Nearly the end of September

Can you believe it, we're almost into October, the Christmas decorations are in the shops and friends are already starting to talk about New Year's Eve! Where has this year gone?

Matthew is doing well, although he has had a wheezy cough for the last few days. He is spending a lot of time out in the garden, and next door at his friend Jett's house. The two of them play really well together and spend hours in the sand pit! His speech is coming on leaps and bounds and he repeats absolutely everything you say. During dinner one evening this week, Dave was messing about with something and I turned round to Matthew and said "your Daddy is such a Norman", of course now he seems to be constantly saying "my Daddy is a Norman". Not funny at all, but it does make us laugh which encourages him even more!

Sophie has began to crawl which has put a completely new perspective on my day! She is very interested in what Matthew is doing and spends most of her day with him in his toy corner. It is so lovely to see them playing together. She is fascinated with his Thomas trains and lego and everything goes straight into her mouth. There is no sign of any teeth but she's definitely getting ready for them. Her appetite is as big as her brother's and she'll eat pretty much everything that is put in front of her. Can you believe that she is nearly 7 months old?!

Dave and I are doing ok. Dave is working pretty hard at the moment but is still managing to get plenty of time in with the children. I'm still meeting the girls on Mondays, swimming on Tuesdays, and playgroup on Thursdays mornings. I get together with the other group of girls I met after having Sophie on a Thursday afternoon now. I'm starting to feel much more settled now, although I'm not sure it's the same for Dave. We're planning a trip back to England at the end of May next year for a few weeks. We're really looking forward to catching up with family and friends and also seeing how we feel about being back.

Martin and Andrea arrived this morning and today has been fairly relaxed as they have both felt the pain of a long haul flight. They are only with us until Wednesday when they head off to Cairns, Sydney and then onto New Zealand for a few weeks.

Our babies

Some piccies.......

Matthew taking Georgia for a ride Sophie enjoying the view
Matthew trying to 'pat' the lizard
A little on the cool side for Sophie
Matthew and his Daddy
Our little girl getting bigger
Through the bars of her cot
Matthew trying a crocodile out for size
Our babies

I know, I know

Apologies for not updating the blog for ages. Only two little excuses that are keeping me pretty busy at the moment!!!

Well, where to start.... We are only a few weeks away from the end of our first year here, where has the time gone? In some respects it feels like we've been here for ages, but other times like we've only just arrived. Spring is on its way and the weather is starting to heat up ready for summer. Christmas is already appearing in the shops alongside Halloween costumes! We are hoping to see Frank, Heidi, Alex and Leah here for Christmas which will be fantastic and Justine may have a flying visit in November, which is also very exciting.

Matthew and Sophie are doing really well. Matthew's speach is unbelievable and proof that they really do listen to everything that you are saying. He comes out with some amazing phrases that usually leave Dave and I lost for words (hard to believe, I know). Our friend Andrew from next door has built Matthew a sandpit in the garden, so needless to say that Matthew now spends most of his day outside moving sand from one spot to another. He is taking his brotherly duties very seriously and makes sure I know when Sophie is crying and in need of attention, helps out during Sophie's bathtime and reads her stories.... It is lovely to see.

Sophie is doing really well and at nearly 7 months has started crawling around and is trying to get up onto her feet. I realised today that I cannot leave her for an instant as she'll be into everything. I hadn't appreciated quite how appealing Matthew's toys are to a little baby! Her evening routines are going really well and fit in nicely just before Matthew's bedtime. Her appetite is as big as her brothers so no concerns about what she will and won't eat!

Dave is doing well, keeping busy and in need of a little break (I think). I'm doing fine, had a nice weekend away with my friend Lisa, from next door, without husbands and children. It was a refreshing break and definitely one we'd like to repeat sometime soon. We spent a couple of days down at the Gold Coast just taking it easy, how we'd forgotten what it felt like! There is a possibility that I might go back to work for a couple of days a week. There are a couple of Oracle HR projects happening in Brisbane. We'll see how it goes.

Dave's brother Martin and his wife Andrea are arriving on Saturday to spend a few days with us before they jet off around Australia and New Zealand for their honeymoon. It'll be nice to see them and I know Dave is looking forward to catching up with his brother.

I'm just going through our pictures so will get them posted asap