Funny sayings...

You know how your Mum & Dad can always remember the cute (and not so cute) sayings you had as a kid, and how they always remind you of them at the most embarrassing times ;). Well I don't trust my memory so I'll immortalise them on the blog instead!

Here's the list of James' latest...

"Self" is what we get told whenever we're assisting a fiercely independent little man to do something... Usually it's accompanied by a gentle push away.

"Elephan-ant" is what the big grey fellas with long trunks are called. And the long neck ones are called "raafs". Emus for now are called camels and we chase "flutter-flies" in the backyard (and across the street!)

We have a "kookakaburra in da gum tree" - every gum tree!

"Good sleep" is first out of his mouth when he appears in the family room after a sleep.

"Good morning" is next out of his mouth regardless of what time of day he, Lucy or we wake!

And, every time we reverse out of the garage and driveway to set off somewhere, the little hand is raised and waves as he says "Bye Isaac, Jesse... Bye Ben" who are some of his neighbourly playmates

Whenever Lucy has a grizzle (which isn't very often!) we hear " sss ok Lucy" repeated over and over again. Usually that's accompanied by a "noice kiss" or a "pat-pat"

But the funniest (and probably scariest?) one this week was when he was playing near the TV while I had the news on. There is an ad for a Ford where it shows a little boy studiously drawing and colouring in large sheets of paper. He then is shown sticking them all over his not-Ford car to replicate the Ford next door. He watches the happy kids and family next door load into their Ford and drive away. Last scene shows him with a frown on his face, he lets out a big sigh, drop his shoulders and raises his arm to wave goodbye.
Well! James glances at the telly, sighs, frowns and raises his arm to wave to no-one in particular! Then straight back to playing...Lightbulb moment! This kid takes in a whole lot more than you realise! I wouldn't have thought he'd have watched that ad before, and it certainly makes you think about kids copying violence on telly...

The last one to mention is his favourite game at the moment. And that is to wander the house shouting a short, punchy "Mum" repeatedly while wandering about. Not necessarily looking for me but just enjoying the game.

Tinkled Pink!

We were so happy with our builders and the building process that we told everyone we knew. Unfortunately, the builders got wind of it and asked us to be interviewed by the local paper...


We weren't very impressed with the headline. Little bit of taking the mickey there...


Double click on the article if you want to read it. It should open up in another page for you to read (and be big enough for aging eyes...)

4 years on...

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Thursday. Hard to believe that its only been 4 years really. We feel pretty blessed with our 2 beautiful children and our gorgeous new home. We're looking forward to the next 4 years and beyond! Hopefully by then we'll have had a chance to sit down and relax ;)

Not much has changed in 4 years except the number of wrinkles, the number of cm in our waistline measurements, how much sleep we get, where we live, our jobs, our footy teams. Actually, what is the same 4 years on?




What is the same? Love. That's the same. Although, when I think about it I reckon that's changed too. There's more and it's stronger. And that is great...

mud...

2 months old already!!!! Slow down Lucy!!!

In an effort to redeem myself from the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks, I've put together some pics of our little girl...

Peaceful Lucy


Cheeky little rabbit...


Milk drunk Lucy ;)


Cuddles with a doting Grandpa


Bathtime with Daddy...



It's hard to believe she's closer to 3 months old than 2 now. Time is flying!!!

Teach them early! The Tupperware obsession starts...

Mum's group a couple of weeks ago was a little different. One of the girls hosted a kids Tupperware party - where the kids made playdough and purchase orders. Therefore the Dads couldn't question the Mums about their purchases ;)


This might be the way I get my pantry 'Tupperware-d". Blame it on James...

Congratulations, Master Nanna!

The sign coming in to Wagga says it all. Congratulations Graduates!

Mum (Mary / Nanna - whatever you'd like to call her) completed her Masters of Education (Librarianship) and graduated with her cohort on Wednesday 14th April. James, Lucy and I joined Mum and Dad for the day trip to Wagga to celebrate the finale to a bloody good effort!!!

Lucy soaked it all up. The sun that is... (Don't know that the red singlet matched the pink dress Jane...)

What else would a gowned up Nanna do but "look at 'dis" with her little grandson.


Here she is!



Shaking the vice-chancellors hand. He proceeded to hold Mum there for a good 30 seconds and ask her if she'd enjoyed her study with CSU... Doesn't sound like long but there were 270 graduating that day!

And back to reality after the lofty heights of the ceremony. Sitting on the steps having a cuppa and cake with your grandkids.

We're proud of you Mum. Makes your obsession with books a justifiable tax deduction ;)

The new house... (Room by room!) - James' room

I'm not going to get all of these photos done as soon as I'd like so here's the new house room-by-room. Starting with James' room...

A big boy bed?

Well first this goes there...


Then you go like this...


Then you test it out for comfort...

Have a story or two...

And as of today, you sleep in it and not your cot!

We took the leap today and put James in his 'big boy bed' for his daytime sleep. He didn't hesitate going to sleep, just rolled onto his tummy and settled in for a 2 hour sleep.
Tonight we thought we'd try it and if he didn't stay we'd put him into his cot, but he went straight to sleep again and hasn't said boo since... So far so good we say but the morning will be the test... (especially since daylight savings ended today!)

The bed that he's sleeping in has been handed down through Matt's family since it first belonged to his Uncle Peter who is 58 years old! It's a gorgeous little bed, smaller than a single bed but bigger than a cot.

It's days like these when you realise how quickly your kids grow. All the time we're amazed by what James knows, learns and comprehends...

We love when he says "Sowwy" as he pushes past you to get to his destination, as he leans in for a "Noice kiss" which now has the kiss sound rather than a mwah, as he shrieks with excitement when he sees the 'kookataburra' sitting in the old gum tree, and as he delights us with each new word and each new concept.

And while that's all going on, we've got a beautiful little girl who is smiling from ear to ear, watching us as we move about, and sleeping so peacefully (most of the time).

And all of this is happening in our new home...

We're living a charmed life, Matty & I!

And I promise, photos of the new house will be posted within 48 hours... Promise!!

Happy Easter

James was very proud of his creations and presented them to me at the end of childcare on Wednesday. They've gone straight to the pool room!

And we stole this idea from Ange, Jenna, Locke and Zak. Ours don't look as good as theirs but we had to make do with last minute supplies!!


Happy Easter to all of our family and friends. It's certainly been a time of new beginnings for us this year!

Katie?

Friday night...

Leon, Mary and Jacqui sitting on the couch...

Mary: "Who's this?" (pointing to Jacqui)
James: "Jacqui"

Mary: "Who's this?" (pointing to Leon)
James: "Grandpa"

Mary: "Who's this?" (pointing to self)
James: (points at glass of wine) "Katie"

So she did leave a lasting impression after all!!!!

Outside fun & Yabbying!

Outdoors is where we love to be...







We've got a dam down the end of our road, about a 500m walk away. James has never been yabbying before so The Master (Matt) took him for his initiation today!





James wasn't so sure about the snappy little fellas... Which is probably a good thing!

Matt's been yabbying his whole life.

But Lucy just slept while all this was going on.... I should have slept too!

(7 weeks old)

2!!!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear James-o, happy birthday to you! Hip hip... hooray!!!!

It started with candles in the weetbix! "More blow pease!"

Then a surprise present from Mummy & Daddy - a 'new' swing set!



Playing with Daddy

While Lucy slept...

Then over came the neighbours for more playing...


Isaac, Jesse...

And Alyssa...

And then down to business... baking his own cake!



The finished product...
Humpty Number 1

We hijacked mum's group to celebrate. No one complained though!




Messy boys...

And tidy girls...


Then onto Humpty Number 2... The childcare cake...

We thought an extra big humpty (3 cake mixes) would satisfy needs for all staff and children in James' room - we over catered a little and half of Humpty came home! Which would have been great if I hadn't baked cake number 3!!!!! for Matt to have with James that night!

Here 'tis!


Happy birthday our big little man! You do us proud every day mate!