Well, as promised a weekly update. Jacob and I are very busy with exercise classes, meeting with friends, window shopping and birthday parties. This week Jacob got invited to his first birthday party - how cool! Before more of the that, first of all this is what we've been up to this week.

Monday 25th June - Monday morning starts with my twice weekly exercise class with the Fit Mums Fun Bubs group. We overslept and had to run to catch up with the rest of the group, as you can image, I was a little out of breath. With it being winter we don't get the bubs out so much and so do lots of running, legs, boxing and some abs. As usual it ended pretty quickly and we got together at a coffee shop afterwards for a chat. This time we organised a girlie night out, Dave has kindly said he will look after Jacob that evening (not until Friday 13th July).

Tuesday 26th June - After a relaxing morning, getting a little housework done, Jacob and I met with Tracey and Ciara for a walk in the afternoon. We did really well going for a long walk and did a few arm dips (I know, mad!) but had to find some shelter and a warm drink when it started to rain.

Wednesday 27th June - Jacob and I took Valerie and Elise to their first Fit Mums Fun Bubs session today. Woke up and thought what a great morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and then we got outside and it was very cold and very windy. Jacob's stroller moved on it's own with the wind! We found a sheltered spot and Nat (our leader) got us warmed up with a good run and then plenty more painful exercises. The coffee catch up was cancelled due to the wind, so Valerie and I had a walk into the city centre before coming back home. I had arranged for Karen and Kirrily, Tracey and Ciara and Valerie and Elise for lunch. Homemade vegetable soup and it was very nice. Jacob really enjoyed himself as he had three girls to choose from. The photo says it all. Jacob is also 4 months old today.

Thursday 28th June - Our day of rest. Back to catching up on the housework! And just a small walk into the city centre. The good news today is that I received confirmation my visa has been authorised, that means I can work now if I want to, but I have a full time job looking after our little Jacob. Sorry Dave.

Friday 29th June - Valerie, Elise, Jacob and I decided to walk to Merewether Beach and have some lunch. We met Tracey and her daughter Ciara and enjoyed our lunch al fresco with the sun shining and a cold wind! In the evening I left Dave with Jacob and had a quick workout in the multi gym followed by a nice swim and time in the spa. I came back to a bathed Jacob, ready for bed and only needed his last feed before going to bed. What a lovely husband I have.

Saturday 30th June - Dave and I decided to go out for a drive and walk and ended up at a place called The Entrance. It is supposed to be a holiday town but there really wasn't overally much there. We had lunch, a little walk around before returning back home. We then decided to stop off at a market that we keep seeing advertised but it was more like Donington Sunday market with a roof on. Not good! We had a lovely evening in with tapas, sparking wine (I have found I can't handle my alcohol anymore, two glasses of bubbly and then 2 litres of water to sober up) and a romantic comedy. Lovely.

Sunday 1st July - Jacob went to his first birthday this afternoon. His friend Kirrily turns one on Wednesday and we went to the park to celebrate. This seems to be a popular way to get together in Australia and celebrate things. The sun shone with a very cold wind. But a great time was had by all and Kirrily enjoyed opening her presents and pressing the buttons of her new toys.

Well, that's about it for this week, oh and they keep trying to move the Pasha Bulker (the ship stranded on the beach a few weeks ago). Hopefully tonight it will be gone and we can go back to normal around here.

Rolling and Sneezing Jacob

Another 10th June movie, this time showing off his rolling skills. He is able to roll fully on his front, do some mini sit ups, look round (with this very proud look on his face) and if we are really lucky, roll back onto his back again. Will have to see if we can capture this new trick on video. Enjoy the movie.

Jacob standing up

Look at our very clever little boy, he is actually standing with very little help from Dave and then all of a sudden his little legs can't hold his weight anymore and we start all over again. We are actually scared that he might start to walk and miss the crawling phase! Just a little note, this was recorded on 10th June.

Updates

I will try to enter a weekly update to our blog but if anything exciting happens and I can't wait, I will make an extra entry.

Visitors from New Zealand

Last month, Dave's brother Darran, Vicki, Hollie and Grace came to visit us from over the ditch (what the Australian's and Kiwi's call the stretch of water between the two countries). We had a great time catching up, meeting new babies and going out around the area. We finished the visit in Sydney. It was great to see them all and can't wait for them to visit us again and for Jacob and I to go and visit them (Jacob's passport pending and our visa completion before we can leave this country).

Jacob's first swim

Dave and I took Jacob for his first swim. I had the important job of documenting the swim whilst Dave got the fun bit of taking him in the pool. The water was lovely and warm and we think Jacob enjoyed it as he didn't cry once and kicked and floated well. Will have to take him again very, very soon.

A Stormy Time ...

Over the last couple of weeks we've had some terrible weather here, lots of high winds, an amazing amount of rain, many floods and a grounded ship! Luckily our building was saved from any wind damage or flooding but many people in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley area weren't so lucky, the Premier of the state declared Newcastle a Natural Disaster Area! Here's hoping the rest of winter is much better.

The next day, after the grounding of the ship, I decided to go and take some more photos of the area after Jacob's feed at 6.30 am (I know, very early for me!) and got some lovely dawn shots.