A week at our house

Lulu is 18 months!

No longer a little baby, lulu is such a little girl now! Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday this little creature was handed to me on the hospital bed and I fell in love all over again. She adds spark to our family and is so much fun right now .... Here's what she is up to ..

• She loves dress up and brings me costumes from the dress up box to help her put on all the time. At the moment a purple superhero cape is her favourite, she puts her arms out and zooms around the house.

• She has the cheesyist smile and is more than happy to flash it for the camera when I say smile. 

• She gets egged on so much by Holly and Harry, especially when they laugh at something she does.

• She is a real girly girl, she loves necklaces and beads and walks round the house with a handbag over her shoulders most days, she loves shoes and has started wanting to pick her shoes!

• She eats really well, especially at dinner time, she eats the same amount as the others but always finishes first, she loves broccoli but doesn't really like toast or sandwiches?

• her speech is slowly getting better, her comprehension is seriously amazing, she is very switched on. She has about 20-30 words in her vocab, however they are not all clear. 

• She loves music. She will always be the first to dance when the music goes on.

• She loves animals, especially dogs and birds, she is constantly pointing at birds.

• She is a real Mummy's girl, she would be happy to sit on my hip with her head on my shoulder for ages.

• She loves her night time books, her favourites right now are Hairy McClarey and the very cranky bear.

• She has no physical fear. Which is super scary for me. She will climb on anything and fly head first down slides! 

• She has had a terrible time teething over the past 8 months, she still has 2 eye teeth and one molar to come through.

• She sleeps very well during the day 12.30pm for 2-3 hours. Night time is still a bit hit and miss, but mostly due to teething we think.

• She loves to give us all kisses and is super affectionate.

• She is very independent, has to feed herself, has a mind of her own and likes to do things her way ... This little girl is going to give me a run for my money, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Love you baby girl xx

Baby Acer!

I wanted to write this post 3 weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until I had met the little fella in person.
My beautiful brother and his gorgeous wife had a little boy, 10pound 2 oz - Acer Norrie!!
I planned to visit the first weekend he was born, but our camping trip and mothers day crossed paths so this weekend just gone we finally met him.
When I say 'we' I mean Holly and I. When Holly found out I was going alone, she put on an Oscar winning performance (tears, dramatics, how she loves Acer more!) so the next day Andrew booked her on the flight with me - thank god we have a lot of frequent flyer points!
Vicki picked us up from Brisbane and drive us to Pols house on Saturday night. We ended up having an impromptu girls night and Vic stayed the night. I got to hang out with my adorable niece and nephew. Beautiful children and was sooo good to see baby Sophie again. I'm in love!
We had breaky with Mum and Dad then we surprised Ricci at her doorstep!
Acer has just melted my heart, he is perfect and his mum and dad look like they have been parents forever.
We love you guys to bits and can't wait for our next cuddles.
We finished our flying visit with a quick dinner with the entire family - a rarity and arrived home in our beds at midnight!
A great weekend!
Thank you Love for looking after Harry and Lulu so we could meet Acer - best Husband EVER! Xx

Holly's notes

I love the the thought pattern that goes into Holly's writing right now. She is quite content to sit and write notes for hours. Precious memories cx

My beautiful babies xx

Thank you for a great mothers day, you are all the reason I try to be the best mother and person. Love you all xx

Our neighbours tree

Autumn in Melbourne

Now they are just giving me a complex!

Playdate at the Nash's

Holly spent the day at Chloe's today, they made this for their teacher from last year! They even made Nicole text it to her!

Is it wrong or just time to hit the gym when your 6 year old fits into one leg of your pajamas????

International day

Was yesterday at school. I obviously glossed over it in the last 2 newsletters because the first I knew about it was when Holly told me she had to dress up tomorrow! Crap! In costume from the origin of her ancestors. Fabulous.

Luckily my seamstress neighbor had a wad of tartan in her fabric cupboard, which saw me whipping up this very quick Scottish outfit!

As dodgy as it is, she does look pretty cute!

Harry and I built and painted a model house today

Our first camping trip!

After many years of claiming that the only place I would ever camp would be the Hilton, I anxiously agreed to give it a go.

Admittedly we only went 20 minutes from home (don't ask where it is, its now our treasured secret!) but it was bush, we did it in tents and didn't shower all weekend. I even mastered the bush wee! Too much information I know!

We had the best weekend, 20 of us camping, being at one with nature and 10 little cousins having the time of their lives playing in dirt for 3 days!

I just adore my family and feel so blessed that we have each other and all live each other so much.

On the down side, we all have colds, it took me 2 days to unpack and I did 10 loads of washing!