Happy 33rd Birthday to Me!

Ahhh, my first birthday as a Mummy! And I had a wonderful day :-) First of all, we opened pressies... a very nice Canterbury top and a lovely zip-up jumper/jacket. Perfect for a Mummy who "never has ANYthing to wear"!!! And of course, my very first "Mummy" birthday card, awww!

Being a Friday, we had our usual swimming lesson in the morning. We both enjoy it so much that I didn't want to miss it, so off we went! Afterwards, I was treated to a very yummy, leisurely and relaxing lunch at The Vault restaurant and wine bar by my gorgeous best friend Al :-)

We indulged!!

Hannah playing in her pram before nodding off for a little sleep! (Angel child on Mummy's birthday - what a good girl!)

That night, we had a nice quiet dinner at home while Hannah slept... tasty fillet steak with garlic veggies and chewy roast potatoes, followed by a disgustingly big white chocolate & macadamia cookie with a cuppa!! 

On Sunday, the celebrations continued. We headed up to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, for lunch at The Gardners Inn. Mark, Hannah and I, Al, Steve, Hunter and Tyler. We parked ourselves on the two couches right in front of the fire, nice and cosy!

We had a slight hiccup half way through where Hannah became increasingly discontent and ended up screaming the place down (we even managed to encourage one table to pick up their things and move!!!). Took me a while to realise she was hungry (way before she usually would be, I might add!), so once fed (immediately after a glass of wine - oops!) all was well!!

Hunter is just busting for Hannah to be big enough to play with her!!

But for now she's content being the "big girl" and so helped me rock the pram!!

Al and Steve got me a very cool Wireless Weather Station for my birthday. It tells me both the inside and outside temperature, as well as a weather forecast for the next 12-24 hours! It's extremely cool!

Just realised I need to set the correct time and date! Taken at 1.30 pm and it's 11 degrees outside!!

All in all, a really lovely weekend of celebrations :-)
 

Jolly Jumping!

I've bought Hunter's Jolly Jumper from Al. We are doing pretty well with all the hand-me-down clothes and bits & pieces!! Fun bouncy times ahead for Hannah! For now though, she just sort of... hangs there!!! I see it as a change of scenery for her and somewhere else for me to put her!!!!

It was so cute, Macey came up to check her out and Hannah put her hand out and was touching Macey on the head. I didn't have the camera handy though!

Hannah's Adventure with Solids

So far, a very unsuccessful adventure!! To begin with, she just wasn't interested. Still really isn't when it comes to puree from a spoon. She doesn't seem to like the taste of anything (healthy) that goes into her mouth!!

Here she is having her first taste of Farex rice cereal, at exactly five months old...

OOooo this is fun - what's this?!

OK I think I get the idea...

URGH! Mum! What the?!?!

Can't say I blame her really, the stuff is foul!! Since then we've tried it again several times, mixed with some pear and also mixed with pumpkin; a massive fail each time. Hmmmm.

She DID enjoy the taste of the lid to the icecube trays that I used to freeze the puree pumpkin!

We've also tried some of the Rafferty's all natural food sachets. She turned her nose up at those as well. She did swallow a TINY bit of one the other day, "sweet potato, carrot and sweetcorn". I was so excited!!

One afternoon we were having a cuppa, and Mark gave her a plain Arnotts biscuit. Whaddya know, that was a BIG HIT!

Baby rusks also seem to be a hit...

Considering the puree doesn't seem to be going down too well, but the biscuit and rusk that she held herself was a success, I thought OK, we'll try some finger food! Steamed a few pieces of broccoli and left her to it. Her intention is all there, she goes straight for it, picks it up, straight to the mouth, but then appears to be thoroughly disgusted at the taste!!! She tried several times but to her utter disappointment, it tasted the same every time!!

She seems to like the concept of picking things up and shoving them in her mouth, though, so I tried her with a steamed carrot and beans. The result was positive! Into the mouth, lots of sucking and very minimal disgusted facial expressions!

I think we'll just have to keep trying. She has to eat eventually... right?!?!?!

I've also just noticed that all my child seems to wear is a bright pink Wondersuit... not true! It's just they are her PJ's and I'm usually doing this on a morning, haha!

Autumn Leaves

We've lived here for nearly 12 months now. When we moved in it was winter, and FREEZING cold. I always remember the chill in the air when we stepped onto the back deck, and the deck covered in leaves that had fallen from the trees during Autumn. Every season from there on was a completely new experience for us in our new home.

Now we've come full circle, the chill in the air is back, the wood has been delivered, the fire is going, and the deck has started to become covered in fallen leaves again. It all feels... FAMILIAR!

This year, we got to see the pretty Autumn stage of some of the trees in our garden. This is a little bit corny ;-P but the colours are gorgeous, so I thought I'd take some photos and do a blog post of them!

Playing "Tourists" again...

Mark's soccer team which he coaches is an Eastern Suburbs side, so all of the games are at various grounds in the city. It's a bit of a hike (around an hour on average) but some of the spots are just gorgeous. Pair that with perfect weather, and off we go!

Last Sunday, they were playing at Reg Bartley Oval at Rushcutters Bay. Mark was suspended as coach due to some colourful language directed at the referee at a previous match; I still find this highly amusing and am not yet sick of telling everyone the story!!!

ANYWAY, this meant he was a "normal spectator" for the day, so we took the dogs as well and headed out for an afternoon of fresh air.

Beautiful Rushcutters Bay - 3 minute walk from the oval

An absolutely gorgeous spot to walk around with the dogs and the pram.

Walking back from the water - the game is underway in the background!

 We felt obliged to do the tourist thing again, what with such gorgeous scenery and all!!

After enough walking, we sat down on the grass and watched the game.

Growing up and becoming interactive - Hannah LOVES the dogs!!

Here is Mark, doing his "suspended coach/normal spectator" pose...

The dogs were so good; they enjoy getting out and about too. I didn't get a photo, but they had a run around off lead once the game was finished.

The only downside to these outings is the drive home. It's long - an hour plus, and Hannah hasn't yet figured out that there are two pleasant options to choose from; sit quietly and play with a toy, OR, go to sleep (or a combination of both)... instead she chooses the "I'm-tired-of-being-out-all-day-and-not-happy-any-more-and-I'm-going-to-scream-for-most-of-the-way-home-and-only-fall-asleep-for-the-last-twenty-minutes" option *sigh*!! How does it go... "this too shall pass"!!!

My first Mother's Day

Sunday 8th May 2011 was my first Mothers Day as a mummy! We enjoyed Sunday morning snuggles in bed (as we do most mornings, actually!) and then went downstairs for pressies!

I had two wrapped presents and two cards; one of each from Hannah and from the dogs!!

I got a very very cool Sony Digital Radio with iPod/iPhone dock, which I LOVE and have the radio on every day and my phone on charge constantly!! The doggies got me my fave chocolates (which I reckon they thought they had a chance in sharing - dream on!!) and some CD's :-)

Being a Sunday, it was also soccer day, so we headed out to The Rocks for lunch first and a wander around the markets (I got two new headbands that are nice and loose and don't give me a splitting headache - such bliss!).

We had lunch at Doyles seafood restaurant, overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We are still such tourists!!! Love the views!!

The view from our table

Later in the afternoon we headed to soccer, which was only a 15 minute drive from where we were for lunch. Hannah and I spent time chilling on a rug on the grass. The weather was gorgeous (luckily, as there was ZERO shelter!)

Mum & Bub on our first Mothers Day together xxx

Once we were home I rang my Mummy to wish her a Happy Mothers Day and have a chat. She was thrilled to bits with the pressies and card I'd sent her; a fridge magnet, keyring and notepad, personalised with photos of me and Hannah. She said she got all teary when she opened them. Awwww! Miss you Mum! xxx

Easter 2011 - Mid North Coast, NSW

This was Hannah's first Easter, and we booked five nights away up on the Mid North Coast of NSW, in a little township called Tarbuck Bay, about 20 minutes south of the main region of Forster/Tuncurry. We rented a little pet-friendly fibro holiday house, so the dogs could come too. We all had a fantastic time! 

The house we rented is located 100m walk from a gorgeous lake. On the first morning, we went for an early walk... 

 

We also visited some really stunning beaches, including an early morning walk with the dogs, who had an absolute ball!

A cafe located a short drive from our little house, did the BEST coffee. And Mark did the BEST bacon & eggs!!

Hannah seemed to enjoy the fresh air, out and about every day!

One one of the days, we enjoyed BBQ'd sausage hot dogs for lunch... and in the spirit of the family holiday, the dogs weren't left out!!

Another day, we enjoyed coffee & cake at the "Frothy Coffee Cafe". Right on the water, it was a gorgeous afternoon. Hannah was still a bit too young for a Babychino but it won't be long now!!! She had to make do with her toys instead.

A good time was had by all. A gorgeous spot with beautiful scenery. 

I'll finish off with a family shot!

Love Hannah's windswept hair in this shot - we'd just come off the beach!!