Merry Christmas to all :)

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year :D

We will head off on our drive up to Sheffield tomorrow so thought I should pop in and post a Xmas post. Will have tons of piccies after Xmas.

Take care all and enjoy time with your loved ones.

xxx

HBC and tedious vacuuming

So, I gave back Mel's MeiTai on Monday but not before I got in a go at a High Back Carry (HBC). I'd never managed to get Jake that high before and it was heaps more comfy. Yes, I look like cr@p, had a terrible night beforehand.




And here is a picture Ben took of Jake while I was vacuuming. He does this the whole way around the house, and for anyone who has been to my house, it's a BIG house. It takes FOREVER. If I pull the vacuum too hard, too far, too fast he falls over. The other kids were frightened of the vacuum but not Jake.

Wombat Stew

MMMMmmmmmm! Ben and Chloe made some "Wombat Stew" outside today and here are some pics of Jake enjoying that stew. And no Hayley, I didn't actually let him eat it :P (Not you Robbo ;) )Oh I should add too this was AFTER he'd already dumped his hat into it.

See the bike basket? This is what he was putting all the floaties into, lol.

My Avatar

I think I've figured out how to 'steal' my Avatar off BellyBelly :) BellyBelly is an online forum I've been a part of for a long time now, and paid members get their own Avatar. I've just had mine redesigned to include Jake as an older baby and I love it :) I love how smokin' I look, LOL :D

Help the homeless

I got this link from Mel's blog. It seems legit, can't hurt, costs nothing but can help give a less fortunate person a bit of sunshine in their day. Check it out. It's through Mission Australia.

Transform Homelessness

Sunny days outside

When we get a sunny day it's nice to go outside and play :)

Fluffy Mail!!

So I finally got off layby some nappies I'd had going since July!! I haven't posted much about MCN. It's still going well, I love it, just got no need to buy so much anymore. I think I've bought wisely and most of my stash is either OSFM or will fit Jake until he toilet trains, going on his current weight!!

My 5 BBH Magicalls and one of my BerryPlush

BerryPlush

LouLou Nappies AIO's - 2 Minkee Red, Print Cars and Blue Fleece with matching singlets

Night Nappies

MeiTai

So I borrowed this MT off Mel :) We swapped for a while. I'd been thinking about one cos the Hug-a-Bub just doesn't suit Jake anymore, he's too old. I really do like the MT for it's compact size and Jake loves to ride in it. I do struggle with getting him into a Back Carry position though, my arms are just too short to twist the ties around behind his back. With more practise it could be ok, but I think i need to look into other options too. Maybe a wrap...he does love the Back Carry position.



The Back Carry



The Hip Carry (sorry about the blurry pic, Benji took it ;))

BBQ at Franklin

A couple of weekends ago when we had a break in the weather we took the family out for a BBQ and a play at a park at Franklin on the river. They have a great little bike track around the playground so the kids took their bikes. Behind the kids in the photos is The Petty Sessions Resaurant.....SOOOOOO YUM :)

We did it!

My biggest news first....we've bought a house! :) Well we've signed a contract anyway, assuming all the paperwork gets done and goes through ok we should be in our own home by the end of January. We made a big decision and decided to move to a whole new area, because the houses there are much cheaper than they are in the Huon Valley. Although we would ideally love to find a house here to buy, it just wasn't happening so we made a move on New Norfolk. It won't be so bad, it is closer to Mum and slightly closer to everyone up North. Plus hubbies Uncle and Aunt live there too so we won't be totally alone :) I'm really quite bummed that Ben won't be attending the school I had wanted him to, but I'll just have to get over that. This is the house here.

Other than that, the breaking news is that Jake took his very first two steps alone last night :) He is just 8 days shy of 9 months. It was pure accident, he didn't realise he wasn't being held. the last couple of days he's been working on standing alone, keeping his balance. One minute he's on the floor and the next he gets himself up on his knees, then one knee and then slowly stands up! When he gets wobbly he squats a little until he gets his balance. So cute to see :) I give him the two weeks until Xmas to be walking much more. I was gonna save this pic as I'm sending it to some of you in Xmas cards but I just have to share.....

Oh dear lord.......

We get up in the morning, I take Jake's nappy off and if it's not freezing I let him have a little nappy free time. Occasionally we get a little wee, sometimes a poo. This morning was a doozy........







And yes, that's our TV remote *vomit*. How do I clean that????? Must be bodily fuids day today, so far (and it's 7:50am) we;ve had one blood nose, three accidents and Jake's excellent efforts. It's going to be a looooooong day *sigh*.

Jake walking

so here is the video we got last night. It's actually the second time he did it, the first we didn't have the camera, lol. Sorry for it being sideways, I wasn't thinking when taking it. He's so quick I just wanted it on camera!

xx

Today is the day

today is the day for updating my blog. I have been so slack and never actually get around to posting. Now Jake has started walking at 8 months and I need to get you all up to date! He just started to push a trolley along last night but I don't think it will be too long before he's walking alone. Maybe by Christmas? Anyway, stay tuned, I'm going to get off my butt and post piccies and videos.

xxx

Aha!

So.....I am pleased to have a diagnoses of Jake's 'down-there' problem. And he's not allergic, YAY!

After having antibiotic cream and then oral antibiotics, nothing had changed. The Dr thought it was an infection. BUT after getting a second opinion from a male Dr (who I suspect was little more sypathetic, lol) it seems Jake has Phimoses....which means his foreskin is too tight, resulting in redness and infection :( Poor little man. So we have been referred to the Royal and are waiting on an appointment. Dr seems to think it is likely it will be recommended he is circumscised, which seems to make sense. I've heard of steroid creams but in a way I'd be glad to just get him done so it's not a problem anymore for sure. It will be so nice to not see him like that and to occasionally have to feel his foreskin off the nappy......OUCH!

So hooray for no allergies. Not looking forward to an op still but if it's for the best I'll have to get over it :) Better now than later right?

xxx

I am a slacker.....

But hear me out. I had a CRAZY week last week!!

It all started with me finally deciding to sign into MySpace, only to find a message from my cousin. This was a total blow out as my family haven't heard from my Uncle or cousins for years. So I replied and we've all gotten back in touch again which is so lovely :) It was all very exciting while it was happening, first we found them all on MySpace, then facebook!! Yay for the internet world!! So it's been fantastic to hear that they are all well and happy :) Sad news is my Aunty passed away earlier this year, which was a terrible thing to learn, but they are all pulling together and coping really well which is nice to hear. I can't believe how much my cousins have all grown up, it's scary!! I know I'm getting older but I don't think of them as getting older too. They are all growing into fine young people :)

Although hubby is away for work at the moment I have been busy meeting with mortgage brokers and banks to see what our position is towards buying our first home. It seems with a little help we will be able to, which is VERY exciting, but it's just a matter of finding something we can afford....which is not so exciting. It's hard! So almost two weeks in I'm over house hunting already.

We have had a trip to the ER one night with Jake. Luckily Hayley was staying with us that night so I could leave the kids with her. All is ok, just croup which resulted in Jake being unable to breathe properly. Of course he perked up in the hospital. You can never be too careful when they are little though. Oh and I got sick myself last week, tummy bug. First time in ages. Luckily it was Show Day here so Mum came down and took care of us all. :) Gotta love my Mum!

And finally, my baby is still growing too fast :( He is 7 months now and is pulling himself up to standing on everything. Here are some pics, just cos I can ;)

Allergic?

I think (after almost 7 months!) Jake may be allergic to his microfleece liners in his nappies. I use these as they help keep the nappies a little cleaner and they act as a stay-dry liner by soaking the moisture through to the cloth below leaving his bott all nice and dry. BUT he seems to constantly get these sores (only one at a time) on his manhood. I thought maybe it was rubbing but after putting a thread out on Nappycino it seems this happens to others and it is most likely a reaction to the microfleece. Now they never seem to worry him at all or get infected but for the sake of hygiene and aesthetics we won't be using these anymore. Two days in sposies sees it all cleared up. I do have some bamboo velour single boosters which I picked up cheaply ages ago on clearance so i'll use those as liners and see how we go. :) Being natural fibres they shouldn't irritate him.

Hubby is off to the coast for work next week. Home on weekends, but this will be for probably a month. Should be ok as i'm not pregnant this time but Ben will test me! That child has just had a two hour tantie over picking up some stuff he tipped out.....he THINKS he's gotten out of it but he WILL be doing it before the day is over!

Old friends

After a crappy start to the day where anything that could go wrong did (and that includes Jake trying to eat his own poo!!) I had a lovely visit from two of my oldest school friends, Rach and her little one Toby, and Mandi and her newborn Noah.

We always try to catch up (along with Ess) at least once a month and although they are busy days it's so nice to get among familiar friends and just chat about EVERYTHING. I can't even explain how I feel but it was SO good to be able to talk about stuff I never thought I'd be able to talk about with anyone, I feel a little bit lighter. And I feel so lucky to still have friends like this after all these years. Even though we haven't always been in contact it's so comforting to know that after this long we can still just hang out and chat without fear of judgement.

I didn't get any pics of the kiddies again, but I will have to next time. Apart from little Noah they never stay still long enough!

A rare moment......

After our afternoon rest time the other day I caught Jacob and Chloe having a little snuggle watching TV. This is usual for several reasons:

1. Jacob never usually stays still unless he is feeding or sleeping.

2. Jacob usually doesn't like Chloe being so close because she can't stop herself from getting in his face and upsetting him.

3. Jake never watches TV.

So nice to see though :D Jake has really started crawling properly, on all fours. And he's getting fast too!

My Imaginative Man :)

Here is Ben's 'truck' he made the other morning :)

And this morning he told me he was a 'recording artist' hehehe playing Jake's toy that plays music :D Oh and he's wearing Dad's old footy jumper ;)

Do I Look Pretty Mummy??

Chloe did her own hair the other day. I had to have a little chuckle to myself as she looked up at me and asked innocently "Do I look pretty Mummy?" HAhahaha! :) Too cute.....how could I say no??

Oh the disappointment.......

Well.

Yesterday was the Grand Final and we were all geared up and ready to watch Geelong win a back-to-back premiership. Hmm.....didn't happen.

BUT, the kids had a great morning, they were very excited. We had painted posters during the week which they stuck up in the front windows and put streamers on the front fence. The boys dressed in their Geelong gear while Chloe just dressed up pretty ;)

I feel like banging my head on a brick wall, i just got a call from the Primary School i did my internship at asking me if I was available for relief. This is the second time they've called and I've had to say no :( I haven't even done my Teacher's Registration because I know I wouldn't have anyone to look after the kids and I can't be 'on-call'. I'm not sure if I could leave Jake for a whole day either, with breast feeding I would find it hard to express enough to leave him for a day, and I don't plan to wean him until 12 months. I feel torn because I am enjoying being at home with Jake and the kids (I went back to work by the time Ben and Chloe were 4 months old) but times like this i am reminded of how much I am looking forward to finally getting into teaching. I should just be very grateful I can be at home and enjoy my time here because it will go by so fast. :)

Starting to really think about and tick over how we can go about getting ourselves a house.....not sure about the how though, lol. Our chances of saving a deposit are very slim. I know we would struggle but I also feel that we could do it, and if we don't bite the bullet soon I'm worried another boom will hit and it will be out of reach then.

We'll see what happens and comes up :)

Daddy and Chloe

Chloe and Daddy had a lovely time playing in the garden the other afternoon when it was gorgeous and sunny. Chloe was cooking while Daddy provided the ingredients (grass and sand!).

And here is Chloe and Daddy having a Sunday afternoon siesta in the loungeroom :)

Bright bums!

Here's a better pic of Jake's turquoise Itti Bitti D'Lish and his rainbow baby legs.

And here's my boy on all fours, this is when he rocks and rocks and rocks :)

Zack and Jake

Jake just LOVES Zack, he will watch and chase him for hours :)

More Video

Another one of Jake crawling to reach the camera! He still has a rather orange nose in this one, must have been all the orange veggies he's been eating. See his gorgeous rainbow babylegs? They are so great for him to wear in nappy-free time on our carpet that isn't exactly soft.

Videos

I've been taking lots of videos over the last week or two just as Jake has started crawling. He's growing and learning so fast I thought I should get some video of it. Here is the first video, of his first attempts at commando crawling, he'd been doing this for a couple of days when I recorded this.

Happy half-birthday Jakie!

I'm going to follow Robbo's lead and post about Jake's half-birthday. He is 6 months old today. How time flies!! I can't believe my last little baby is already this old :( His latest tricks are getting on all fours (like he is going to crawl) and rocking....like he'll take off any minute. He is also a smoochy boy, loves smooching anyone who will smooch him, he gets these real lovey-dovey eyes and gives you a lovely open mouthed dribbly kiss complete with a little "ahhhhh!". :D So cute. So Happy half-birthday my man.....lets hope the next 6 months go slower!

xxx

Jake's a clever little fellow!!

Sorry about the blur...he's too fast! He sat there for a good 5 minutes!



Munching on some vegemite toast....



Jake and Chloe helping me with the washing :)



It's a bit dark but Jakes blue Itty Bitty D'lish.....MMMM so soft!


On Tuesday, Jake both sat for a good about of time alone AND took his first crawling attempts. He's started commando crawling, and his main prey is power cords! Not so safe!

We have all been sick with colds/flu this week so not much happening here. Nappy hunting is going ok, it is extremely frustrating, some are just TOO hard! I have a layby at Lou Lou Nappies at the moment, with a couple of Night Nappies and a couple of cute nappy and singlet sets for when it warms up.

xxx