Baby De Roach

We have had the most beautiful long weekend.  The winter weather in Perth is amaaaahzing at the moment - not great for the empty dams but oh so wonderful for a little family of three to seek adventure.

We started with a trip to the pool Friday afternoon as Daddy De Roach made an early exit from the working week.  Noah loves the pool and he is so confident.   He wears those little orange arm floaties and with those he thinks he can do anything.  He runs and jumps and kicks and laughs.

After swimming we headed to order a pizza and choose a movie to watch.  Noah loved the video store and was very quickly finding the kids movies (they put them on the bottom shelf like the chocolate to tempt kids and torture parents).  We rented Toy Story 2 (Noah adores his Mr Potato head toy) and settled in for our very first family movie night.  It was so cosy all cuddled on the couch with the doona and Rob and I truly realised what a big boy our baby has become.  He watched every minute barely taking his eyes off the screen, he ate pizza like a pro and then marveled at 4 little maltesers in his very own mini packet.  Every time Mr Potato Head came on the screen he shouted 'tato' with such delight. (Sorry no photos - I hate those grainy indoor/nighttime photos).

(Unfortunately all the excitement meant that Noah woke twice during the night and even decided 2.30 - 4.30am was play time)

Saturday was a much needed day of relaxation and catching up on sleep.  I even managed an afternoon nap and time cuddled up in bed with a book - Bliss.

Sunday we went in search of a new cafe to breakfast at and were delighted to discover Deli Chicchi in Mount Claremont.  It had wonderful food and lots of books and gourmet bits to browse and buy.  Noah had the most adorable babycino which came in a little ice cream cone - too cute.

I wanted to surprise my boys and take them to the Model Train and Lego exhibition but Rob managed to get it out of me in the morning but was very keen none-the-less.  It was lots of fun and Noah was beyond thrilled.  He skipped and hopped and squealed with excitement the entire time.

Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing and preparing yummy food for a dinner party.  I googled for recipes and ended up making a yummy Pumpkin, Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni with Chilli Tomato Sauce - it was a hit so I'll share the recipe later in the week.

Our adorable and quirky friends arrived in fancy dress (just for a laugh) and set the tone for a really fun night. We have come up with a formula to get the best of both worlds now that we all have kids.  They came at about 4.30pm and the kids played for a couple of hours then we fed and bathed all the kids and put them to bed. OK I may have made that sound easier than it was but we were seated for a grown up dinner with all the kids asleep by 8pm so not bad at all.  It's so nice to have that fun family part of the evening but then move in to the dining room with candles and wine and enjoy a kid free evening without needing any babysitters.

Monday was another day of socialising.  We visited our friends Rach & Glenn with  4 month old Taylor for morning tea then as they live in South Perth we popped in ever so quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the baby giraffe (9 days old).  We were lucky enough to see him/her in the distance laying down but look forward to a better look next week.  We didn't have time to look at any other animals but Noah did have his first ride on the Carousel and loved it.

Then we finished off with a very relaxed late afternoon picnic in the park with Jac & Ben & Finn (husband's sister her husband and 16 month son), Gem & Mike with Leuca & River (husband's 'cousin' her husband and two daughters - 3 and a half and 5 months).  Finn had started walking this weekend so he was showing that off and the kids just ran amok having such good healthy outdoor fun.

Today is back to work, back to normal, back to the fertility clinic for blood tests.  So good to break from reality for 3 days and just have FUN.