Farewell 2012..

What another eventful year it has been for us!

Some highlights include -
* Meeting and welcoming our little princess to the family
* Watching my little man turn from a baby into a cheeky toddler and a wonderful big brother
* Short family holidays in Brissie and Sydney (not really a holiday as I was there for training).. it seem such a long time ago now so hopefully we'll have another holiday this coming year..
* Time spent with family, whether near or far
* Friends, especially all the wonderful mummy friends I have made during the past couple of years, you are all amazing!

Can't wait to see what 2013 holds.. So with that, I wish each and every one of you a very happy and healthy 2013 - one where you create amazing memories and treasure all that are dear to you..

Happy 2nd Birthday Lucas!

Thank you for enriching our lives with your smiles, cuddles, laughter and antics. Can't wait to capture more of these moments together. Love you to infinity and beyond. ♥ ♥ ♥

She's here!!

Wow, almost 3 weeks have gone since I last posted and so much has happened since..

I am so happy to announce that my little princess, Megan, was born on the 28th of October, weighing 3.59kg (7lb 15) and measuring 50cm long..

Megan @ 2 days old

Unfortunately, I didn't get the VBAC I was hoping for with Dr. T, but it really doesn't matter in the end.. I have a healthy and gorgeous baby girl and I have almost recovered from another emergency c-section..

She has such a gorgeous mop of spikey black hair and chubby cheeks.. Compared to Lucas at the same age, she is almost a dream baby.. She feeds and sleeps fairly well and generally we don't have to worry too much about her..

So speaking of big brother, Lucas, he has been quite affectionate towards his little sister, giving her lots of kisses and cuddles.. Of course he is sometimes a bit rougher than we'd like, but we think he genuinely loves her too.. Usually each morning after he wakes up, he goes and checks up on her.. If she's crying, then he'll drag a stool to her bassinet, and check her out, sometimes he would rock the bassinet too..

Megan @ 16 days old

It's almost time...

38 weeks pregnant

Baby C is due in 3 days!! Eeek!! Can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone.. Every little niggle or pain I feel, I think somethings going to happen, especially at night when I hop into bed as that's when I feel it the most.. For the past week or so, sleeping has been uncomfortable, and I'm starting to wake every 2-3 hours again.. Guess it's my body and mind preparing for the big entrance again.. My obs, Dr. T is away this week (22nd-28th, back on the 29th), so my mantra for the past month or so has been "Easy VBAC with Dr. T, during the day".. Let's see how that pans out, hey?

Since around 20 or so weeks, baby C has been very active.. I would feel her at pretty much the same times each morning, arvo and night, unlike with Lucas.. But I guess this time round, my placenta is not in the front, blocking all the kicks.. I still love the feel of her kicking inside me, it gives me so much reassurance that everything is ok and who knows, we might not have another...

What else? I finished up work on the 8th of October (really the 4th was my last day), so I've been on leave for 3 weeks already.. crazy.. Maybe I should have stayed for another week to finish up the SAP Solution Manager project? I wonder if it's done yet...

It doesn't really feel like I've had much of break though as I've been looking after Lucas for 3 of those days, and the other days that I've had 'free' free time, I've had appointments, did some decluttering and cleaning and now I'm doing some sewing.. Trying to sew another pram liner for the new City Select we bought a little while ago..

It was Brian's birthday yesterday too which was such a non-event this year.. Lucas and I baked a packet mix cake for him.. haha.. I guess he's been collecting and buying Lego throughout the year, so that's his ongoing birthday, Christmas, Father's Day pressie..

And my cheeky little boy.. man, he is getting so big now!! He finally fits into size 1 clothes and his cheeks are just so chubby and adorable.. I love him so so much..

Smile!

His favourite things include -

• The Wiggles - OMG, he wants to watch them every day, and I find myself waking up anytime of the night with one of their songs in my head.. I know Brian is the same.. haha..
• He just loves eating chippies (no surprise there), rock melon, strawberries, oats with banana in the morning, snakes etc..
• Typical boy, he loves his cars, trains, bikes, buses.. 
• He also loves music and playing the guitar and making music with make-shift buckets and markers as drums.. 
• He's also added climbing to his hobbys, not good!
• Some of his vocab includes - car, bike, bus, snake, mimi (for milk), uh oh, d'oh, paint, 'tar (for guitar), poo (dirty nappy), please, wuv you, mama, mamee, dadee, dada
• He still has a mole on the bottom of his right hand and also a little pimple thing on his left ear..

So that's about it for now.. soon we'll be a family of 4.. not entirely sure if it has hit me yet!!

Feeling so blessed

Yesterday my wonderful mummy friends surprised me by hosting a baby shower for me.. It was definitely unexpected and hubby did a fantastic job of keeping me in the dark by telling me for weeks that his colleague was organising a lunch catch up sometime..

I definitely feel so blessed to have met such a fantastic bunch of women who support and encourage each other..

Vanilla Cupcake Mix - dairy & gluten free..

I purchased this pack of "Yes You Can" dairy and gluten free vanilla cupcake mix a while ago and thought I'd give them a try last week..

All of the additional ingredients required for the cupcakes can be found in the pantry or fridge at home, so it was just a matter of following the instructions and waiting for them to cook.. Although, rather than using an electric mixer to combine everything, I just used a metal spoon..

As you can see in the photo below, we couldn't wait to ice them all completely before giving them a try.. They turned out to be soft, fluffy and delicious..

 

Father's Day

Last Sunday (2nd September) was Father's Day..

I made Brian this card from Lucas for Father's Day last week.. The photos just crack me up.. Lucas did his part helped by decorating the wrapping paper for the present.. =)

 

Despite this happy looking photo of the two of them, Lucas was rather grumpy that morning and actually took a swipe at Brian first thing.. haha.. it was actually quite funny as he gave him a look first before bending over and hitting him in the arm..

I also purchased a copy of Darth Vader and Son.. This book is so cute and I knew Brian would love it being a huge Star Wars fan and all..

Lucas @ 18 months

• His latest thing to do at the moment is walking backwards.. Each time he does it, he makes sure we're looking at him and gives us this cheeky smile.. I've lost track of the number of times he's walked into something or fallen over from doing that! A few weeks back it was twirling or spinning around in circles..
•  In terms of his vocabulary, he can say - ma, da, ta, dog, star, mmm (moon), du (duck), mmta (water), brrrr (sound an elephant makes).. I also just taught him 'toot toot' for the sound a train makes.. haha.. way cute!
• A few weeks back, Lucas finally learnt how to nod.. OMG, it is soooooo cute!! He pretty much bops up and down and looks like he's dancing.. I must try to catch it on video before he stops doing it..
• We're not actively trying to toilet train Lucas but before his bath each night and whenever I can see that he needs to do a twosies (usually after dinner), we sit him on the toilet.. It's been half successful so far with at least 4 twosies and a few wees in the loo..
• Since the first incident at Child Care back in March, Lucas has been going great there.. He's still only going once a week and I just love discovering some of the things he's learnt from there.. He knows most of his body parts and also does the hand and body actions to a number of nursery rhymes.. It's so cute!

Boo!

Lucas @ 18 months

Did I scare you? =) I just realised that it has been over 3 months since I last updated my blog, aren't I terrible?!

So much has happened since that last post and with so many days to catch up on, I'd be even further behind if I updated from there. Nevertheless, I have not stopped taking photos each day and I have been keeping up with my Project 366 - just not on here..

So what to do? I'm thinking of just posting when I have the time, rather than once a day like I use to so many moons ago.. We'll see how that goes, hey? =)

Anyway, so a quick update on what's been going on with my life for the past 3 months in dot points, and in no particular order..

• Back in March, I had to go to Sydney for a week of training.. Brian and Lucas came along for the ride and while I was busy during the day, the two of them explored Sydney on their own.. I was kind of jealous seeing the photos each night on what they got up to, but I'm glad that they had their father and son bonding time.. Lucas' walking improved so much on that trip too - according to Brian he practically walked around the whole Opera House..
• When we returned, Brian had is graduation for his PhD, he had to sit on stage and wear a boofy hat which looked hilarious.. So now Doctor Brian is in the house! Woot!! Congratulations, honey!! 
• My little man turned 18 months just last week!! Wow, that time sure went by so quickly!! He is such a gorgeous, smiley and charming little man.. I can't imagine life without him and I've been saying for the past 4-5 months that this time has been my most favourite time with him.. It seriously just gets better and better! He's just so animated and makes us laugh every single day..
• I'm still working part time and did request to add an extra day of work per week to move me from a .5 to a .7 position.. It still hasn't happened and it's been over 2 months now.. I think it's totally crap as there is so many projects and work to do.. It kind of coincided with the next point and I'm thinking that if the circumstances were different, I would be already working more hours..
• So last but not least, I'm expecting again! Yay!! Currently just over half way and boy did the time go quickly! Signs point to it being a little girl this time round, but we're not 100% certain as this little one had it's legs closed 98% of the time we were having the scan done.. Nevertheless, we are going to prepare for one and should it be any different, we are going to be in for a huge shock as we haven't even considered any boys names..Not that we can agree on any girls names either though!!

So how is everyone else traveling along? =)

My 20 week baby bump

{Project 366} - #68 - Full Moon

Thursday March 8th

We took Lucas to feed the ducks and play on the swings and slippery dip this evening after dinner.. While there, I asked Brian to take some silhouette photos for me, and I absolutely love this one.. 

On the way back, I saw the moon, it was just gorgeous, but I didn't have my good camera with me.. So when I got back home, I changed my camera and took a few photos.. This was one of the better ones, cropped, since I don't really have a super zoom lens..

 

{Project 366} - #67 - Lucas - 30, Ninjago - 0

Wednesday March 7th

I had another full day of training today, so this evening we went to the shops together to have a look around and also to pick up some groceries.. While there, my little cheeky monkey thought that pulling all the Ninjago toys off the shelf was awesome fun..

{Project 366} - #66 - Oh no!! Not again!!

Tuesday March 6th

First day at childcare and look what happened to my poor little man! Yes, another allergic reaction to milk.. :( These photos were taken several hours later, so obviously some of the swelling had subsided..

 

We actually left the Claratyne at home this morning before we dropped Lucas off, so Brian quickly drove home to retrieve it before we both left for work (well, training, in my case).. Just as well as he did too, I guess.. But either way, it was not really a call I wanted to take this arvo.. Not 100% sure what caused it, but it could have been another child who had just had a milk feed and sucked on a toy, which Lucas then put in his mouth.. Not really sure what to do about this, but it definitely worries me.. They really should have been more vigilant, especially being informed that he has an allergy to dairy etc..

To add to this, Brian's grandpa passed away this afternoon.. We hope you are in a better place now and have reunited with grandma C.. RIP..

{Project 366} - #65 - My Banana!

Monday 5th March

"Okay.. you can have some"

I took Lucas to Child Care this morning for his last transition visit before he has his first full day tomorrow.. Eeek.. He was still a bit clingy, but at least he was happy to go and play for a bit on his own a few times..

Afterwards I gave him this banana to eat before heading home.. Playing must make him hungry because he devoured it, then once we got home, it only took him a couple of minutes to fall asleep..

{Project 366} - #64 - Walking..

Sunday March 4th

We spent a lazy Sunday arvo at TTP today.. Lucas insisted on holding onto daddy's hands and walking.. He did a fantastic job of it and walked from one side of the centre to the other.. He even knew when to stop and wait, then start walking again, while on both the travelator and the escalators..

{Project 366} - #63 - Oh no! Not the curls!!

Saturday March 3rd

I gave Lucas his 1st hair cut this evening before his bath - just a little trim to tidy up the hair around his ears and to take a little off the top, so that he can have his mohawk again.. Will get to see my handiwork properly tomorrow, hope I haven't done too bad a job.. haha!

The cheeky monkey knew exactly what to do with the comb too - must have seen daddy use it enough times..

{Project 366} - #62 - Just Chillin'..

Friday March 2nd

Occassionally Lucas likes to sit in his sofa and watch tv in the morning.. I managed to catch him at it this time round as usually as soon as he sees me, he'll start heading my way..

{Project 366} - #60 - Autumn!

Thursday March 1st

1st day of Autumn and what a gorgeous day it was! It's my favourite time of the year because the weather isn't too hot or too cold, no hay fever and there's the colourful leaves to look forward to..

So I took Lucas down for a walk to the playground and also to the lake to feed the ducks this morning, he just loves it down there and tries to say 'duck'.. Instead it sounds like "du"...

Then after his morning nap, I gave him some spaghetti bolognese I made.. I just love this photo of him eating it and yes, I did strip him off so he wouldn't make too much of a mess.. so cute..

{Project 366} - #60 - Night Light..

Wednesday February 29th

We purchased this little night light while we were in the Gold Coast last week.. Lucas was totally fascinated with it as the colours keeps changing, so we did have to take it away so he could fall asleep..

{Project 366} - #59 - First Aid

Tuesday February 28th

Today I spent the day at Target learning about First Aid for Kids..

The session was definitely informative and I hope to never ever have to use it, but the trainer's interpersonal skills were somewhat lacking.. "hmmmm..." was the first thing that she said when she went into the room.. What was funny though was when she mentioned that she was also a trainer for public speaking..

Afterwards, I went to pick up Lucas from my Mother-in-law's place, when I arrived, he was asleep.. Naww.. look how cute he is..

 

{Project 366} - #58 - Doctor C..

Monday February 27th

Ahh.. holidays are over, now back to the daily grind..

While I spent the day with Lucas, Brian collected his binded theses this morning.. I'm so proud of my hubby who finished his PhD in 3 years! However, I'm not really sure what he's going to do with the extra 18 copies that were also binded - scrap paper for Lucas, maybe? =P

{Project 366} - #57 - Home Sweet Home..

Sunday February 26th
 

It was a very early start for us this morning, starting at around 3.30am for Brian and I when we got ready to leave quietly from my sister's place..

We carefully ninja'ed Lucas into the car when we were ready to leave and he slept until we reached the airport just before 5am.. Then he slept almost the entire flight home, which was fantastic.. He only woke when it was time to descend and even made a little friend as we were waiting to dis-embark the plane..

{Project 366} - #56 - Rowdy Rascals

Saturday February 25th

Today we headed to Rowdy Rascals to celebrate my niece, S', 6th birthday.. Boy was it busy and very noisy there, but I believe all the little ones had a wonderful time, even Lucas..

It was great that they separated the play areas into 0-2 years, 2-4 years and 4+ years play areas, so Lucas had a ball in his little area.. The girls couldn't resist playing with him either and he was a 'little baby'..

While there, I also caught up with a very dear friend of mine, J, who was my very 1st penpal - we started writing to each other when we were 14 and have met up quite a few times since then.. Hopefully the next time we catch up, it will be in Adelaide, so I can show her my home town..

In the afternoon, Lucas practiced his walking again outside on the balcony..

 

Then this evening we headed out to La Dolce Vita to catch up yet another wonderful friend of mine, D, whom I met when I was 16.. We both attended a Taiwan Tour together and have been great friends since..

 

{Project 366} - #55 - More Rain...

Friday February 24th

Holidays aren't fun when you're sick (caught a cold somehow!) and it's pouring down with rain.. So instead of heading back to Movie World as we wanted to, we went to Robina town centre for some more shopping instead..

We can't go past any of the kiddie rides or toy aisles now without some sort of resistance from Lucas.. It's so cute as whenever we walk past a ride and he sees it, his whole body starts turning back towards it and his arms are outstretched.. Most of the time we can't resist putting him on there for a play.. What's even cuter is when he shakes his head when we tell him it's time to go.. awww..

So after a few hours at Robina, we decided to start making our way back to Brisbane - plus it was Lucas' nap time.. The rain never let up at all on the way up, at times making visibility to less than 5
meters.. Luckily we made it back in one piece..

 

That night, we headed back down South again to Sunny Bank for dinner with my sister and her family at a Malaysian restaurant.. Lucas absolutely loved my chicken rice and ate half of my chicken.. I'd rather him eat all my chicken than nothing at all!

Ever since last week, his standing up unaided and walking skills have improved 10 fold - most likely because he's been seeing his cousins walking and running around.. He's now walking 6 to 7 steps on his own at least a few times a day when we encourage him..

{Project 366} - #54 - Sea World

Thursday February 23rd

With all the complaining about how hot the weather was, mother nature decided to bless us with plenty of rain today.. Despite that, after a leisurely breakfast on the balcony, we still decided to head to Sea World this morning..

Not many of the rides were in operation, so we just checked out all the shows that were on.. For Lucas they weren't as exciting as the Stunt Car Show at Movie World, so he was more interested in waving and blowing kisses to people instead.. 

After a few hours there and no let up with the rain, we decided to leave and head to Harbour Town for some retail therapy.. Lucky for us, Lucas slept for 2.5hrs while we shopped.. However, when he woke up, he sought out all the little kiddie rides and insisted that we put him on.. Of course he refused to get off and cried when we tried..

{Project 366} - #53 - Thrill Seeking..

Wednesday February 22nd

Today we made our way down south, stopping at Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild with my sister and her family..

We didn't do and see as much as we usually would have since the little ones now dictate our lives, but at least all the adults experienced the new Green Lantern ride at Movie World while the others watched on.. It wasn't as scary as it looks..

The Hell Car Stunt Show was a huge hit with everyone, especially Lucas.. He couldn't stop watching all those cars and the motor cycle whizzing by..

He also loved the train ride at the Looney Toons world, crying as soon as we had to take him off after the ride finished.. Luckily for him, I took him for another round since there was no line up being mid week and not school holidays..

 

So after a few hours at Movie World, we headed next door to Wet 'n' Wild.. Lucas fell asleep on the drive over and slept for a good 2 hours while we were there.. It was fantastic for us, as we took the opportunity to go on a few of the rides while he slept and my older sister looked after him since she decided to do some work instead of play.. He did manage to wake up half an hour before closing, so

we got him changed and popped him in for a splash too..

 

After the big day, Brian, Lucas and I headed down to the Gold Coast, where we'll be staying for the next couple of nights.. How gorgeous is the view from our room?! We're on the 2nd to top floor!

{Project 366} - #52 - World of Dots..

Tuesday February 21st

Today we headed to South Bank with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew.. Brian's friend, HT, also joined us for the day too..

We visited the Gallery of Modern Arts after I saw the article about Kusama's World of Dots online.. There were a few other exhibits done by Kusama before we reached the World of Dots and Lucas almost got a bit carried away in the rooms and wanted to touch everything..

 

How awesome does the room look with all the coloured dots? Would have loved to see the earlier stages of the project also where there weren't as many.. But at least we left a few dots ourselves.. Oh, and of course Lucas had to have a bash on the laptop and piano in there too..

Afterwards, we had lunch at a bakery cafe near South Bank before heading to the kiddie play area by the river, so the boys could have a splash about.. They all had a wonderful time in the water, cooling off as it was sooooo hot and steamy by midday..

When we headed home, Lucas just flaked it..

 
Lucas also had a little mishap while playing on the piano this arvo, he accidentally slipped and grazed his chin.. Poor daddy who was watching him (or wasn't for a sec) felt so guilty when he saw all the blood.. He is fine though!

The progress with walking has also improved once again, he had been continuously trying to stand and walk a few steps.. My little man is growing up so quickly!!

{Project 366} - #51 - Cousins

Monday February 20th

Lucas is having an absolute ball with his cousins here in Brisbane, and they all love him and their uncle Brian too..

This morning Lucas showed off his music skills on the electronic piano.. He definitely shows lots of potential..

So after the girls headed to school in the morning, we decided to spend the day shopping, firstly hitting DFO in Jindalee.. We arrived just before 10am, however 3/4 of the shops were still closed, despite the sign outside saying it was open from 9am.. How disappointing.. So we walked around a couple of times, checking out the stores.. In the end, Brian was the only one who had purchased anything there for the day as we headed to Inala for lunch..

Boy was it hot!! I mean, 42 degrees in Adelaide is definitely hot but still bearable as it's also dry, but here in Brissie, it's only around 32, but the humidity just saps all the energy from you..

Anyway, we ended up getting Vietnamese (yes, we love Vietnamese food!) and also bubble tea.. Inala Town Centre is such a weird place - they have a smallish shopping mall and then when you walk out into the centre and it feels like you've literally stepped into a small Vietnamese town or something.. There's people playing checkers, open food stalls, vegetables for sale out the front of the shops, fresh sugar cane juice etc.. We didn't hang around there for long since we were dying from the heat, so after having lunch and purchasing another bubble tea for the road, we started heading back to my sister's place..

Well, we got suckered in by another shopping mall we saw while driving back - Mt. Ommaney.. So we spent another hour just having a look around before getting back home to catch up with the kids again and more scooter riding..

Lucas has also been trying very hard to walk.. It's amazing to see how much he's learning these past couple of days.. He can now stand up without support and walk at least 3 steps..