Hello Internet,

It's me Kirsty. This is not an apology - we've talked about that before but wow how the weeks have flown. There have been so many things to write about so many pictures to show off and I've wanted to blog - oh how I've wanted to blog but I've been so busy doing all these great things I couldn't find a moment to share them with you.


Easter came and went and Noah recovered from his ear infection within a couple of days and was back to his bright bubbly self. April 17th was my birthday - 35 years old - can you believe it?? I had the best birthday I've had in years - it was filled to the brim with fun times, family and friends and exquisite presents.

April 18th we all (and by all I mean Rob, myself and Noah) trundled off to West Coast Blues and Roots in Freo. We had bought the tickets when Noah was just a wee bub and had always planned to take him along but as it drew near there were lots of critics and we started to worry they might be right. However the day went off without a hitch and Noah smiled and slept and boogied happily through the whole 14 hour outing. Without access to a pram (aaahhhh rules!!) we had to take turns carrying all 10.5 kilos of him around in the Baby Bjorn but we had lots of chances to sit and relax on the grass and give our backs and shoulders a rest. Noah was somewhat of a celebrity and we were asked continuously throughout the day by total strangers if it was ok to take his picture. Here's some we took......

Last weekend we tried to chill out a bit after a couple of busy weeks but we managed to fit in a lovely dinner at The Mullaloo for Laura's birthday, (I'm not a big fan of the Mullaloo but it was good company and nice to have a grown up night out - I even wore proper shoes!!) a 2 year old birthday party, 2 BBQ's and an impromptu trip to the zoo.

Oops it's been a few days since I started this entry and it still hasn't been posted so I may as well add on this weekend just gone.

Noah started his new swimming lessons at Craigie Leisure Centre on Saturday morning. It's great because now Rob gets a chance to do it with him and Mummy gets a chance to do her own thing for an hour. Naturally Noah absolutely loved it - he's such a water baby. We already take him to Craigie for casual swimming a couple of evenings a week so he totally thinks he's king of the pool. Mum and Holly were watching and they said Noah was so busy trying to grab the baby girls in the class for a cuddle he missed half the class - hhmmm I wonder who he gets that from!!

Yesterday (Sunday May 3rd) we started what we hope will turn into a regular thing - family cycling outings. We jumped on our bikes about 8am with a small bag of essentials and no plan. We ended up on the train into the city and spent the morning riding around the river. We had a great time and Noah even had a couple of little naps (that's why we bought the front mounted seat with the head rest) We got home about 1pm with very sore butts but very pleased with ourselves anyway.

Today (Monday May 4th) is my Dad's 65th birthday - Happy Birthday Dad - We love you

That's about everything up to date for now so I'll leave you with a random photo of Noah experimenting with feeding himself - enjoy !!

Update

I desperately wanted to blog today but it has been way too crazy. So here's a quick update to tide you over until I get a chance to upload photos and get into all the juicy details.

Noah is 9 months old today.

I turned 35 last Friday and had a fun weekend celebrating several times over with family and friends.

The 3 of us went to Blues and Roots and had a fab time - heaps of great photos.

Happy Easter

Now to start off with here is a picture I prepared earlier.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago in readiness for Easter cards which due in some part to disorganisation and in some part to legitimate busy-ness (??) only made it to a very select few (ie grandparents and great grandparents)

Our Easter is not going exactly how we planned but it's hard to be disgruntled with such fabulous weather and having Daddy home to play with for 4 days straight.

It started in a very lovely relaxed manner on Thursday evening as the last of the kids for the week played in the backyard while Noah swung and Rob enjoyed a beer. I however was laying on the daybed starting to come down with something I had no idea would turn into the flu to end them all.

We made it through our Good Friday activities - me dosed up on cold and flu tablets (never had them before - LOVE THEM!!). We had a lovely seafood lunch with family although Noah was a bit grumpy and unsettled (little did we know what was in store). Then spent the afternoon with our much loved friends Danni and Pom as we celebrated their son Rex's first birthday. I made his cake which as always is an honour and an absolute pleasure. It turned out really well and seemed to be a hit. Noah loved the party confirming for us that he does find life a bit boring on the weekend with only Mummy and Daddy around and none of the houseful of kids he enjoys all week. With a floor full of toys and kids he was in his element again.

Unfortunately my cold and flu tabs wore off and I really started to go downhill so we had to leave and I was lovingly nursed by my wonderful husband as I spent the evening on the couch feeling very very sorry for myself.

Yesterday started with a fabulous BBQ breakfast at my Mum and Dad's place with Megan & Holly and Noah's honorary great-grandpa Joe.

(Everyone at breakfast wanted a photo with Noah the Easter Bunny)

We then decided the weather was far to glorious to be ignored and headed off to the bike shop to buy a bike seat for Noah. A side trip to Bunnings saw Noah come face to face with a 6 foot White Rabbit which he was absolutely fascinated by and Mummy and Daddy enjoyed the free chocolate eggs he had in his basket.

After some cursing and frustration the seat was attached to Rob's bike and the boys were off on their first ride together. I was very sad to miss out on this momentous occasion but retired to the couch for more R & R.

(Not to be outdone Cleo showed off some cool tricks on her bike too!!)

Last night Noah seemed to go to bed fine at his normal time (about 6.30) and we were all set to watch Carlton win their 3rd game (not to be sadly). Then about half an hour after bedtime Noah woke up crying and we couldn't resettle him. We persisted for a couple of hours taking turns walking him round the house and nursing him but nothing settled him for more than a few minutes. We started to become aware that he was in pain from something and presumed it might be a very sore throat like I was suffering from. We tried some panadol but nothing worked so we packed up at about 9.30pm and headed to PMH (Princess Margaret Children's Hospital). It took a couple of hours to see the Doctor (who ended up being the Dr that came from PMH in the ambulance to get him from Joondalup when he was born - weird). Turns out our poor baby had a temp of 38.2, a really bad ear infection and swollen tonsils. In hindsight even though he had been a bit grizzly for a couple of days, he had actually been very brave because he must have been quite unwell. We were sent home at 12.30am with antibiotics, strong painkillers containing codeine and some numbing ear drops. Finally at about 2am Rob and I were in bed and Noah seemed settled.

He's in very good spirits this morning and when we can actually get the medicine down his throat it seems to help.

This morning Noah enjoyed some of the festivities of Easter with a lovely parcel from the Easter bunny - a book, a gorgeous soft bunny and some egg cups. He really seemed to enjoy the empty Easter egg box of Rob's more though.

Today we are having a day at home recuperating which has been very relaxing.

Tomorrow we are heading to Jacqui and Ben's for morning tea to catch up with Rob's family and also Ben's parents who are visiting from Victoria (seeing their grandson Finn for the first time).

All in all a busy, crazy but ultimately enjoyable family weekend. Hope yours is less chaotic but just as much fun.