Who's Who?

Dave (on the right) and his brother Darran (don't you just love 70s clothes?!)

and Jacob

When I find a scanner, they'll be a baby image of me too. Daniel is supposed to look a bit like me, poor little lad ;o)

Daniel Scott Allen

Daniel Scott Allen arrived on Wednesday 19th August at 10.08 am weighing 3560 grams / 7lb 13 oz.

Daniel came "out the sunroof" a week early, due to him being breech and I had gestational diabetes. I have to say a planned caesarian is quite good when you have a toddler to organise being looked after and your husband working an hour and a half away. I had to go in the night before, so they could sort out my insulin in the morning. Jacob went to my parents for a few nights. Dave booked the Wednesday off and was there for when Daniel arrived and it was all pretty easy and surreal, it felt like it was happening to someone else.

Jacob met his little brother that afternoon and was most impressed with the car transporter Daniel had got him ;o).

Daniel was unnamed for over a week. Dave found it very hard to decide on a name and it wasn't until nine days later we settled on Daniel Scott.

Recovery after the birth was a lot better than I expected, don't get me wrong, I was in pain, discomfort and needing pain relief, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I could move a lot faster than I thought I was going to, feeding Daniel wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, over the weeks everything got easier. So, if your caesarian is planned, it's not too bad.

Disaster!!!

Since returning to the UK we have been jinxed with our digital camera. First of all, whilst on our first trip to Spain, the camera accidently found the tiled floor in our house, quite early on in the trip and so hardly any photos were taken. Then, after three trips back to the manufacturers, it finally got fixed. This took several months. The last trip was September, just before it ran out of guarantee.

Then, whilst trying to upload the images from the memory card, it got fried in our laptop - lost the images since April including Daniel's birth photos. I was very upset, as you can imagine. Dave kindly stepped in, tried to retrieve the images with his special software, but no, nothing. So we had to send the card off to a specialised company, pay lots of money and we got 198 images back and thank goodness, quite a few of Daniel and lots more of Jacob.

So, over the next week or two, will try to get some up on here.

A lovely visit from some old Newie friends

In July, after we had moved into our new home, we had some visitors ... Valerie and Elise, our old neighbours from Newcastle who had returned to their home country, France, the previous July.

For our first full day together - it was sunny and warm, so unlike the normal British weather! We got a picnic together and headed off to one of the nice parks in Derby, Marketon Park. Plenty of fun for Jacob and Elise, lots of slides, swings, see-saws and other playground favourites. The picnic went down a treat with us all and Elise tried to show Jacob how well she was toilet trained. Though she couldn't understand why Jacob didn't know what to do when she took him to the bushes!!!

On our second day, the British weather was back to normal and it was raining! So instead of taking Valerie and Elise into the Peak District, we ended up at the local Westfield. The children were reasonably behaved until we headed into Thorntons chocolate shop and then it all went pearshaped! Too much chocolate for either of them to cope with, so a quick grab of some gifts and we were out of there.

On the third day, Valerie and Elise were up very early in the morning to drive back London to catch their return flight. I can't believe how quick the time went.

It was lovely to see them both, and even though it was a very short visit, it was great.

We're hoping to make a return visit in December. As they live in the French Alps, I think it will be extra lovely for us all but especially Jacob as he hasn't seen any snow yet.

How fast five months have gone ...

I can't believe how quickly the last five months have gone. We left Australia at the beginning of April and we're now half way through September. So much has happened too. We had a lovely long holiday in Spain during April, May was spent looking for a house, June was spent waiting for the house, mid July we finally moved in and the rest of July and some of August was spent cleaning, decorating and settling ourselves in and of course lots of antenatal appointment for me and the arrival of Daniel on Wednesday 19th August.

Dave started his new contract in Wrexham in May which is due to finish at the end of November. The only problem with Wrexham is it isn't in commutable distance from Hatton. So off Dave leaves on a Monday morning, returns for Wednesday night and then doesn't return again until Friday afternoon. I think we've all adjusted to this situation but we don't like it and can only hope the next contract is either something closer to home, or somewhere we can all be together again, just like Newcastle was.

Jacob has adjusted to his many moves really well. He moved from everything he knew in Australia, with all his friends, to having a quick weekend at my parents before flying off to Spain. We returned from Spain and stayed at our mates - Lewis & Ju's house for a couple of weeks before returning to my parents house. I think we were there from mid May until mid July! A long time that was for sure. He's also adjusted to sleeping in a big bed and the arrival of his baby brother. I can't believe what a lovely and clever little boy he is. Not only all of the above, I also introduced him to nursery for two mornings a week. I think I was more worried and scared than he was. When Jacob returned after the school holidays, it was bye Mummy and that was it! He asks on a regular basis about going to nursery in the mornings. Bless him.

I will upload some photos but need to find out which external hard drive Dave has put them on first.

A very busy time

I can't believe how quickly the month of March has gone. It's been a very busy one for us. Finding out that we'd be returning to the UK in a matter of weeks, sorting out all the move, catching up and saying bye to some of our friends, seeing my parents and auntie and family in a quick trip to Melbourne, selling items on ebay, continuing our usual activies with Jacob and getting a scan done of our new baby. I can honestly say I've had quite an emotional time this month and feel like my emontions are on a roller coaster. Sometimes up and sometimes down!!!

Our belongings were packed up and took away in a truck on Friday morning. Jacob is still saying "train gone" and then "truck gone". I think he'll have a great surprise when we receive everything back in a few months time. In the afternoon my car went to it's new owners and again it was "car gone"! He wasn't as bad as when they took the car for a test drive the previous week, that didn't go down so well and he was quite sad about it all!

We've managed to get some visits in to a few places in the area too, with Jacob and my friends. We've visited Oakvale Farm where you can feed the animals wondering around, see some native animals and get to stroke a koala. Jacob even managed to bottle feed some calves and a kid. Ciara and Ella made up the party and we all had great fun.

A trip to Williamtown airbase cafe was in order too. This time it was only Ella and Jacob and not many minutes after we got out of the car, two jets took off. The noise was amazing and we managed to get our hands over the kids ears just in time. Ella wasn't so keen but Jacob thought it was great. He then got very animated and vocal and told us about the planes taking off and how fast they were. We saw a few more take off and land after that but they weren't as good as the first ones.

That weekend we took Jacob on a plane to visit his grandparents in Melbourne. He also got to see his great auntie and family too. He loved it. All we got was "plane, plane, plane" and sat so well in his own seat. We had the distraction of the ipod playing the wiggles but really didn't need it. On the way back at Melbourne airport was even better as there were so many planes taking off and landing. I have no worries about our flight back to the UK.

It was nice to see Mum and Dad, Jackie and family. And it was very strange saying bye to my parents, not getting upset and saying we'll see you a week on Friday!!! They only returned back to the UK last week and when I spoke to Mum on Friday I said see you in a week.

Since then we've had several leaving get togethers. I still can't believe how lucky we've been in Newcastle and how many great people we've met and what good friends so many have become. I will miss living here loads, I will miss the people and Jacob's friends too but it is time to back and be closer to our families. Jacob needs to have the opportunity to have relationships with his grandparents and other family members.

And then the birthday party

So, the day after Jacob's birthday we held his birthday party at Blackbutt Reserve.  The reserve is great as it has a fab playground, native animals to look at, ducks to feed bread to, emus to taunt with little fingers and a big grassy area for toddlers to run around too.

We had a birthday bbq breakfast, that Dave kindly cooked for us, some other little goodies and a variety of friends we have made whilst being in Newcastle.  

Jacob was again very lucky and got even more presents and cards and again, he enjoyed opening them all up.  Out of one parcel was an electric guitar and out of another one was a little drum kit.  The drum kit had to wait until the afternoon to be put together but the guitar was an instant hit and he wouldn't put it down for ages.

Jacob also got a water bottle with his name on, very useful, cars, puzzles, books, a skittle set and some more clothes.

I had to go before we had chance to cut the cake and sing happy birthday but had been in quite a bit of pain with a bad shoulder and neck.  So a huge thank you to Kerry for the great cake shots.

Dave, Jacob and I would also like to say a huge thank you to all our friends for Jacob's lovely presents and for making his party extra special for being there.  We are very lucky to have met you all and to have you as our friends.

A special date

As February starts to come to an end, it becomes a special time in our house - Jacob's birthday.  This time our little boy turned 2!  I still can't believe it - Jacob's 2!!!

Dave had the day off and after an early start, by Jacob, we opened his presents and cards.  He was very pleased that he could rip off the wrapping paper and got all these new things.  It didn't take long for him to get through the wrapping and to start playing with the contents.

After breakfast, a phone call to make an appointment for my dodgy shoulder and neck, a trip to the chemist to get some good pain relief, and then we were off to our destination - the Australian Reptile Park.

We saw a lake full of American aligators, koalas, Tasmanian devils, various lizards, snakes, spiders, wombats, an emu walking around the picnic area, kangaroos wandering around the picnic area, a huge Australian croc (which I think was eyeing up Jacob for his dinner) and a rescued baby wombat running around.  It came up to us, Jacob was unsure until I started stroking it and had a little stroke himself.  I was so tempted to empty the contents of my bag and take him home with us.  I love wombats.

After eating all his lunch, Jacob managed half a hot dog with us too!  We got the impression that Jacob had a great time and we really enjoyed ourselves as well.

Minature Trains

The last Sunday of every month is a special time in Edgeworth.  The minature train enthusiasts all get together at their special site and open up to the public for a few hours.  All they ask for is a donation and you can ride on their trains for ages!

We arranged to meet with Susanne, Darren, Oskar, Isac & Alex along with Tracey, Ant & Ciara.  We had our picnics first and the children just loved to watch the trains going round on their tracks and all we could hear from them was "train", "choo choo", "peep peep", "more", "again" and it was great.

Jacob had got his Thomas hat on, loads of children were having their parties there and Thomas the Tank Engine was a very common theme and it was such fun.  There was different tracks, lots of different trains and loads of us to queue up for and go on.  One track went through a very low bridge and tunnel, you really had to duck for that one!

We even had a go on a minature steam roller.  Jacob loved it and when we got off, the driver even offered for Jacob to pull the horn.  Which of course Jacob did but was quite surprised at the noise that came out of it!

It was that much fun, we've already got it on our calendar for March!  I've told everyone I know about it and I think there might be quite a few of us next time.

January

I can't believe how quickly January has flown by. Considering it's normally such a long month after Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, it still went fast - and so did our money!!!

I'm already trying to think of what we've done. Our normal walks, coffee & play dates, started swimming lessons again, found a new indoor play cafe for the toddlers, attended some social events. Our normal stuff really.

Jacob is great fun, most of the time. He's really into cars, trains, trucks, planes, helicopters, cartoons on the tv, children's programmes on the tv really. He also likes to jump like a kangaroo, do bird impressions with his arms and generally just make Dave and I laugh. We've also got into tickling quite a bit. He'll either come up to us indicating he'd like to be tickled or we just get him! And then we get asked to "stop" or "no more" or sometimes, Jacob even asks for more! So much fun.

Sorry for the lack of photos, not on the right laptop to add some.  Next time, promise.

A wet Friday morning

Jacob and I have just met up with Kel and Elliott for a play.  We met at Centennial Park and managed a good 20 minutes of playing before it started to rain.  We quickly got to our cars and drove to MacDonalds.  After the important business of getting coffees, babycinos and morning tea, the serious business of playing was started.

If you haven't been to McDonalds in Australia and you have small children, it's great.  I think everyone outlet has a play thing for them to ammuse themselves.  It is meant for children over 3 but Jacob has found that hasn't stopped him at all.

Well, once Elliott and Jacob got used to the area they had great fun.  First of all it started to chuck it down and unfortunately, even though there was a cover to the playarea, it leaked.  Well, Elliott and Jacob looked like they were having a game of dare to who would splash in the water first.  Elliott got his feet in first but Jacob stood under the fast dripping water first and they both ended up pretty wet.  I wished I had my camera.  They loved it and Kel and I knew if we said no, they'd do it more. 

After a while, or should I say after we'd had our coffees, we joined the boys in the play area.  As they were a little young they needed a helping hand up inside the play thing before they could use the slides.  Well, once they were shown, there was no stopping them.  Up and down, in and out and they even managed to find a way up to the highest point and come down the slide there too.  Our little boys are so brave.  I'll have to try and get a photo, to show everyone what they'd been up to.

Great fun for a Friday morning and I think it might become a regular place to meet when it's a little too wet for normal playgrounds and it's great that we can grab a coffee at McCafe too.

Random December Photos

New Year's Eve

We invited our friends' over to enjoy NYE 2008.  Susanne, Darren, Oskar & Isac and Kerry, Steve and Ella came late afternoon and we had a Spanish themed buffet.  When the children got a little loud and too noisy, the Dads took them over to the park for a good kick around with the balls.  It was bliss to sit for a little while and enjoy the nice and quiet house.  It didn't last long though but I managed to get a cuppa in!!

I'm slightly sad that the memories from this year's celebrations will have In The Night Garden and Thomas the Tank Engine in them!  Oh well, there were 3 toddlers about.

We went to watch the early fireworks, 9pm, had a great spot elevated above the Foreshore but Ella and Jacob really didn't like them.  Jacob had his arms very tightly around my neck, I could let go of him and he was still holding really tightly, his hat on over his eyes and just in case any light got through, his hand overs his eyes.  We asked if he wanted to look at the fireworks and he said "no no no no no".  I think he might now be traumatised for years.

At 9.45pm we went outside once again as the International Space Station would be going over us.  I couldn't remember the exact details but it was traveling very fast and there was only a short time (minutes) we would be able to see it.  Wow!  I was very impressed.  It went over our house really fast and was shining very brightly and then it must have gone over the curviture of the earth and it just started to fade and then disappear into the night sky.  Amazing.  Sorry for you non saddos like me.

Our friends slowly went home during the evening and then it was Dave and I left watching television.  At 11.30pm we couldn't stay awake any longer, so we went to bed, Dave was asleep in minutes, I lay there waiting for the 12 o'clock fireworks to go off and did they go off?!  They were so noisy, Dave woke straight away and Jacob slept through it all.  

The perfect way to welcome in 2009!  Happy New Year to you.