riding around on their bikes, played with the grass, crawled around and generally had a really good time.


It was a welcome change from the usual afternoon play date Dez and I have. Max is normally a bit moody in the afternoons and gets grumpy easily. The change of scenery did wonders and he was too busy exploring to be grumbly.


Something we will definitely have to do more often!

Not Thirty

Today is my birthday, I'm not going to tell you how old I am... but I'm about as close to thirty as you can get without actually turning the big three-oh.

The morning didn't get off to the best of starts with Max in bed with us from about 3am. For the last couple of days he has stopped sleeping through and last night neither of us really wanted to get up every half hour, so we let him 'sleep' with us.

When we did get up the day started getting better. I got some gorgeous and thoughtful presents from the Big Man, as well as a much needed cup of coffee. After I dropped the Big Man off at the golf course I picked up my sister and niece and went down to the esplanade to have breakfast with some of my best girlfriends. I got spoilt with more presents and had a lovely, relaxing breakfast {with more coffee to make up for the lack of sleep}.


The rest of the day was spent with my sister, her gorgeous family, the Big Man and Max. We played board games, ate lots of food and had a delicous cake.

A perfect day!

What Gives?

Sorry for being absent for the last couple of days...

It seems like I only have enough time each day to do a certain amount of things. Generally those things are spending time with my gorgeous family, working, catching up with friends, housework and blogging. None of them are really done to the best of my ability, but I am at least getting them done...

Now I've gone and added exercise into the mix and thrown my life into chaos! By the time I get home from my evening walk {super fast work thanks to the incredibly fit Emma, who I am trying to keep up with} all I want to do is lie on the couch and then crawl into bed.

I figure {hope} it will only take a couple of weeks before I notice an increase in my energy levels and then I will be able to fit everything again.

Anyway I'm off of to clean the house. Happy Friday everyone xx

My First Mother's Day

Today was absolutely gorgeous! My first Mother's Day and most definitely my best one {well so far anyway!}.

My day started off with the Big Man looking after Max's first feed so that I could have a sleep in. Considering sleeping is one of my all time favourite activities, it was the perfect start to the day.

I did get out of bed eventually and we headed down to the park for breakfast with friends of ours that were also celebrating their first Mother's Day.

It was a gorgeous day, a little bit cool and sunny. Just how I like it!

After we finished up with breakfast the Big Man took some photos and then Dez and I walked home with our babies.


Later on in the day the Big Man made me the best tasting blueberry pancakes I have ever tasting in my life. I do tend to exaggerate a bit (maybe a lot), but seriously these pancakes were ridiculously good!

We finished up the day with lots of Max cuddles and pizza with friends.

Perfect!

I hope those of you that were celebrating Mother's Day today had a lovely day too!

A Play-Date with Baby Kate

***

The other weekend when we were up in Hervey Bay, Max got to have a play-date with Kate (Nat's Daughter}. We were really looking forward to seeing them play together, but after a weekend full of late nights and activities Max was exhausted and not really in the mood to play.

At first we put them down together on the mat, but every time Kate {who's five weeks older} reached out to touch Max he would start to cry. So sad!



After I fed Max and gave him some mummy hugs we gave it another shot and sat them on the couch for a photo shoot. The babies decided to behave this time and it would have been perfect, only none of the three cameras we had between us were charged. Aggh photog fail!

We improvised and snapped a few quick photos with the iphone, they're blurry but still better than nothing.


I think that Nat and I enjoyed ourselves more than our babies. Hopefully as they get older they start to like each others company a bit more!

Welcome Baby Ethan

***

On the 20th of April 2010. My friend Dez gave birth to her beautiful and healthy baby boy Ethan.

He is so absolutely, one hundred percent gorgeous! Have a look for yourself...

Agree?

I was amazed at how quickly I had forgot how small a newborn baby really is. Ethan is a bit bigger than Max was and I still can't get over how small he looks and how when you pick him up he weighs next to nothing!

Dez and Dave are doing really well and are going to be amazing parents. Ethan is definitely one lucky boy to have parents like them!

Now, I'm off to go and convince my husband that I need another baby :)

A Weekend with Friends

For the long weekend the Big Man and I headed up to Hervey Bay. We always have such a good time up there and this time was no exception.

We spent plenty of time with family...


Celebrated a friends 30th Birthday...


Watched the Anzac Parade and Ceremony...

Had breakfast with friends...


Went to a costume party...


And played with babies...


All in all a lovely long weekend. I hope you all had a great weekend too xx