I think Amelia has been watching Finding Nemo way to much! Last night at 4am she was yelling out "my watch Nemo Mummy! Watch Nemo on the lounge Mummy!". She was yelling and crying out in desperation. She really wanted to get up and watch Nemo. What must have started out as a dream and talking in her sleep, turned into her waking herself and really wanting to get up and watch her favourite movie. Even though I didn't appreciate being woken up at 4am I had to laugh. I knew she loved Nemo, but I didn't realize that she wanted to get up through the night and watch it!

So I had to get up and go to her, and then of course she wanted milk as well, but I managed to coax back into going sleep. But what was the first thing she asked for this morning when she came toddling into our room, besides milk? To watch Nemo of course!

Bed shopping

Today we took the girls bed shopping. Fun! Well not really, but they weren't to terribly naughty, just at the end of the day when Annabel was tired and lost it. They had a good incentive though - MacDonald's, or as Annabel calls it "Old MacDonald's". I don't know what it is about MacDonald's but kids seem to love it. My kids seem to love the play ground the most. They hardly eat any of the food, the only thing they'll eat are the fries. And Annabel always requests a special Old MacDonalds water - just tap water in a cup with ice and a straw. She loves it! Its so funny, I never thought a kid could get so excited over water, but thats all she will drink, that or plain milk. So we journeyed around a few different stores lying on beds, pricing and so forth before we we went to MacDonald's. The girls continually tried to climb up all the bunk beds, Amelia was the worst, but the sales people didn't seem to mind, I am sure they are used to it!

So our aim is to get Amelia a bed. She is still sleeping in her cot (crib), so we really need to get her in a bed! We are thinking one with a trundle so that theres always an extra bed for any little friends that might stay over eventually. Hmmmm, we have one is mind so we'll see if that works.

So anyways, nearing the end of the day we decided to pop into Ikea (I love Ikea!), and check their beds out. Amelia had already fallen asleep in the stroller so that was good, and Annabel seemed to be ok until Adam wouldn't let her have one of those little pencil's ikea provides for you to write all your notes down. Normally we let her have one, but this time she marked a bit of furniture with one so Adam took it off her. Well, that was it! She lost it! She screamed and carried on. Mind you Ikea was packed and here was Annabel yelling and spluttering everywhere. Normally we give the "wait til we get home" threats, but this time she was not listening at all, so Adam had to drag her to the parents room and give her a smack on the bottom. It worked. She was calmer when she got back, and realized that Mum and Dad were serious. But it didn't last long. She started all over again when we wouldn't let her have an icecream. So to the car it was, this time we could clearly see that she was over tired so we chose to ignore her and get in the car as soon as possible. Meanwhile Amelia is still sleeping soundly. Thank goodness! So to the car we go, and not long after more arguing and crying Annabel was sound asleep.

So now we are home and the girls are watching TV. Amelia is watching her favourite movie, Finding Nemo for the 100th time. She loves that movie! I remember Annabel loving it just as much about a year ago. Its a wonder the DVD is still working! So its nice they are quiet. I think we'll try and get them to bed a little earlier tonight. I think I'll need to as well!

sound sleep

Last night was the best nights sleep I've had in a long time! Amelia didn't wake up once! I know it sounds ridiculous considering she is 2. She should have been sleeping through a long time ago. But with all the craziness over the last 7 months, we developed some bad habits as I have already mentioned. But now I am feeling back in control and ready to tackle anything.

I forgot to mention that Amelia also went backwards with her toilet training just before Christmas. But we are starting it all again, and she is picking it back up quite well. She is really proud of herself when she uses her potty, and I am actually remembering to remind her to go!

I'm also excited about getting back into my blogging. My scrap booking also needs some much needed attention and updating, so maybe that will be my project for today. Again, I love motivation!

On Tuesday all our visitors went home. It had been nearly 7 weeks that we had visitors staying with us so it feels kind of strange now that everybody has gone. We had such a great time with everyone, but we are happy being our own little family again. The last couple of days we have been working on getting the kids back into their routine, and I was actually surprised at how quickly they slipped back into it! They've been having their normal meals at the normal time, playing happily together and they have both been in bed and asleep by 7.30pm! I am stoked!

We've been trying to tackle Amelia's nightly milk cravings and it hasn't gone to bad. She woke up the first night wanting milk and I told her "no". She got upset but when I told her I was going to close her door if she didn't stop crying, she quickly rolled over and cuddled her blanket. She woke up a couple more times but didn't cry for long. She is starting to realise that now that everybody has gone, Im not going to give into her every little whim or wham through the night.
So its all going pretty well. She even took a nap today without arguing! YES! I am one happy Mummy! Annabel's at preschool today so I have a lovely quiet house. Nice.

I have also been busy sorting through the house and throwing out everything. I love throwing things out. I find it hard when I first start, but once I see how smooth and organised everything looks and feels, its a great feeling! I am also on a bit of a health kick. I am just craving healthy food and regular exercise. I feel as though the new year has just started for me and I want to get myself organised and into gear. We'll see how it goes.....

My independant husky little princess

Amelia isn't your typical little 2 year old girl with a cute squeaky voice. In fact she is quite the opposite! Mind you her voice is extremely cute but it is quite husky! She is hilarious! Her range of tones change quite often and she is very expressive. She loves being a monster, but at the same time she loves singing pretty songs. She is quite the chatacter. She has been thriving on all the attention she's been getting and is quite the performer.

She has also become very independant. She is constantly saying "My do it!" or "My help me!". It has gotten to the point where she wont let me dress her or even pick her clothes. She has to do it! But of course I dont let her. Well, sometimes I let her pick out her clothes, or at least give her a couple of options. And her attempts to dress herself, almost always end up in a frustrated tantrum as she cant work out why she cant walk properly with both legs in one leg hole of her shorts.

She has also decided that she doesn't need a nap anymore. And if she does, she needs gallons of milk to help her go to sleep! Its ridiculous! She will even wake up in the night several times and will refuse to go back to sleep unless I give her milk. What have I done! I have on my hands an independant husky little show off who is a milkaholic that refuses to sleep properly! But she is very cute and knows it! But I have to admit that my girls have not had a "normal" 6months or more. There has been so much going on and so much to deal with that it has been hard to get them back on track. I need a good month I think to get them properly sorted out. And now I am in a better frame of mind I can do it. It has been tough since Mum passed, but I am now ready to tackle this lack of routine and get some structure back into our lives! I love motivation!

Holidays....

Wow, what a busy month it has been! I have hardly had time to blog and I know that there is so much I need to catch up on! So I will try and start from the beginning....

Four weeks ago Andy arrived and and then 5 days later Amye and Tyler arrived. For a couple of days we all just hung out at our place, the kids loved all the attention they were getting from their new visitors and we were all getting exited about going away for the next 2 weeks.

2 days later Adam's parents arrived. We picked them up from the airport and headed straight up to Caloundra to the beach side apartments. It was stinking hot when we arrived, but by the time we got settled we were all ready to hit the beach and go swimming. Our friends Jody and Mark came up and stayed with us for 2 nights with their 2 little ones, Mia and Bella. It was great, the kids were all hyped up (not sure if that is great) and they had a blast. The following day we had a joint birthday party for Annabel and Amelia. It was so much fun! The weather was awful though, it rained all day so our beach side party had to be held in the apartment, but that was ok, the kids didn't care.

I was so excited getting ready for their party, I had ordered some Little Mermaid party settings because both my girls are mermaid obsessed! The guys had taken the girls out shopping in the morning so we could set up for the party. They were both so excited when they came back from shopping to see all the decorations.

They were both terribly spoilt! They got so many things from everyone else, that Adam and I needn't have got them anything! We had lunch and the cake, and then I had 2 very tired girls on my hands. I cant remember if they went to bed early or not, but I do know that Amelia has been sleeping terribly for far to long now and I so desperately need to get her back into some kind of routine, and help her with her terrible milk addiction.

The day after the party Andy's girlfriend Chung Yi, flew over to join us all. The girls just loved her as well and hung off her for most of the first day.

So the rest of our time in Caloundra we just hung out, went swimming, shopping, ate and ate some more. The others went on a couple of day trips, but I just stayed back with the girls. It was easier for me to have a quiet day with them once in awhile.

After a week in Caloundra we headed down to the Gold Coast for a week. It was so nice having so much holiday time. We stayed in Surfers Paradise, though not right on the beach, but only a 1 minute walk so that was fine. We ate and shopped again, and swam and went for big long walks on the beach. We treated ourselved to a manicure and pedicure while the guys watched the kids. It was lovely being pampered!

The kids were relatively good for the 2 weeks we were away. They were always very excited which led to them being pretty cranky some nights, but all in all it was a fun and relaxing get away.

We are all now back at our place, enjoying all the rain. I cant believe how much it has rained since everybody has been here! It usually never rains, and now we are having record rain falls! Its crazy! But I must admit I have been enjoying it since we've been home. Before everybody came the days were so hot and humid and the sun felt as though it was burning holes in my skin. So this cooler weather is a nice change, not mention that the grass needed a good water!

So we have been back for a week now, Andy and Chung Yi are already back in Beijing and back to work. The others are here for another week. We've all just been hanging out and relaxing. Today I think we are going out for lunch and are going to do some shopping. Then we will back here for dinner and no doubt a nice bottle of wine! Cheers!

So its raining! It is wonderful! After all the stinking hot humid days, we finally have some relief! Its funny though because usually rainy overcast weather is depressing, but not at the moment. But I am hoping that it is over by the weekend, because we are going away for 2 weeks! Adam's brother, Andy, arrived here on Saturday morning. It was so exciting! The girls just love their fun Uncle Andy! The day we arrived we decided to take him up into the city and do the usual thing up there. We went swimming at Southbank and then walked over into the city and then through the botanical gardens. It was a nice day, not to hot (although I still managed to get sun burnt even though I had many layers of sunscreen that were reapplied through out the day!), and there was a beautiful breeze.

We then walked over to kangaroo point where there is a great cliff face that stretches across for about 200 metres and is right on the river with picnic tables and grassy areas for the kids to play. It is the place to go climbing and is always filled with people. Adam and Andy took their climbing gear and headed up the rock face. Andy made it all the way up, but poor 'ol Adam was hurting a bit and couldn't quite make it. He is not as fit as he used to be! I like to say that he has settled into the family role and is enjoying the many different "comforts" that come with that. Exercising being at the bottom of the list. But needless to say they both had a great time, and the girls loved watching them. I was annoyed though, because yet again I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't take any photos. The girls both wanted to climb as well. Annabel put on Adam's climbing shoes and helmet and attempted to climb. She really wanted to climb to the top but changed her mind when she realized just how hard and scary it was being only 3 feet above the ground. All in all it was a good day!