Tonight is our last night in the first home we've ever owned. It was also Em's first home, the place we brought her home to after her birth. It's amazing to think that we've been here only 18 months, yet so much has happened. We love the area, and are moving just 3 suburbs away (closer in to Brisbane) to Thorneside. The Bay will be even more accessible from there, walking distance from our new home. The kids will have a bigger garden and a rumpus, and any visiting grandparents will have their own living area downstairs. But more on that after we've moved in tomorrow.

For now we're frantically packing and hoping to have time to take final photo's of Em's first home before we leave tomorrow. On that note, I'd better run...

Yesterday I joined the Redlands/Wynnum Canoe Club for a paddle out into the Bay. Not far into the trip it started raining gently. Combined with the rising sun we were treated to the view of this rainbow.

As usual I had to turn back early (for Emma), but with the rainbow ahead of me almost the whole way back to the clubhouse even the return trip was enjoyable.

I'm hoping to take my kayak fishing with Mikey's little rod sometime this week - watch this space!

Today Mikey fell into the toilet. He's been taking himself off lately and if I attempt to check he's ok all I get is "Mummy go away!". So today while I was busy in the kitchen he went off for a pee. And then decided to climb onto the toilet to reward himself with a sticker for his chart :) Unfortunately at that point it all went horribly wrong and he ended up in the toilet bowl with a bruised knee and ankle.

Sadly it would have been too cruel to run off and grab my camera so the story will have to passed on by word of mouth until his 21st birthday :)

Since moving to this area in October 2006 I've been excited to get out onto the Bay and do some exploring, learn more about the wildlife here (Moreton Bay is a Marine National Park - just from the shore we've seen dolphins, turtles, dugongs, a humpback whale on migration as well as numerous bird and fish species) and about the sea. As I fell pregnant with Em the month after we moved here this was all put on hold.

For Christmas my Dad very kindly gave me a kayak which enabled me to finally get out on the Bay - joy! However, due to my lack of knowledge of the sea I felt a bit apprehensive about venturing far on my own, so I've joined the Wynnum Redlands Canoe Club. The members I've met so far have all been friendly, and I've learnt quite a bit already.

From our new home I'll be able to take a short cycle down to the clubhouse each Saturday morning for my weekly paddle where I hope to learn more about the sea, currents, etc, see some of the wildlife the others have seen while paddling (especially dolphins closeup) and stay away from certain other wild inhabitants (ie. bull sharks) in the area.

Wow, has it really been so long since I last blogged? "Emma is now 3 weeks old..." now reads "Emma is now 8 months old and crawls like greased lighting"!

How to catch up on over 7 months, and most of Em's lifetime...

The time since Em was born has been chaotic, filled with family visitors as well as wonderful. Life as a family of four is a constant learning experience for all of us, but going well. Mikey and Emma adore each other and are playing together more and more as Emma's understanding of things grows.

Since Em's birth we've had Brendan's sister Mandi spend a couple of weeks with us, then Brendan's mom stayed for 2 months which was heaven. My Dad then came for nearly 3 months, and is coming to stay for another 3 from this Saturday - woohoo! It's been fantastic having grandparents around. We'd like to "import" them permanently :)


Em has two teeth (bottom middle) which appeared just before and just after her 6 month birthday - she doesn't seem to be in any hurry to push any more through just yet. She started crawling at 7 and a half months, a month younger than Mikey did but is less interested than he was in standing up and furniture cruising.

Mikey's now a toilet training graduate and loves "giving the thirsty trees a drink" when we're at the park :). The "terrible two's" also seem to be a thing of the past. He's a very loving big brother to Em, and loves helping Mummy with things like vacuum cleaning (to the point where we got him his own mini hoover). Climbing and trampolines are all the rage right now. He's also started to really enjoy other kids his own age and is developing friendships which is so sweet to see.


Brend is still travelling a lot, the three of us miss him when he's away. Fortunately he's usually home for weekends (aka "Daddy Days"). Recently he's started taking charge of them on Saturday mornings from about 5am-7:30am while I either take my camera out or go paddling on the Bay (more on that to come!).


As for me, I'm still a SAHM (stay at home mum) and hoping to keep that job title for quite a while to come. Mikey will be attending Kindy for a couple of days a week as from next year, but we have no plans to start Emma going for another couple of years to give her the same start Mikey's had. We're busy getting Mikey's name onto school waiting lists at the moment (seems like we should have done this already - what happened to my baby?!) as we finally know where we'll be living when he starts school. We've sold our townhouse in Ormiston and in 2 weeks time will be moving 2 suburbs up the coast to Thorneside, to a highset home with a lovely backyard for the kids. Exciting times ahead!