A very busy Aussie Christmas as a family

Our first Christmas as a family has been very busy. We've met up with loads of friends over the festive period and have found that Jacob has turned into a turkey monster, enjoyed playing with his friends' presents and has been snotting over anything and everything he's come across!

Jacob has been very fortunate and had a few presents to open on Christmas morning. We'd received money from family leading up to Christmas Day and was fortunate to chose some of his presents. Also, before we left the UK Auntie Vida kindly gave Jacob a present before we left and it's a very cute Tigger outfit with matching hat. I can't wait for him to be big enough to wear it. He got a interactive table, a ball popping machine, an alphabet catepillar, a press and go train, a lovely set of Winne the Pooh books (we are looking forward to sitting down and reading with him), an Aussie 12 days of Christmas book, a muscle vest and little tiger toy to suck and cuddle. So thank you to everyone for all his lovely gifts.

We're off to visit Dave's brother Darran, Vicki, Hollie and Grace in New Zealand tomorrow for a week, so they'll be plenty more photos and stories to tell from our holiday.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year.

A special visit

I couldn't let the lead up to Christmas go by without Jacob having his first photo with Father Christmas. After several attemps on various days, we managed to make it today. He sat nicely with Santa and smiled for the camera.

Busy lead up to Christmas Day

Dave, Jacob and I have been fortunate in having several invitations for coffees, meals and general get togethers over the next few days and have been nicely surprised by the amount of friends we have made here over the last 12 months. Christmas Day for example we are out for breakfast, lunch and early evening - not too sure when we're going to get time to open our presents!!!! But no worries, we'll make time and there will be photos of Jacob opening his first Christmas presents.

A surprise day off

Dave had Friday off and it was such a nice treat for me. I was pretty tired from looking after Jacob for the last few days and we also kept waking each other during the night, which didn't help. Dave was great. Friday morning Dave got up with Jacob and left me in bed for an extra hour. By the time I was up and showered, Dave had fed him, changed his nappy and got him ready to go out. All I needed to do was give him his extra 'special' feed.

We had decided to hit the shops for one last round of gift shopping and also thought we'd get Jacob weighed and measured too. 3 hours later we were returning back home! It wasn't as hectic and mad as it is in the UK but busy enough for us. We were happy to have finally finished the gift shopping but I now have the task of wrapping everything up - oh what fun!

Jacob got weighed and measured. He has grown 3 cms in two months and is now up to 72 cm long. 20 cms longer than when he was first born but has not put any weight on. He weighs 7.7 kg. We are now in the process of trying to wean him onto formula to try and help him to put some weight on. This is going to be a very long process as he seems to prefer his tried and tested milk of nearly 10 months. We know it's because he's so mobile but could do with a little weight going on now and again.

Coffs Harbour

Our trip to Coffs Harbour was great. Unfortunately Kate was struck by the "Coffs Curse" once again. On her previous trips there had been incidents of cut legs, colds, gastro (bad stomach bug) which hit the whole family and some ended up in hospital! and this time, an old neck injury resurfaced and she was in loads of pain. Three visits to the chiropractor and it seemed a whole lot better.

Jacob and I were made to feel very welcome by Kate's father and wife and even though Jacob didn't always want to sleep in the evening, they didn't seem too bothered by his screaming. I think all the smiling he did during the day helped win them over.

We managed a visit to the Big Banana! I caught a glimpse of the ocean from there, tried a frozen banana with chocolate and of course we had a group photo took in front of the Big Banana (photo to be posted when Kate comes back from her trip with the in laws).

Jacob and Ben got on really well, played nicely all of the time and shared mutual interests in the exercise ball, the door and the two steps from one level to the other. Jacob helped to teach Ben to crawl on his knees and hands, instead of pulling himself round commando style and on the last morning Ben also managed to pull himself up when no one was looking - well done Ben.

It was a long drive there and back but was made easier by the good company we were with. A huge thank you to Kate for inviting us along and hope we didn't annoy her too much!

Nelson Bay

Our dear friends Tracey, Ant & Ciara have taken off to Nelson Bay for their holidays, and with it being on our doorstep (1 hour drive) we thought we'd gatecrash! I booked us in to a hotel on the Saturday night and we drove up Saturday morning. Considering I came down with a cold, I thought we did well.

First of all it was a dip in the bay at Little Beach. We got told we missed out on the dolphins the day before but there was plenty of pelicans to make up for it and whilst swimming saw a jelly fish, several fish and Tracey kept saying something was touching her ankle - some seaweed! Dave had a go on Ant's surf ski and Jacob had a play in the water too. We had to give him a rinse afterwards and used their outside sink! Jacob loved it.

After getting provisions for the evening, we had a bbq round at the Martin's cabin and a nice evening overlooking Little Beach and watching various birds flying around.

Saturday night Jacob decided he didn't want to sleep in his Kindacot and preferred to snuggle up to his parents in their big bed. Dave got the feet end and I got the head end. It was a horrible night's sleep and hope that this doesn't happen too often as we would love to go away more often.

We met up with the Martin family again on Sunday for more time in the ocean (Ant saved me from getting dumped in a big wave by pulling me in - thank you Ant), playing on the sand and a fish and chip lunch. When they got the card game out, we knew it was getting close to returning back to Newcastle. I got beginner's luck and won 3 games!

Again a lovely weekend and a busy week ahead of us.

Stormy weather, a busy Friday and kind invitation

Over the last couple of weeks we've had quite changeable weather. It can hot and sunny one day and then muggy and stormy the next. We have been lucky in Newcastle as most of the storms have passed by with only a small dumping of rain and not too much damage. After one storm late afternoon, the sky looked great and I couldn't resist a photo.

On Friday Jacob and I met up with our friends Kate and Ben & Paul and Alfie at the canoe pool. The boys had a great time in the pool, splashing, playing with sand and Jacob wasn't too embarrassed that mummy put his swimmers on the wrong way round!

Alfie, Jacob and Ben having a great time



Jacob had fun splashing as usual but got cold pretty quickly. Kate also asked us if we would a few days in Coffs Harbour. After checking with Dave we said yes to the kind invitation and will be heading off to Coffs on Tuesday 17th December. Kate wants to visit her brother and father before Christmas Day and with it being in such a great location thought that I would like to join them. I'll update the blog on our return.


Also on Friday we went to the Carols by Candlelight concert in King Edward Park. It was pretty busy by the time we got there and met with friends Susanne, Darren and Oskar. It was more a concert than carols to join in to but the atmosphere was great and has made me feel a little more like Christmas. Jacob slept through the whole thing, including the fireworks at the end of the evening!

I decided to play around with taking the photos - hope it doesn't look too bad.

The Allen & Martin Family trip to Port Macquarie

Seaplane Quickie

At the weekend, we went to Port Macquarie with our good friends Tracey, Ant and Ciara. Jacob and I went on Thursday afternoon with them so I could babysit Ciara on Friday afternoon.

We had a great time, the children were really good and I went for a little walk with Ciara in her stroller and Jacob in a baby carrier. He had a great time, helped me to push Ciara and kept looking at her through the little window at the top. We even managed to have a little swing before returning to the apartment. Feeding them both at the same time was fun! Ciara likes her food quickly and is ready for each spoon full. Jacob likes to take his time and hardly opens his mouth for the next spoon. But it all went well in the end and both children were fed when Teaps and Ant returned back.

Dave joined us on the Friday evening and we had a lovely meal at the cafe joined to the apartment block.

Saturday was a great day, I couldn't ask for any more fun. First of all it was up for a walk and breakfast. We met the Martins in the town area and tucked into bacon and eggs. A little walk around the market and play on the swings and it was time to return for a swim in the ocean BUT first a little trip on the seaplane was required.

I've always wanted to go on a seaplane and it was great fun. I don't think a long trip would be so enjoyable as it was really noisy but I loved it.

After the trip we then headed back for our dip in the ocean, which was a little cold but quite enjoyable. In the afternoon we walked up to the only koala hospital in the world and walked round looking at the rescued koalas. Very cute as always and there was a kookaburra too. Walking back Dave saw a hole in the ground with a web in it - a funnel web spider was probably lurking inside ready to bite one of us!!!

Again, a good meal out in the evening followed by a walk in the morning that found us caught in some heavy rain and we all got rather wet. Great weekend and looking forward to the next time we go away.

King Edward Park

Jacob and I often meet up with the parents from our antenatal group. We change locations often depending on the weather or if we fancy a coffee and cake! Last week we met up at King Edward Park. As you can see it's a great spot with a view to the ocean and it's nice and shady for the bubs to get together and have a play and crawl.

Last Friday we met up with Kate & Ben and Paul, Beth and Alfie. Paul had a great time with the boys and joined in their singing, making music with maracas and was pretty good at entertaining them. I don't mean us mums weren't as good, but Paul just had the edge.

From left to right - Jacob, Ben and Alfie

More park photos

Jacob sharing the swing with his parents

Jacob's first slide and trying to crawl up it!

Jacob having a swing

An evening at the park

Dave and I thought it would be nice to go to the park close to where we live. Jacob had a go on the swing, slide and a rocking thingy. It was great fun watching him and taking loads of photos and mini videos.



See other posts for more photos.

Jacob and his mates

Jacob hangs out with his two mates on a regular basis. I have mentioned them before but have some nice photos of Jacob playing with them (and they could be potential future girlfriends!).

Here's Jacob and Elise. Elise is two months younger than Jacob but is the girl next door. When she learns to talk, she will have a lovely French accent and be able to teach Jacob French.

Jacob and Elise were having a great time splashing in the little rock pool, I hear the water was warm but kept a safe distance as Jacob made the splashes bigger and bigger and got everyone around him wet.

And then Jacob has his Aussie girlfriend Ciara. Ciara is three weeks younger than Jacob and has a great giggle. She also likes to sing and give me the odd little kiss. Ciara has been seen on the blog before with Jacob at her feet, giving them a clean with his mouth! They often are trying to play with the same objects and often Ciara wins! I think it is because Jacob is learning to be a gentleman.

Evidence

As I may have mentioned before, Jacob has his two bottom teeth. These teeth have been very hard to photograph over the last few weeks, so I was very pleased when I got this photo - he's a very cheeky little chappie! But we love him dearly.

Jacob's box

Jacob is a little boy who only has a small amount of toys to play with, so has to make do with anything that could be a good substitute. You hear about littlies playing with saucepans and wooden spoons, keys, mobile phones - Jacob has an empty beer box!
We are hoping he just wanted to play in the box and wasn't looking for a beer!

Long time since the last update

It's been a busy few weeks for the Australian Allens. We've been to Bitter and Twisted - Morpeth Beer Festival, seen a convoy of trucks for Transport Day (I was very excited, Jacob slightly interested, Dave very bored!), Dave visited South Australia, an adult night out and the usual bits in between.

First thing in the morning on Transport Day we got to see a convoy of trucks come up our street. There was a long line of different types and they were up beeping and being noisy. I made our friends walk up to ours so we could have a walk to the Foreshore and see the exciting trucks for ourselves, they were so thrilled but couldn't wait to come back to ours for a cuppa!

Mid last week, Dave went and left Jacob and I for a trip to South Australia. It was work related and Jacob and I had a great time as we had the car! The weather was also terrible, so it was pretty convenient having the car so we weren't housebound. It was a good job Jacob and I did go out to the local shopping centre and spent some money as Dave never bought us a present from his trip - terrible.

Dave and I had our first night out in Newcastle without Jacob last Saturday evening. The main problem we did have was finding a babysitter. The two couples we would have asked were going out with us, so we ended up meeting Ciara's grandparents and Jacob stayed with them. We had a great night out, a good Thai meal, drinks at the local pub and Ant's dad provided a taxi service. Jacob was awake when we went back but looked very happy with Lyn and watching the tv. We stayed over at Ant, Teaps and Ciara's and had a great walk the next day on the beach - a good way to get rid of a hangover!

Teaps and I are doing an interesting little run at the shoreline because there were blue bottle jellyfish all over the beach and they can leave a nasty sting!

This weekend has been a little quieter. I went and had several hours of relaxation with a nice massage, facial, pedicure and manicure - total bliss. Dave had several friends over, the "Dads' Group" where the talk about secret men's business and had a few beers and a barbie.

In the evening we babysat Ciara whilst Ant and Teaps went to their Christmas works do. Ciara and Jacob were great, slept really well and I too slept well on the settee! I didn't even hear them come in at 11.30am, I must have been very tired and I hadn't even had an alcoholic drink.

This morning, with Ciara, Ant & Teaps, we went for a lovely walk to the end of Nobbys breakwater and then afterwards we all grabbed our swim wear and took it in turns to to have a swim in the ocean. It was great. About 20 degrees in the water, not too rough with the waves and no stingers! A nice way to spend a Sunday morning. Dave, Jacob and I have then had a relaxing afternoon after a busy few weekends and are already starting to plan next weekend.

In between the weekends, Jacob and I are always very busy. We have continued to keep up our exercise classes, even though the original Fit Mums Fun Bubs sessions have finished. We regularly go for coffee and chats with various friends, meet with Valerie & Elise, Teaps & Ciara, Cate & Eden for lunch and walks, we go to a couple of Mothers' Groups and often meet in the local park. Always very busy.

Jacob's latest skill and the Allen family update

As another week has sped by Jacob has been perfecting the art of pulling himself up onto his feet. As he gets more confident in his abilities, he is slowly starting to cruise and climb.


Please forgive the quality of this video, the shaky camera and me saying peek-a-boo!

We've had a very busy week, with two birthday parties, a barbecue, several mothers' groups to go to, many many walks, some other exercise, a little housework, lots of playing, coffees and cake and the odd bit of time with Dave in the evenings! So not too much really.

Today we went to a beer festival in Morpeth called Bitter and Twisted. Very different to the ones in Burton. First of all it was outside, it was hot and humid, the beer was cold! and I had to drive!!! Dave enjoyed trying different lagers and beers but you only get either 100ml or 200ml and had to buy beer tokens. There was no Irish band to tap your feet to but more Country and Western and Rock and food, well - Turkish Pide, Thai, Spanish Paella, steak sandwiches (in white sliced break) and various cake, olive oil and wine stalls. Pretty good day out.

Tomorrow is really exciting as it's the Transport Appreciation Rally, which means trucks and rigs driving in Newcastle raising money for the local rescue helicopter. Watch this space for some exciting photos!

Motherhood

My very good friend Tracey has found that motherhood has had a strange effect on her or maybe it's because we're at a beer festival! Either way, her daughter Ciara looks very happy with her Mummy.

G'day

Just a little update on our little chap. He now has crawling down to a fine art. Jacob is very fast and if we are not watching him can be playing with the blind, just about to try his new teeth out on the laptop cable, sucking on our footwear or finding something interesting off the carpet to put in his mouth (I know, I should vacuum more often - but when do I find the time ;o)?!).

Jacob is also getting a little more confident in his abilities, we often find him sitting looking very pleased with himself after reaching for a toy or even on his knees holding onto the side of his cot or playpen. Then this morning after putting Jacob down for his morning nap and 20 minutes worth of crying, I went a checked on him again. To my delight and horror I found him holding on for dear life onto the side of his cot standing up - yes, I did say standing up!!!!!!!!!!! He just now needs to work out how to bend his knees and get back down again.

So after updating you all with his newest achievements, Dave and I also took him for his monthly weigh in last night. Jacob is now up to 8 kg or 17 lb 6 ounces (according to the conversion on my phone) and is 69 cm long with a head circumference of 43.5 cm. He is fine on all the charts we get here. The nurse said he seems fine and very active, so that might be why he doesn't put much weight on.

Well, that's it for now as we're off out again soon for a surprise 30th birthday party and need to get ready.

The photo is showing Jacob's pretty amazing reading skills - he can read the book upside down - just so advanced!!!

My Fit Mums Fun Bubs Friends

Jacob and I have made several good friends since joining Fit Mums Fun Bubs and here are some of them.

From R-L - Jacob and I, Susanne and Oskar, Tracey and Ciara, Valerie and Elise

What is scary is that in that group there is two English, one Swedish and one French. The Australia friend (just the one!) can be seen below on my birthday photo.

My 31st Birthday

Can't believe I turned 31 last weekend or that it was my first as a mum!

We had a great day starting at 6.30 am and the ship's foghorn waking us up! It was then a phone call with my parents, opening cards and presents, going round to my good Aussie mates first thing and finding a surprise with Teaps, Ant & Ciara and Cate and Eden. They sung happy birthday to me, there was a banner up AND a chocolate birthday cake, it was very kind of them.

We spent the day in the Hunter Valley sampling beer, sparkling wine, desert wine, cheese and anything else we could find. We had a lovely lunch at Peterson's champagne restaurant and then an early night.

The Playpen

I had to get something to contain Jacob and his rolling/crawling/dragging. I kept finding him under the coffee table, his head under the glass cabinet or under the tv cabinet or even on the other side of the room. To stop my worrying, and many searches for one on the internet, I got a playpen last Monday. It is brilliant. Jacob enjoys being in there and all his favourite toys are in there for him too.

Jacob and his girlfiends

Jacob has many girlfiends here - Ciara, Eden, Elise and any other mum or baby he can get to smile at him.

Ciara's dad is getting slightly worried with what Jacob has been doing with his daughter - last week we had toe sucking, holding hands, pulling hair, getting his hands on her nappy, trying to steal her toys, stealing her towel - many, many things.

Elise's parents are happy for Jacob to chat to her and hold her hand. They haven't experienced the above yet.

Eden is a little older than Jacob and regularly likes to show Jacob what to do! Crawling, talking, sitting, eating nicely. Actually, there was a little incident today of Jacob stealing some of Eden's biscuit, she wasn't too bothered though.

The final UK pics

Jacob update

He's forward crawling now - just a couple of crawls and he then drags himself to where he wants to go! We have two teeth coming through at the bottom and they are sharp, especially if you put your finger in there. Jacob chats away quite a bit and says Dadda a lot! When he's excited he'll go 'ada' very cute. He loves to stand and walk holding your hands. Smiles and laughs loads and generally is a happy little boy.

We took Jacob for a walk on the beach and splash in the ocean last Monday (1st October) and even though the water was very cold, he loved it.

Trying Jacob with different foods is going very well, yesterday and today he had butter chicken (just like chicken korma) for babies. I mix it with extra sweet potato and carrots - yummy.

Last post from our European holiday

As promised, more photos from our trip. I've just been a little busy of late, so sorry about the delay. Mainly due to Facebook - very addictive to those who have already found it.

Dave, Jacob and I managed to catch up with most family and friends whilst we were over in the UK but unfortunately there were some people that we didn't. I am so sorry, I had planned on meeting up with everyone but couldn't believe how quick the time went and of course our parents wanted to spend as much time as possible with Jacob.

So, sorry to Lucy, Glenis, Penny, Carol, Hugh, Simon, Clive, Angela, Mike and anyone else from the National Forest Company that were hoping to catch up with us. Sorry to Jayne, to Claire and Clare, to Roy and Leslie, Shane and Lynne, Vic and Fran, Robert and Lyn, Anne and Hazel, Paul and Vicky.

There's more ...

There's still more photos to add, just need to download them off the camera. I'll try and get it done over the weekend.

Lewis & Ju's wedding

Special present

Whilst visiting Dave's mum in Wales, Jacob received an extra special present off Robert. Robert has been making love spoons for several years and they are just getting better and more intricate. Dave, Jacob and I just wanted to say a special thank you for Jacob's love spoon, it's beautiful.

UK & Spain

The European visit

Well, where do I start. We got to the UK on Friday 24th August and felt tired, dirty, thirsty, hungry and p*ssed off as Emirates lost our brand new lightweight, foldable stroller. Also on the Friday night Dave and I visited the toilet on several occasions as we had picked up a rotten bug off the plane. Jacob also got the bug but didn't start until early Saturday morning. My parents were brilliant taking Jacob over to theirs to give Dave and I some much needed rest.

Of course we were staying with our friends who were getting married the following weekend, guess who was feeling a little worried that we might have ruined their wedding with the bug?! Luckily, no one else got it.

By the Sunday we were feeling better so visited quite a few of our relatives, so they could meet Jacob. And really, that's how the first week went, catching up with relatives and friends. We were also involved with wedding plans and arrangements, as Dave and I were key members of the wedding party.

The wedding was fab, our friends looked gorgeous and Ju's dress was amazing. Dave and I had a great day, we really enjoyed it and wouldn't have missed the wedding for anything. See photos on the slide show.

We went to Wales to visit Dave's mum and then off to Spain for a week. It was great to be home and have all our possessions around us. There was heaps of clothes I had forgotten about and needed to bring an extra suitcase home with us! Jacob coped with the heat pretty well, slept nicely in his tent cot (in our bathroom as his bedroom had got his Nan in) and we found a great new bar that had opened five minutes away from where we lived - 2 euros for a large beer, we were in heaven.

The last week went pretty quickly, visiting parents again, spending time at my brother's new house, catching up with my sister again and then it was time to repack everything up - my clothes, Jacob's generous gifts and Dave's electronics - and get back on the plane.

The weeks flew by but it was great to catch up with all our family and friends. It was great for Jacob to meet everyone and he behaved brilliantly (except at night, every two hours!). He smiled at everyone, was cute and cheeky and got into eating new foods (garlic mayo, bread, spicy soup and baby food), started drinking water and several different types of beers too!

One sleep to go

Well, after a fun filled week of wind and rain, we're off to the UK for more ... wind and rain. Well, that's what we're guessing it's going to be like!!!!

Not long now until we are on our way. We're 90% ready to go, just the last minute jobs in the morning. Then off to Sydney to get our flight.

Will try to update the blog whilst away, if not, look forward to several updates when we return in four weeks.

Bye bye for now.

Look what Jacob can do ...

We're pretty impressed with Jacob, due to his latest skill.

Dads' Group

One father suggested that the dads should meet up and form a Dads' Group as he thought it was unfair that us mums get together regularly over a coffee & cake or even lunch. Today was their first meeting. Not too sure what they discussed or how our babies enjoyed it but when we caught up with them, after three hours, everyone was still smiling - including the babies. Personally it was great, I went shopping with Tracey and bought the odd item without a crying Jacob (Dave has told him when Mummy wants to spend money on herself to start crying!).

Here's the guys before they went for their beers.

From right to left - Guillaume & Elise, Chris & Coby, Ant & Ciara, Dave & Jacob. This was taken outside ours and Guillaume's (as we are neighbours), please note the sun and the ocean in the background!!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Just a selection of photos taken from the last few weeks.

Unavailable broadband

It seems such a long time since I've been able to sit down and given the blog an update. Due to our broadband being unavailable for the last couple of weeks.

I've now got to think what we've been up to. Lots of coffees, cake and meeting up with different mums and bubs. We've been out and about as a family socialising with other families and going for walks along the beach. We've also been planning our trip home next week and generally enjoying the really fab weather we're experiencing this winter. It was terrible last Sunday, it got up to 26 degrees, I don't know how we'll manage with the cooler weather in the UK!!!

It's quite nice now as we are making friends and often meet for coffee, lunch or having people round for dinner over the weekend. Our children are all of a similar age and it will be nice for the children as they grow up.

Jacob has now tried baby cereal and wasn't too sure to begin with but now we think it goes down reasonably well. Although, he does like to put his fingers in his mouth with each spoonful, hopefully soon he'll get the hang of it!

A weekend in Sydney