Great Days
My oh my this year is hurtling by at record pace! I cannot believe Jaiden is almost 6 mths and the last update I did he had only just joined us. Well what has been going on since then!
Jana (our au pair) has settled into our family exceptionally well and both the boys love her! This in turn results in one big happy family. She is interactive and constantly coming up with ideas to entertain our mischievious Keian. She is very capable and is great for us looking after the boys to allow Paul and I some much needed social time together over a dinner or two. It really was a great decision and she will be sorely missed when she has to leave us next year.....
Keian is fantastic and continues to amaze us and make us laugh. He is still obsessed with guitars, music and dancing. He loves Jitterbugs which is all about music and dance which he goes to on a Monday.
He loves to entertain us and enjoys it more if we all join in, so needless to say we are spending a fair bit of time dancing around the house!
He loves a good game of chasings and is forever tugging on our arm or calling to us that it is time for a run around the house. He squeals with delight which is just magic!
He has finally (I hope) beaten all the Winter bugs which saw him unwell for alot of Winter. He has now been healthy for a few weeks which is coming up for a record this year. Yahooooo! Bring on Summer...
He is funny with Jaiden and loves to smother him with love, this can be in the form of kisses, cuddles, entertaining him or simply by sitting on him, clobbering him with the fly swat or "sharing" Jaiden's bottle any chance he gets.
Jaiden on the flip side is mesmerized by Keian and his little eyes follow him everywhere. Keian only has to look at him and Jaiden bursts into a big smile. So it is getting really lovely to watch them together now.
Jaiden is a darling little boy also, he constantly smiles and is very ticklish! He would be pretty close to a perfect baby if he would sleep through. But alas he is not yet giving us the much sort after 10-12hrs sleep straight. We live in hope that this comes soon. He is now competently rolling over and even manages to get back every so often. He loves to roll around his cot and then wonders why he cant roll back from his tummy when wedging himself up against the end of the cot, so he proceeds to sing until I come and help him. He loves to stretch his lungs with a tune or two at about 6am when he gurgles and sings top note which would compete with any of the early morning birds around here.
He is also at the stage of sitting up with the safety of a pillow around him as he still topples over alot. All in all we are delighted with Jaiden joining our family and look forward to watching Keian and Jaiden become friends, then competitors and friends and all the other roles they will fulfil for each other.
Paul is still working very hard and then spends all his free time with us. He did manage to have a night out with a friend one night and rocked in at 2am only to tell me the next day he is too old for that and cant stay out that late anymore. The next night out he had he was home and in bed before midnight! Ha what a party animal he is!!!!
He celebrated his 40th birthday in September and had a terrific 3 day event. It started with the arrival of Sandra and John (parents) on Thursday which was great. Then David his brother suprised him. I picked Paul up and normally I wind down the back window and he sticks his head in to Keian to say hello. As the windows are soooo dark he cannot see in so when the window went down and David stuck his head out Paul nearly leapt onto the car roof.
Of course he was thrilled and the drinks were cracked on our arrival home. What a great suprise!
We then all headed out to dinner at Balmoral Beach's Watermark leaving the boys in the capable hands of Jana. We were joined by Cheryl, Kieren, Hayden and Jess,Neil (flew in from the States) and Doreen. Excellent night finishing much later than we are use too!
Saturday was spent pretty much at home using the time to catch up with David. He instantly became a hit giving Keian a Wiggles Drum which is put to great use EVERY DAY!
Saturday night was out to dinner again with both sets of parents and a group of friends including Jenn who put in the effort to come up from Melbourne and stay over - thanks Dave for providing the support to do this! You were missed and raincheck drawn but it was fabulous to see Jenn looking so great when last we saw her she was 6mths pregnant of her now 1yr old!
Dinner was thoroughly enjoyable, the food was excellent and the night just seemed to melt away in no time at all!
It was a great night also very late but full of laughter and catching up.
Next morning Paul, Sandra, John and Keian all left for Berrima where they met up with Paul's brother Mark, wife Tracey and Cailyn. It was a great day I am told and nice to catch up over lunch. Jaiden and I stayed at home with Jenn who flew out at lunch time to Melbourne.....
At the beginning of September we had our 20 year reunion for St Pauls Grammar School. Whilst it was a small dozen of us that went it was a great night to see people after so long and compare life notes! A number of us are still in touch and enjoy banter across the net. It had to be noted that a number of us can no longer fit in our school uniforms!!
On that note I have been back at the gym and keeping a good eye on what I eat with the goal of being 15kgs lighter and in great shape by Christmas! 2.6kgs down and a few more to follow!
Thanks to those that have got on board and sticking with me on the weight loss and fitness regime - together we will make it hands down! A thankyou also to Neil who has a Hyatt Massage incentive on the loss!
It has been a lovely few months with regular visits from families Mum and Dad, Sandra and John, Carolyn, Kieren and Cheryl and kids, which is super fun as Keian now recognises them all and gets so excited.
We also had a great weekend up at Fingal Bay staying at Kieren and Cheryl's holiday house. Mum and Dad came over and we had a wonderful time with Keian at the beach, a shopping visit and a night out at dinner. Weather was great for us as were the boys.
I also had a recent birthday which saw me spoilt rotten by Paul and everyone. It really went for three days with it beginning on Thursday 18th morning in bed with the boys unwrapping great presents, clothes, fry pan, tickets, gym gear, Day spa vouchers, pot plants, earrings, flowers, and more. Narelle then spent a long lunch with me very relaxing. In the evening with Paul and I going to see Miss Saigon - it was great. Friday night we went out for dinner to Aqua and despite talking all the way through dinner I felt like we had barely scratched the surface! Saturday morning I was picked up by Narelle and taken to the Hyatt where I went for a run, laid by the pool and swam, went in the steam room and then a 1.5hr massage ahhhhhh! This was followed by a leisurely lunch at Doyle's - sensational. I returned home around 3pm to a house with two sleeping little boys - does it get much better than that???? So I felt very special and very important!
In September we purchased a house in Putney. It was very exciting and will be more exciting when we get our plans drawn and passed by council and of course built! This is the project for the next 12mths. It is rented currently for 6 mths whilst we get it all organised!
Bent St has just been completed, we gutted it and renovated it all. It looks fantastic and such a shame we cant move back in but alas we have outgrown the unit in size! Hopefully we will rent it out in the coming week to filter some money back in as the last 3-4 mths saw it haemorrhaging out!
We also needed to close this chapter to allow me to focus on the new project! If you know me well you know I always like to have a project on the ball. Life is certainly providing me enough projects at the moment and I feel like the days are all blurring past so fast! One of my pet projects at the moment is to get back into shape. Between the gym and diet I am slowly heading back to the way I was! Cant wait to finish this project also! Gone are the days when you dont eat for a day or two and drop a dress size! So watch this space!
Well thats about all from me for now. Congratulations on the new arrivals over the last few months (Kate, Kerstin, Nicole, Iris) and good luck for the new arrivals coming in the next few months (Trish).
We would love to have an update from each of you on what you have been up to and a piccie or two! I will get the photos uploaded tomorrow I hope and then send the update out to you all.
We miss you all that are OS and we are so pleased to share time with you all back here Downunder.
Lots of Love
Corrine, Paul, Keian and Jaiden
