Sun shower

Playing in the rain!

This is my third post of the day! I haven't done much blogging over the past few months, I feel like I need to catch up, or at least get on top of what we have been doing over the last week. I always enjoy blogging so its great to be back in the swing of it again!

This past weekend we just stayed around the house. It was too hot to do anything. I mean we could have gone into the city and gone swimming or down to the Gold coast to the beach, but we couldn't be bothered spending more than 15 mins in the car, sounds lazy I know. So we just sat around in the air conditioning and the girls did some craft. Annabel is a craftaholic these days! Its all she wants to do. Its great though, it just make a mess, buts thats ok.

Yesterday we had a storm and a sun shower so because it has been so hot we all went outside and played in the rain, it was great! We got drenched but it was so nice to seem some rain. It hasn't rained properly for weeks and all our grass was turning brown. So Adam ran around with the girls and they had a blast.

Mile stones

So Amelia has a reached another mile stone - she is toilet trained! Yay! Well, she still has the occasional accident, but for the most part she is doing really well! She loves sitting on the potty and is so proud of herself. Bribery has also been a great incentive! Chocolate smarites work a charm! Annabel loves to encourage Amelia as well, as she also gets a smartie if Amelia uses the potty.

But it seems while Amelia is now toilet trained, she feels that she needs to reach yet another mile stone, that being "the terrible two's" and all the tantrums and screaming episodes that go along with it. I mean she had always been capable of throwing a fit in the past, but these days there occurances seem to be much more frequent, louder and longer and more irritating! I try to ignore her, put her in her room and all of that, but it just drives me up the wall. I have had a headache for the past 3 days and I am sure she is a greatly contributing to the tension in my neck and shoulders!

Annabel on the other hand seems to have settled down alot. She doesn't seems to get so worked up about things and is alot calmer and seems to listen more. She still snatches things off Amelia, but is quick to apologise and hand whatever it is back. The girls do play well together though, and Adam and I just love to watch them play their little games.

Amelia has been saying so many things lately. When I have the hose on outside she always quick to tell me " Dont you wet me Mummy!" or if I happen to be sitting in her seat she will say "thats my seat Mummy!". She loves wearing thongs (flip flops) and is always asking me "Mummy, wears my foms?". She chats away all the time, simetimes I have no idea what she asking me for and she gets really frustrated, and that often leads to a tantrum. I guess I would be frustrated if nobody knew what I was trying to say! Needless to say, the tantrums make me what to jump around and scream to!

Christmas Party!

On Friday afternoon we had Annabel's preschool (or daycare) Christmas party. She was so excited about it all week! It was a fun afternoon for all the kids. They had face painting, plaster painting, singing, a sausage sizzle and Santa came and gave all the kids a present. Annabel was a bit nervous before Santa's arrival, she still isn't sure about him, she just likes the presesnts he brings! Amelia had a great time with all the kids. She just loves Annabel's preschool. Everytime I drop Annabel off or pick her up Amelia just wants to stay. I end up having to drag her out kicking and screaming! I just keep telling her that it wont be long til you can go there! I am thinking of putting her in 2 days a week in May after all our visitors have been. She will love it, and so will I!

The girls plaster painting

Lining up for face painting

Amelia enjoying a sausage sandwhich

Face painting!

Waiting for Santa. Annabel's not sure if she's

excited or scared!

Santa's not so bad after all, he gave me a book!

But I still dont want to sit on his lap and get a

photo!

The past few weeks has been a bit of a roller coaster ride but we are settling in quite well. We are back to doing all the normal things, the girls are happy to be home and Annabel has loved being back at preschool and so do I! We've been keeping busy getting ready for Christmas - I cant believe it is only 2 1/2 weeks away! Annabel is really excited has been asking everyday if its Christmas yet. A couple of weeks ago we had a our own little Thanksgiving. The girls did some Thanksgiving crafts which they loved and have been wanting to do crafts everyday. They just love it and it keeps them busy, even though they make a huge mess! Lately they have been making their own Christmas decorations. Our Christmas tree is adorned with beautiful handmade childrens crafts! The girls just love looking at the tree and are so proud that they decorated it. I think that will be a tradition of ours every year, making our own Christmas decorations.

The weather has been really hot here. We've been busy trying to erect a big shade cloth over our back yard so the girls can actually play outside during the day. It is to hot otherwise. We also got the girls a trampoline as an early Christmas present. They love it! Amelia is still a bit cautious and just bounces on her knees near the edge. Annabel jumps around and tries to do all kinds of tricks. The day after we got it, though, she managed to sprain her ankle! I took her to the hospital and sat there for 2 1/2 hours (the nurses and doctors were great though!) and she had xrays and so on. One of the doctors wanted to put her leg in plaster just in case there was small bone breakages, but thankfully they decided against it and Annabel just wore a compression sock - phew! Could you imagine a 3 year old in plaster in this hot, hot weather?! No thanks! So anyways we left the hospital and came home. Before we left though Annabel could bare to walk, but as soon as we got home she ran out to the backyard and proceeded to jump on the trampoline!!!! I couldn't believe it! The little monkey! Needless to say I pulled her straight off and made her sit inside quietly for awhile. I didn't spend half my morning at the hospital for nothing!

So we are settling in quite well. I still have my moments often, and its hard to think that Mum is really gone. But one day at a time. No pressure. The girls sure keep me busy though! We are have a lot to look forward to over the next few months. First Christmas back with my family, then camping with my sister and her family, then in January we have friends from the US, Jeff and Leah, coming over, then Adam's parents and his brother Andy and sister Amye and boyfriend Tyler coming over for 2-3 weeks in February, and then in April our other good friends, Andrew and Emily and their little one Isabel are coming over! Lots of great people to see! I cant wait!

The girls hanging out with Adam in the hammock

Amelia's just a little to scared to stand or go anywhere

near the middle of the trampoline

Annabel has no fear!

The beautiful Christmas tree!

My beautiful Mum....

On November 4th, 2009 my beautiful Mum slipped away so peacefully and went home to Jesus. Her 2 and half year battle with ovarian cancer over, and she is finally free and sick no more.

It has been a hard couple of months but it has certainly been something that I will never forget. It was so wonderful to be able to spend Mum's last few months with her and then in her last month I was able to care for her at home. In all her time of being sick she didn't complain once. She was very ready to go though, and I have a real peace knowing that she was ready. Everything that was needed to be said was said. Even in all her sickness Mum was still able to joke with us. She would joke about dying and many other things, and it was great because it was so nice to laugh with her and know that everything was going to be ok even though Mum was leaving us.

Her funeral was beautiful. There were over 500 people who attended. Mum was able to request what she wanted, but most importantly she wanted it to be simple without much fuss. That was my practical Mum. She asked me to play Amazing Grace and Pachabel's Canon on my violin at the Church and I did. I actually surprised myself because I thought I would have fallen apart but I didn't. I had so many people praying for me that my hands didn't even shake and I was able to play with full confidence. The day was perfect, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and Mum's wake was also a wonderful celebration. We all had a champagne for her which is what she told us to do.
Annabel has had a lot of questions, and doesn't know why Margie cant come back from heaven. After Mum passed Annabel was really upset and cried for awhile. But like all kids, they are easily distracted so she enjoyed a lot of chocolate on these occasions. Amelia doesn't know what is going on, but after Mum passed when they took her away, Amelia stood there and waved to Mum saying "Bye, bye". It was very sweet and heart breaking at the same time.

So we are back in Brisbane after 10 weeks back home, and we are slowly getting back into the swing of things. Mum really wanted us to do our best to get on with things, she always told us that everything would be alright. I have my moments but I think I am doing a lot better than I thought I would. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since Mum passed so I guess it hasn't been all that long, but the nurses always told us that looking after Mum in her last days will help us with the grieving process and I think it has. I was more upset in Mum's final days, and I am glad that she isn't suffering anymore. But its the little things that get me, just the fact that I cant pick up the phone and ring Mum, or if I have a silly question to ask, or if my girls are driving me up the wall and I need Mum to laugh at the situation with me. But I do know that she would be laughing with me, and I can still hear her saying "You'll be alright Em. Everything will be alright". God Bless my beautiful Mum! She was and still is the best Mum I could have ever asked for.

Love you forever and ever Mum......

God's Garden

God looked around his garden

And He found an empty place.

And then He looked down upon the earth,

And saw your tired face.

He put His arms around you,

And lifted you to rest.

God's garden must be beautiful,

He always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering,

He knew you were in pain,

He knew that you would never

Get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough,

And the hills were hard to climb,

So He closed your weary eyelids,

And whispered"Peace be thine."

It broke our hearts to lose you.

But you didn't go alone,

For part of us went with you,

The day God called you home.

~author unknown~

It has been nearly 6 weeks since we have been here at my parents. It has been a very eventful and emotional time for all of us. I haven't really had a chance to write anything lately, nor have I even known what to say. Im still trying to get my head around everything that is happening and still try to do all the "normal" things in life that you still have to do and be sensible and practical. My Mum is always practical and just take things as they come. She is truly amazing.

The fact is is that my Mum is going to heaven soon. Any day now. She is at home with us now which is so lovely. She was in hospital for nearly 7 weeks, but came home last Thursday to be with us.

I love my Mum so much and I am still struggling to come to terms with what is really happening. There are 7 children in our family and we are all a great support to each other which is really comforting.

My girls have been pretty good. I just love how kids are so honest and how they can bring a smile to your face even when things feel like crap. Annabel said to me the other day. "Mummy, heaven is where the sun shines". It was so sweet. She comforts me when Im sad saying "Mummy, dont worry, everything will be alright". The other day I asked her what she was going to tell my Mum. She whispered in my ear "Jesus loves you". I thought that was really sweet so I asked her what else she was going to say, and she whispered in my ear again "Its in God's book". Then she looked me straight in the eye and then just ran off and played. I couldn't believe it when she said that. Ever since my Mum got sick 2 and half years ago, I have always thought of Psalm 139 and how it says that all our days were written in God's book before one of them came to be. I wrote it out in a card to my Mum. I hadn't told Annabel, as I thought she is to little to understand. But when she said that it just blew me away. How did she know? And how did she know that we needed to come down to see my Mum before her health was critical? Its a God thing.

All these little things help me to know that God is in control. But I still feel like crap because I still need my Mum. She has always been there. I speak to her twice a day on the phone when Im not with her. I would fly down every 6-8 weeks to see her. She has just always been there and it is so hard to think that soon she wont be. But I guess God knows that it will be ok. I guess its God that I need. But I am sick of guessing. He can work it all out for me.

So all that said I think I might go to bed. I am so tired, but one thing that I am thankful for is that Adam is here with us. His boss let him come down here 3 weeks ago and work out of the offices down here for the time being. What an awesome boss.

I love my Mum. I just love her so very much......

My Mum

The past 2 weeks have been very different for us. The girls and I are back in NSW with my beautiful Mum, and my Dad and family. My Mum has battled ovarian cancer for the past 2 and half years and now her health has declined more than ever. As hard as it to even comprehend what is going on I just want to take a moment and say how much I love my Mum. She is the strongest person I have ever known. She has never, ever complained about her cancer and even amidst all her sickness has kept all of us strong. She is a fighter, she is practical, she is so understanding and she always has time to listen. She always has a way of comforting me. Even now, when she is so sick, she still comforts me. She doesn't have to say much but her eyes say it all. She has always been strong for us and now we have to be strong for her.

Cancer is such a roller coaster ride, and I have to admit that I am really exhausted. You are never prepared - no matter what anybody says or how long they have been sick - to see someone you love go through something so horrible. But my hope remains in God.

I am so thankful though, to my wonderful husband Adam. He is such a great support and I love him and miss him so much!

The girls have been so good, despite circumstances. Its amazing though how little kids know what is going on. Before Mum was critically ill, Annabel kept nagging me constantly to go and see her. Mum was sick but it was what we were used to. I never talk to Annabel to much about Mum, because she is only little and doesn't need to be worried and anxious. But one night she woke up at 2am and insisted that I take her to the airport because she really needed to see "Margy" (my Mum). She was so upset and was crying and it took me a while to get her back to sleep. But it didn't end there, all week she nagged me, and I couldn't understand why because I already had flights booked for 2 weeks time. But then Mum began to get sicker and Annabel was more insistent. I told her that there were no seats left on the plane that day, so she said "Mum, we will just have to drive NOW!". And so we did. We left home an hour after deciding, Adam driving all of us.

I dont know how she knew, but all I know is that it must have been a God thing. I am so glad that we went when we did. So much has happened since we got here. We spend all day with Mum, and the girls are really being good for being at the hospital so long.

Its a roller coaster ride, but my Mum is riding it the best. I love my Mum, more than I could every express.

Insomniac

Amelia has been waking up so much lately. I cant even remember the last time she slept through the night. She will wake up at least once or twice through the night crying out "Mummmyyyy!" over and over. So reluctantly I get up, and all she wants is some milk. I know its a bad habit, but I really dont care at 1am. I give it to her and it usually settles her back down and I can go back to sleep.
Annabel has always been a good sleeper. Both girls were good as babies (well at least after the first couple of months!). My main goal was always to get them to sleep through the night, so I always pretty strict with feedings and nap time and so on. It was hard at first but I persevered and the results paid off. Both girls were sleeping 12hours a night by 12 weeks. Annabel continued and still sleeps well to this day. Well she did wake up occasionally if she was teething, sick, or in a strange place, but I could generally count on her to sleep through. Amelia on the other hand, was great at first, but then something changed, but I dont know what. She started waking up a lot at about 6-7 months and it has just kind of continued. I know that Im probably not helping because I give into her, but it just drives me crazy! And lately when she goes to bed she rarely wants to stay in there. Annabel always went to bed well, often asking us to put her to bed! But Amelia is a whole different ball game. Sometimes if she's really tired she'll go out well, but other times she will just yell out to us until Daddy goes in and brings her out. She knows she's getting away with something and she loves it. It might just be that we aren't as strict with Amelia as we were with Annabel. Oh Well, she cant do this forever, right?

Amelia sitting up with me when she knows she's supposed to be in bed!

Chores

Annabel has been getting bored lately and seems to be happy when she's "helping" me. She doesn't like to help me by picking her toys up, or help me by not whinging and whining, but she likes to help me with house work, that I may not necessarily what a 3 year olds help with. But I have found a few little "jobs" for her to do that she has been enjoying. She loves to fold clothes and towels and things like that, so that has been good and even though I have to refold them she really doesn't do to bad a job! Another thing I've been having her do is make her bed. She loves doing it and is so proud of it when its done. I figure that its best to start her now so that she gets used to it being apart of her morning rituals, and the more practise the better she'll be!

Annabel's first efforts at making her own bed!

Here are just a few photos of the girls playing and running around. I love our camera and Im always taking photo's whenever I can (thank you Grandma & Grandpa - John & Kaye!). I try and always keep it handy so I can just whip it out and capture the moment. I may not be the best photographer but it certainly is fun! I've always liked the idea of a journal with lots of photos to remember the moment even more.

The girls always love to put my shoes on and clomp around the house in them. Note, Amelia is not wearing pants, at least her nappy has stayed on though!

The other day the girls sat in the backyard on their towels after swimming and practised little dance moves with their arms. They were very cute. Amelia just loves to copy Annabel.

That cheeky smile again.

Adam was holding Amelia and she kept grabbing his arms and wrapping them around her. She was a real Daddy's girl that day.

Annabel cuddling Amelia in a strangling sort of loving way!

Food, food, food

See Mum, I CAN feed myself cereal!

See, straight in the mouth with only a little bit on my clothes

Told you I was clever!

Amelia has been feeding herself for quite a while now, but there were certain foods that I wouldn't let her feed herself, like cereal for instance. Anything that had liquid in it I had to do. There were times that I would put a little bit of milk on some rice bubbles for her and that was ok (well there were rice bubbles everywhere afterwards!), but lately she wants to feed herself everything! I had even stopped putting her in her highchair a while ago, she would just sit at the table with us in a kiddy seat thingy, or she would sit at the coffee table on a little chair with Annabel. But lately she just wont sit still so I have resorted back to the highchair, and the good thing is that she is ok with that. So anyways now she sits in it and feeds herself everything, and she is so very proud of herself, and very cheeky! She often asks for rice bubbles, saying "bubbles, Mummy", and she has taken a liking to peas! Yay!
I have been trying so hard lately to get veggies into my kids. Annabel is pretty good, she will eat everything with a bit of coaxing and the occasional bribe. But Amelia tends to have more fun chewing them and spitting them out. She doesn't always do this, but if you look at her while she's eating she'll generally do something naughty and cheeky. So I've been puring veggies and adding it to their food. They both love macaroni and cheese, so I have been loading it with pureed veggies and they both just gobble it down unaware. But I cant just feed them mac and cheese all the time, so I've had to think up some EASY recipes to feed them and hide their veggies. I've got the cook book "deliciously deceptive" but I have to be in the mood to cook. I like simple things. Especially for kids. I'm probably just being lazy, though. I have been trying to feed them their veggies at lunch time as well. I actually find lunch time easier to give them their dinner than at dinner time. Dinner time is always so hectic and they are always at my feet. So for the last week or so I have been giving them their dinner at lunch and then something simple at dinner time. Then when they go to bed Adam and I can actually sit down and have our dinner in peace. It seems to work for us! We'll see how long it lasts!

This past weekend we took the girls up to Southbank again and let them have a big swim. It was yet another beautiful day and the water was perfect. We went along with some friends of ours, Glen and Michelle and their 2 littlies, Ella and Joshua who are the same age as our girls. The kids played in the water for hours and Amelia had fun hanging out with Daddy in the lagoon, just kicking back and using Daddy as her own personal flotation device. She was just relaxing!
By about 2pm Amelia was well and truly tired, she just stood their shivering and staring into space. Annabel was still keen to keep on swimming though! We packed up and ventured back to the car with an ice cream and a 2 tired girls. On the way home we stopped off at Nando's and ordered a big bowl of hot chips - the perfect end to a good day, no cooking! Then it was back home to try and relax some more!

Annabel playing on the rocks

Amelia playing in the water fountains

Me and Annabel. She's hard to catch when she's playing!

Amelia and Daddy relaxing in the lagoon

Amelia and Daddy taking a stroll down the lagoon

Holiday house

The girls have been so busy lately playing in their "holiday house". They have transformed Amelia's room into their own little getaway and stay in there for hours playing. They turned the change table into bunk beds and set up their little table and chairs and of course they have their babies that they have to take care of. They both have a big imagination! Mind you though, the place was a mess! They took all the blankets off Amelia's bed and raided my linen cupboard. But they had so much fun and it kept them busy and allowed me to get some stuff done.

Pretending to sleep

Wolf Spider?

Yesterday, the grossest thing! And this wasn't' anything to do with the my kids either. Adam, while home for lunch, was walking in the backdoor when all of sudden a big spider landed on him. He didn't think anything of it at first until he got a look at it. It was the biggest creepiest spider I had ever seen, and I have seen my fair share of spiders. It was as big as Adam's hand. Before he saw it he thought it was just a harmless huntsman, which do get quite big and are hairy, but harmless. But this didn't look anything like a huntsman to me. It had stripes on its legs and a weird pattern on its body. From my experience huntsman's were just one shade of brown all over. It also moved very quickly and stood in this strange position. Adam had managed to flick it off and it jumped into the curtains. Adam, who hates to kill anything, got the fly and insect spray and sprayed in and around the curtain trying to kill it. I in the mean time held Amelia because she wanted to go up and see the "bider". I hate spiders. I cant even hardly look at them without feeling sick and creeped out. So while the spider was very slowly dying we managed to get a photo of it and then went online and looked up what it could be. By looking at the photos online it looked to us to be a wolf spider, which are quite poisonous here, and require and anti venom if your bitten.
So I was just feeling so thrilled about having a venomous spider in my house! After a while Adam managed to catch the half dead spider in a bucket then put it in a clear container. It eventually died. Once Adam got back to work he emailed a work colleagues husband, who does pest control, the photo of the spider to see what kind it was. Everyone at Adam's work was convinced it was a wolf spider, some telling lovely stories of how the adult ones actually prey on birds! So anyway, eventually the pest guy got back to us and told us that it actually was a harmless huntsman, just a different kind, and not an awful bird eating monster! What an event! This poor spider, was actually harmless, and we killed it! But at the same time I still don't like spiders and don't like them in my house! So anyways, I was relieved that I didn't have a wolf spider pandemic at my house, but I still had the creeps for the rest of the day!
Hope this doesn't deter all you future visitors of ours!!!!

Just gives me the creeps!

Cardboard castle

I just thought this was so cute I had to add it. Last week our washing machine died (that is not the cute part!) and so reluctantly we had to go and buy another one. Although secretly I must say I was kind of relieved. I really hated my front loader and was quite happy to get a brand new top loader. And despite the expense, I am rapped with my new washing machine! Yes, things like that excite me!

So anyways getting back to it, we had this new washing machine and a great big box, which was by far more exciting for the girls ( I don't know why, cant they see the joy that I get from it! Obviously not, they couldn't care less if their clothes were clean or dirty, well at least Amelia wouldn't anyway). Anyhoo, so they had this great big cardboard box which they had to do everything in. First it was a big cave that they needed a torch to see in (no, not a flaming stick, that's just what we call a flashlight :)), and then it was their bedroom, and then it was a castle. They both got dressed up in their princess dresses and played in their castle for hours. It is amazing how something so simple as a cardboard box is far more entertaining than any expensive toy. They took their crayons out and decorated it, rode their bikes in it and ate their lunch in it. And the best thing is is that they could do pretty much whatever they wanted to it, because all we have to do is throw it away! This definitely re-defines the saying that "its the simple things in life that are the best"!

Swinging Solo

Today was a very exciting day for Annabel - she has learned to swing all by herself! She has been trying and trying for what seems like years to her and today she accomplished that dream! And Adam and I couldn't be more happier, because now we can actually SIT outside and watch the girls play instead of standing there pushing them both. Now while Amelia cant swing herself, Annabel is more than glad to push her little sister. So its great! Annabel's over the moon and so are we!

It is so cute to watch her and see how proud she felt. You forget how something so small like swinging on a swing can be so huge for someone so little. I remember when I was little sitting there for hours trying to click my fingers and when I did it it was like I had a climbed Mount Everest!

So she couldn't get enough of this new accomplishment of hers. She swung her little self back and forth for over an hour before she quickly ran inside, gobbled down her dinner, and ran straight back out there swinging again until it started getting dark and her bath was ready. I am sure tomorrow, after preschool, will be the same, and for the next few days or so until she finds something else to master. She has been trying to whistle, but I think that will take a little while yet!

delinquent?

I seem to be finding it hard to keep Amelia out of trouble. She is into EVERYTHING! The little monkey pulls all the gates down and gets into every cupboard she can find. The other morning I caught her in the kitchen with a dish washing tablet in her mouth! Thankfully she didn't swallow any. She thought it was a milky way, but I think a soon as she put it in her mouth she realized it wasn't chocolate and threw it on the ground. I in the mean time was ready to call the poisons info line, but after assessing the tablet I realized she had only managed to wet it a bit. Talk about a panic attack!

She is still in the habit of taking her nappy off as well. To my horror once again, she took it off after having done a poo. I wont go into to much detail, but lets just say I am glad we have floor boards and not carpet in our lounge room. It was quite disgusting! Anyone who didn't have children would have been horrified and sworn off kids for life!

She is so very cute though, but she sure is challenging at times! I am finding that while some things get easier new things pop up and others get harder. Like right now I feel like we're almost past all the "baby" things. She eats everything we do, doesn't have a bottle, she can play outside with Annabel and she can say quite a few things now. But now she can do lots of things, she still cant understand why she's not allowed to. Like playing with the toilet brush for instance. And eating leaves and ripping my plants out of their pots.

I just need to be patient and enjoy them and keep telling myself that one day they will be teenagers and from what I hear, they are a heck of alot harder! (not to be pessimistic or anything!).

Summer already?

The girls paddling in their little pool

This is South Bank in the city where we take the girls swimming

It is beautiful!

I just cant get over how hot the weather has been lately! I mean, I know we are in Brisbane and it is warm up here, but it has been HOT! Yesterday it was 33 degrees Celsius ( I think that is about 90 F) and it is still technically winter! I'm not complaining though, I love this weather! But I have to say that I am a little concerned about how hot the summer is going to be this year. Thankfully we have airconditioning and we got our roof insulated so that should keep us cool.

On Sunday we went up into the city to South Bank and took the girls swimming in the lagoon. It is a man made beach/lagoon thingy right in the heart of the city over looking the river. It is just beautiful there. We all had a swim and the girls had a blast. It was actually quite relaxing this time. Both girls are pretty cautious so we just sat in the water and they splashed away. It was great!

Yesterday I put the girls little pool up and let them have a splash around. And I think I will be doing the same thing today. Both of them are so tan it makes me jealous! But I am glad that they have their Fathers skin and not mine, otherwise we would probably have 2 little red girls!

This past weekend we went away for the long weekend with our friends Jody and Mark and their two little girls, Mia and Bella. It was such a relaxing weekend! I was quite surprised at how well all the girls behaved! We went up to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast (about an hour and a half's drive north of us) and it was absolutely beautiful! We stayed in an apartment right across from the beach and a big park. The kids had an absolute ball! And us adults actually got to relax and enjoy ourselves. The weather was perfect, it was warm and sunny, and the kids got to have a swim at the beach and play in the sand. We were close to everything so we didn't have to drive anywhere which was great. It was our 2nd time staying up there, we went up with Adam's parents last time they were over and are going back again in February with them. It is definitely one of our favourite holiday get aways!

Today we went for another bike ride with the girls and we had such a nice time. The weather was beautiful and the girls were really well behaved. We rode to the park again and this time we packed a lunch and let the girls run around while we sat back in the sun and relaxed. I am really enjoying being able to do more now that the girls are getting bigger. I dont feel like I am tied to the house as much or that I need to pack a billion things before we go anywhere. We rode along some knew bike trails and I actually feel like I am getting better (corners and hills dont scare me as much anymore!). I am, however, still pretty unfit, but hopefully that will improve with time aswell. The girls took in all the scenery and Annabel kept yelling out to Adam to go faster, especially when he was trying to pull them up a big hill. But he still does so much better than me and all I have to do is pull myself along!

On the way back home both the girls fell asleep. They cuddled into each other and looked so cute. It was lovely though because when we got home they stayed asleep, and because the bike trailer also converts into a stroller all we had to do was wheel them inside and leave them to sleep. So while they were asleep we got to relax in some peace and quiet. All in all it was a great day.

To toilet train or not?

I am not sure what to do at the moment. Amelia still keeps taking her nappy off and running around the house half nude. Not only that, nearly everytime I put her down for a nap I always end up finding her asleep with no pants or nappy on. To my horror the other day I found more than just her nappy in her cot, and on the floor! I needn't say anymore, I am sure you have got the "messy" picture.
Yes so I am thinking that maybe little miss may need to be toilet trained early. I am not sure it will work, (Im not getting my hopes up!), or if I can really be bothered with the hassle just yet. But then again I am not liking cleaning up all her little messes I have found through the house, so I should probably just give it a whirl. I hate toilet training though! Annabel picked it up straight away and was great for 3 months, then all of sudden she went backwards and was back in nappies (after many "accidents") for another 5 months or so. But maybe because Amelia has Annabel as a role model now she might pick it up quickly and keep it up? At least I am hoping!
So maybe I should go ahead and "try". I just wish it could be done in 1 day!

Biking

Last weekend Adam and I took the girls for a family bike ride. Two days before that we had gone for a short ride, which I am glad that we did, because I cant even remember the last time I rode a bike! So last Sunday we piled the girls into the bike trailer, Adam pulled them along, and off we went. We had found all these bike trails near our house that we didn't even know existed. It was beautiful riding through all bushy paths. I was nervous at first but soon gained more confidence and my butt didn't seem to hurt as much after awhile (I forgot how hard some bike seats can be!) The girls were really good, they love riding in the trailer, and they especially love it when Adam rides fast. I, on the other hand, was struggling to keep up! I didn't realise how unfit I hadn't become, but it felt really good to have a work out. We rode to a park near by and we let the girls get out and have a play while I caught my breath. All in all we rode for over two hours and the girls both ended up falling asleep. The weather had been perfect as well. Queensland winters sure are nice :) I just love being able to wear a tshirt in the middle of winter.
This weekend is supposed to be even warmer so I think we might pack a lunch and head off again!

Mine!

Well Amelia has learned a new word - "Mine"! Everything these days is, "mine, mine, mine!". The other night Adam and I gave the girls a chocolate Tim Tam for desert, I wasn't sure if Amelia would eat all of hers but gave her the whole thing anyway. Usually she would share her food with us (even though quite often we would reject the soggy, sucked piece of food), but that night I asked her for a bite and she just glared at me holding her tim tam close to her chest and said "No, Mine!". Then it a matter of 10 seconds she had eaten the whole thing without making hardly any mess. It was gone and she was happy.

So we are now struggling with this new "mine" business and the tantrums that quite often follow. It seems my little 18 month old is quite advanced, but not necessarily in the way you might think (well I do think she is a bright little button, but I am her mother ;) ). The terrible two's seem to have begun a little early. I remember when Annabel started throwing tantrums when she didn't get her own way, but I don't recall it ever really happening this early.

So now whenever Amelia doesn't get her way she just glares at me (or Adam or whoever), and runs up to the wall and hits it and then sometimes, depending on her frustration, will throw her self on the floor kicking her legs and crying. I must say though, it is quite cute. She is still in that "cute" phase where I'm trying not to smile when she starts. However I do know that this "cute" phase soon runs out and those little tantrums are no longer cute. She still seems so little to me that I find it so funny when she gets cranky like that. This little person knows exactly what she wants and if she doesn't get it she's "not happy, Jan" as they say.

So I have been trying so hard to keep her out of mischief. Yesterday I caught her ripping my agave's out of there pots because apparently they were her "lowlers" (flowers) as she calls them. And then she tore all of the leaves off another plant I had. My garden and pots are not looking that great of late, but I suppose that's why they say "that's why we cant have nice things".
She is also a great climber. I always find her sitting on the bar stools and on top of the counter/bench top in the kitchen. She also pulls down all the gates I have situated around the house to keep her out of things, and I always seem to find her in our bathroom sucking on my toothbrush. Its really lovely having a snotty nosed kid sucking on your toothbrush.

Another thing is I always seem to find her running around the house with no pants on. She will have her top on and shoe's and socks, but no pants or nappy. They will be in a heap on the floor somewhere, or she will be in the middle of taking them off. It doesn't bother her that it might be cold, or that she might piddle everywhere and I will have to clean it up. Oh, the joys of children!

But Annabel seems to be getting somewhat easier. I suppose its more that I can reason with her a bit more now, and because Amelia is a little monkey now, Annabel doesn't seem as challenging. But in saying that we do have our moments frequently, and when they do happen I tend to think that she is the hardest to deal with. I suppose there will always be something with both of them!

"Margy & Grumpy's" house

We've had a busy couple of weeks, and I haven't updated for awhile. 2 weeks ago I flew down to my parents with the girls for 1 week to get a bit of a "home fix" and to meet my new little nephew Hamish. I've been feeling a bit homesick lately and miss everyone, so it was nice to go back for a little awhile, and spend time with family. Except my Mum ended up in the hospital for the whole week I was there! She is ok though and much better now, but the timing was so bad for her. But we visited her everyday so I was glad of that. We also went and visited little Hamish! He is so tiny and so cute! I held him and it was like holding nothing (especially after holding my two!). The girls both loved him. Annabel just wanted to pick him up and carry him around, and couldn't understand why she couldn't. Amelia just kept going up to him and saying "hello" with a big grin on her face. I only went and saw him a couple of times though because the day after we got there Amelia got sick and we didn't want to spread any germs.

The girls had fun at my parents though. My Dad has been attracting birds and he has about 50 or more birds that come to the house every morning and afternoon for a feed. They are mainly rainbow lorakeets and they feed right out of your hand. The girls loved it! Annabel was feeding them and Amelia just ate the bread herself and tried to pick the birds up. At one stage she had a handful of feathers! The birds didn't really seem to care though.

Both our flights were 6am flights so we were all tired going and coming back. It was nice to get back to Adam though, the girls and I missed him heaps!