Happy Halloween!

So we are in Australia this year for Halloween, and the Halloween spirit hasn't yet taken hold of the Aussies, so we didn't go trick or treating, unfortunately. We did go to a Birthday Party, and Lily dressed up for that, so we took pictures of out little 'fairy princess,' She was very pretty, and very excited that I let her wear this dress today! Oliver didn't get to dress up, poor baby! Maybe next year!

I just love his facial expression in the photo!

Our Fairy Princess

Happy Halloween Everyone!

A few pictures

Happy Birthday Oliver!

Oliver had a great time, he loved to have his head out!

Here we are on the train!

Pictures from the Tulip Festival we went to in the hills.

Greg walking the rows with the kids

Posing with the kids

Oliver wants to know why we are making him look at flowers!

Lily is walking the Tulip Line

Smelling the flowers

Happy First Birthday Oliver!

We celebrated Oliver's birthday by going on a Thomas the Train ride on the Puffing Billy line in the hills. We went up and had a picnic by the lake, and fed the ducks our leftovers. Oliver thought they were very friendly animals and tried talking to them! Lily just had fun throwing them bits of bread. Then it was on to the train ride, we met some friends at the station, two babied and two toddlers and four adults boarded the Thomas train for a 20 min. ride down the track and back. It was the perfect length for the kids, Oliver loved it! he had his head out the train the whole time, so did Lily and Hugh. Beautiful scenery around the tracks. Afterwards we went to a Thomas pantomime, which in retrospect we should have missed, tons of people, strollers and babies were there to watch, and our crowd just wasn't so interested in the show! After we took a few pictures, we missed Thomas though, they were charging for pictures with him! Onto the playground went Lily and her friend Hugh, with tons of other kids. They had fun playing on a new playground, and the babies had a nice crawl in the grass.

Back to the house, both kids asleep before we left the little town! A much needed nap in between all the fun. We fired up the grill to grill our dinner, a few potatoes and salad and there was dinner. Happy Birthday song sung to Oliver, with Lily trying hard to sing it (we have been practicing) Oliver (Lily) blew out his candle, and we had cake! The cake was a green cake with a little 'hill' a rail track and Thomas coming down the tracks. Oliver got a good chunk of it, and he dug right in! He liked the frosting the best.

We finished opening presents, He got lots of toys, a gear toy, some building blocks, car keys, a Thomas train, a weebles wobble tree house set, a tool set, a truck set... and on it goes, what a lucky boy! Thanks Jordy for the gear set, Thanks Grama for the little car, Thanks Mimi for the building blocks, Thanks Jamie for the car keys (already in the car) and the much needed PJ's (so cute). Thanks everyone for the cards and well wishes! Oliver is a lucky boy to have so much! I need more toy buckets to store all his goodies!

Yesterday Oliver turned one! One whole year old, and he isn't such a baby anymore! I have a feeling that he will be walking within the month, and he is no longer having bottles during the day. He is more attached to his blanket since the disappearance of his bottle, especially during nap time, but I think this is fine, I feel like there is so much change in their little lives that having a comfort item is good for now. He is growing up fast, before I know it I will have two walking talking kids! Greg can't wait for that, I can though, they grow fast enough without us wanting them to reach milestones too quickly!

But today he needs his Mama, poor baby is having a bad day. He is still fighting his cold, and I can see his next tooth trying to break through. It is going to be a stay around the house cuddle and nap kind of day!

I will post pictures soon.

Oliver Update!

Oliver is almost a year old now, just a few days to go and he will have been here for a year! He seems to be changing and reaching milestones quickly right now! He is really wanting to walk, and he will walk next to us holding onto one of our hands, and he does quite well at it! Tonight he took two steps on his own before he fell down, walking between Greg and I. But the really big one for me is that he has gone two days now with only having one bottle at night! He seems to be a little more demanding of his food, and a little more ready for bed (and bottle) but otherwise so far so good! I really didn't mean to cut him off so quickly or so thoroughly but it seems to just be happening that way. We will see if we can keep it up, or if we will revert! hmm wow, my baby is growing up! When did that happen?

Monday Monday

Monday seems to be a good day to blog for me, a time to tell about the week we just had. There isn't much to be said about this last weekend though, it was pretty low key. I did get to have a night out on Friday night, when I went to the mall to do some 'late night' shopping. That is what they call it when the shops stay open until 9pm, usually they close at 6! It was nice not to have to haul the kids around the mall, and take our time with looking. Thanks to Greg for putting the kids to bed! I think they all enjoyed it! I know I did, and I got a bit of birthday shopping done!

The next day we went back to the mall, for about an hour and a half, that is all that Greg could handle! There were tons of people there, finding a parking space is the hardest part! The kids do relatively well there though, I think it is because of all the activity and people. Then our weekend slowed right down, as Greg and I are in the midst of a cold, and the kids are just getting over one! Oliver is still teething working on number 8! maybe sometime this week.

Lily is articulating a lot better, it is amazing the changes her vocabulary has made in the last few weeks! She loves movies, the dancing and singing movies, the disney movies, it doesn't seem to matter! Her favorite is tinkerbell, and we have all three thank goodness, so I get to switch up which one she watches. We are learning our colors right now, we have red, and blue down, that doesn't mean that she always tells you the right one though! She seems to like to mess them up to see what we will do. Willfull Child

Oliver is almost a year! Less than a week to go. He has learnt to come down the stairs backwards, finally! He just needs a bit of help starting out. I am slowly trying to get him to take a bottle less often, which is going slowly as he loves his bottle, so far we do well at home, only around nap time. Going out is a bit harder, he is used to having a bottle in the car or stroller if we are out for a while.

A day out in Melbourne

So the kids and I had a big day out in Melbourne, well at least it felt like a big day! We went to town to go to IKEA and pick up a few toy storage buckets, and ended up getting a little more than we went for, but that is the thing about IKEA, there is always something else that you can't live without! Lily walked with me and Oliver was in his stroller, we were in and out in 40 min, which is really really good for us! Then it was into the city to meet Greg for lunch, which went relatively well considering that the kids were HUNGRY by that time, Oliver ate everything, Lily decided to be picky. She will also eat anything, it just depends on her mood that day, today she decided to eat like her Dad, and had calamari rings! I was a little surprised. When we were finished there were two rings left, she had one on her wrist, and one on her finger lie a ring and bracelet! Sorry, the only picture is on the cell phone, if I ever figure out how to load them onto the comp I will add it. Then it was to the ban for us to complete some paperwork that me and my passport had to personally be there for! afterwards we went to a friends apt. to take in the view of the city from the 50th floor, very nice, again I yelled at myself for not bringing the camera! We had a lovely visit, our last as Jaibei is leaving for China in a few days. We went downstairs for a coffee and a treat for Lily, then it was back to the car, and oh my it is 5 oclock! Where did the time go? Into the car we go, bottle for Oliver, juice for Lily, coffee for Mum, kids are asleep before we get out of the carpark! Thank goodness as we then hit traffic, for the first time. We got home a little after 6, and Oliver didn't last 30 min. before he was ready for his next bottle and bed! Poor baby. Lily is finishing off the day with a movie, and is soon to bed herself, and I am just cleaning up, getting ready to organize those toys into their buckets!

What a full weekend!

We had such a great and full weekend! On Friday afternoon we didn't really have any plans, Saturday started off slow, hanging around the house, and then I read in the paper that there was a Tulip Festival up in the hills, so off we went! It was a pretty drive up into the Dandegongs (the hills around Melbourne) passing many little signs for little local wineries, can't wait to go to one! We found the tulips, and it was a great little festival. There were quite a few people there, everyone taking pictures! Some of the tulips were huge! I couldn't believe it! We took pictures, and had a snack, listening to some of the entertainment, enjoying the festival feeling with the sun shining, a great day overall!

On Sunday we packed up the car and drove down to Sale for the night, stopping at a park called Gumbuya Park. We played at the park, then walked around and saw Emu's, Kangaroos, Wallabees, Dingos, Pheasants, Peacocks, and lots of other birds. In my opinion the Emu's are one ugly bird, the Dingos were a lot prettier than I had expected (looked very much like a dog next door!) the Kangaroos were sleepy in the sun, the Peacocks showed off with their feathers, and there were lots of different kinds of Pheasants, its not fair that the males are the pretty ones! We had a cafe lunch there and learnt that from now on we should bring a picnic when going to the park! Another little play in the park and it was time to hit the road again.

Sale was great, the kids did relatively well when we went out to dinner, considering the big day we had. Greg went to work on Monday, and the kids and I checked out of the hotel and went to visit Denise and Stan, some old neighbors of mine! It was nice seeing them again. After the visit we walked around the town, and then we walked around the little lake in town. Lily did really well, she walked halfway around the lake by herself! It was such a beautiful day, but the mosquitos were terrible! We couldn't stop to rest for fear of being eaten alive!

Overall we had a really great weekend! But now it is back to reality, and the mountain of laundry that I have to do today! Where does it all come from? But never fear we are going to have a break today of going to the indoor play center, should be fun.

A few new photos

Oliver having a snack in his chair, he looks happy doesn't he!

Lily having a doughnut

'Helping' Daddy fill the fountain, and Lily's water bucket

Going for a ride

What a cool girl

Spring has sprung here in Australia and we are loving the warmer weather! We have a fantastic backyard to enjoy, the kids like to go out and play, Oliver really loves to just go and sit outside! I think I am going to have nature kids :)

We had a BBQ this weekend, it was really nice having people over to help us enjoy our home and yard. We had the Grand Finals Aussie Rules Football Game (take two) on, which is like the Superbowl, so that was fun to watch, plus there was lots of kids around to play with for Lillian and Oliver.

Oliver is still in the teething process, working on number 8 now, so that makes him a bit crabby during the day, and he also has a runny nose, thanks to all the spring flowering that is going on!

Lillian is also a bit stuffy, but overall she is doing really well. She is listening to me more when we go out, learning how to behave! It is a process though, she has a hard time listening at home sometimes!