Cade's first birthday

"We did it, we did it, oh yeah yeah yeah!!!" Yes, that is a song from Finding Nemo. I won't talk about how many times we've watched this over the last few weeks but this post is not about how much my boys (yes, both of them) are really into this movie! But rather about our little boy turning one! And yes, we did it! We made it, we survived the first year of Cade's life as well as well as the first year of parenting two rambunctious boys!

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do for Cade's first birthday celebration. As usual the guest list just got bigger and bigger the more we thought about it. We looked at venue options and doing something similar to what we had for Darian but in the end we decided that it would be better if we just had a few close friends at home. It turned out to be a great day and our little boy was celebrated in true style. 

Adam entertaining the kids

A house full of babies

Our birthday boy

Cutting the cake

A full house indeed

Celebrating with our nearest & dearest

A full house

He likes to drum

Joash, Lee, Lenny & Premika

Kajal, Luka & Liley

Luka, Liley & Lily

Madison & Darian

Mason & Cade

Getting ready for cake

Wanted to walk down the stairs so mum had to help

Our little boy is 1

The cake

Thea & Sean

On his actual birthday, he celebrated at daycare with his friends. Unfortunately the day care rules have changed somewhat since Darian turned one so I was unable to bake a cake for my little boy, like I did his brother. But the teachers were very obliging and baked a cake for him so he could celebrate with his friends. Of course there was no way I couldn't be there when Happy Birthday was sung to him for the first time, so I took time off work to be there to witness it. And of course Darian joined in and ate as much chocolate cake as he could muster.

Mum I'm watching tv

Ok, one smile then go away

If I can act like I'm looking at you while I look at the tv, ok

now you're in the way mum

celebrations at daycare

Cake... mmmmm

mouth stuffed with cake

big brother had to get in on the cake action

Cake for everyone

My boys

Little Evelyn and Cade - litle siblings of Elise & Darian who sat next to each other at Darian's first birthday celebrations

We are so grateful for our little boy. He is such a joy, always smiling, always laughing and always loving on his brother and looking for mama and dada. I am blessed beyond measure and when I see all the friends we have that take us as family, that came to celebrate with us, each person that took the time out to wish our boy or to make his day special, I realised just how much God has blessed us.

Thank you to everyone who made celebrating his day so special.

Our Mid year Aussie Holiday

What a wonderful, relaxing week we've had.

Friday I had to take the boys back to the doctors to ensure they were all ok and healthy enough to fly. And they were. Marcus gave me a script for Cade for Amoxicillin, just in case he's temp surges and it's not just bronchialitis but we didn't need it. He and Darian didn't get any worse while over there, which was good. Friday morning however I took Darian to daycare so he didn't miss out on his Playball game. He won the player of the day medal but couldn't keep it as we were going to be away for the next game and wouldn't be able to return the medal. He was so chuffed with himself, and mummy was super proud too as he was the only one in his age group that was able to catch the ball. 

On the flight there they were both really good. Darian was super excited to be on an airplane again and sat quietly watching he's shows. Cade didn't flinch or cry the whole flight. We arrived quite late and I was worried Cade would never make the 2 hour drive to Newcastle but both he and Darian slept the whole way there. We arrived at Brads and Shams place just before midnight, Shaien, a friend of Brads was there as well so they all got to meet Cade. Darian just went straight to bed, which was good and Cade was wide awake and loving all he attention. We sat talking for a few hours then headed to bed. The next day was Xavier's party so it was a busy day. Cade, however was very crabby and moody. I think it was a mixture of jet lag and being sick do I spent most of the party in the room, trying to get him to settle. Darian was just loving the party atmosphere and had company with little Jessie, the son of Phil and Kim, friends of Brads and Sham. So he hardly noticed that mummy was MIA for most of the day. 

It was a lovely afternoon though and a very sweet party. 

Darian and Jesse were best friends

We spent the rest of the holiday just relaxing. Lazy days and eating all kinds of tummy food, just what holidays are all about.

We got home on Saturday afternoon after THE worst flight ever! Darian threw a massive tantrum when we got on the plane because he wanted the tv, and as we were in the front seats for the bassinet for Cade, the TV would come up from under the seat. But during taxi & take off we had to put it away, so he screamed and cried while Cade slept through it all. Then on landing, we had the same issue but it got worse when he realised we were leaving the airplane. It was very hard trying to carry Cade while Cameron tried to carry the bags and keep Darian in check. And then it got worse as we got to passport control because Cade woke up, hungry! I couldn't leave the line and it was the busiest I've ever seen it that day with 2 immigration officers at the desks! Urgh! Go figure! So we had two kids screaming and crying! We were THOSE parents! WORST. EXPERIENCE. EVER!!! By the time we got to baggage claim we just couldn't deal, and one of the customs officers allowed us to bypass the line, because of our screaming children and go through X-ray through a special line.

My mum picked us up at the airport and I couldn't get to the car quicker just to feed Cade. I've never been so agitated in my life and felt really guilty for taking it out on my boy who was just over tired and too excitable! He love airplanes and didn't want to go but because mummy and daddy were just as tired and lost our cool too many times. 

It wasn't a very pleasant trip home but it was a great time away. We are hoping that we can have a good Christmas and that the family comes over this year. Our first Christmas in NZ since Darian was born! 

Can't wait!

Easter 2015

Happy Easter to one and all!

I for one was so looking forward to this long weekend, and it could not have come at a better time. And for once we had nothing planned and were just going to wing it this weekend.

Thursday was mum's 65th Birthday. Although we couldn't be with her our thoughts were with her. It's so sad to be away from family, especially on special occasions but we can look forward to mum coming to spend some time with us later this year when baby number 2 arrives.

Happy birthday mummy, you mean the world to us!

On Good Friday we had a very relaxing day and actually didn't leave the house at all. BLISS! Although I did, for the first time on my own, attempt to make Pickled Fish, a traditional South African Easter dish of fried fish pickled with onions. Typically eaten cold on Good Friday. And well, let's just say for a first attempt it was quite good. Thursday night of course I had to, at the last minute ring mum for her recipe and of course get Cameron to stop at Countdown on his way home and grab whatever fish he could find! All shops are closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday (And Christmas Day), here in NZ so Thursday night he had to do a mad rush to ensure we had everything we might need for Friday. We also had to give Darian his Easter egg on Friday even though we intended to wait til Sunday, he was just beside himself with excitement and tried to eat it all in one go.

Asked him for a kiss and this is the face he gave me.

We had to wear Bunny ears to eat our Easter Egg, of course.

The face when he saw his Easter egg, #priceless.

Wish I had captured this video from the moment he saw his Easter Egg, his reaction was "Oh WOW, AMAZING". It was too cute for words. Love how big my boy is getting and what a character he is becoming. Love seeing his personality developing.

On Saturday we decided we needed to go shopping for a big boy bed for Darian. As we are now 24 weeks pregnant, we need to start planning for our little one to arrive, which means getting Darian out of his cot so we can get it ready for baby number 2. Even though it's a convertible bed and is currently a toddler bed, we need to get Darian out before baby arrives. As it is, everything is "mine" so don't want too many changes to affect him when the baby comes. Anyway, he had a blast jumping in and out of the beds in Target and testing them out. He even got comfortable under the covers with a teddy they had used as a prop.

Easter Sunday we headed off to Church and then to Lenny & Premika's for a BBQ. It was a lovely evening with our friends. We got to talk and catch up while the kids kept themselves busy and kept each other company. 

Today (Easter Monday) was round 2 of big boy bed shopping but after a day of shopping we still came home empty handed and decided we'd wait til the perfect deal came up. So, this remains a WORK IN PROGRESS! LOL! We got home and I decided to make a full on Sunday lunch, with Roast Chicken and Stuffing, twice roasted potatoes and a parmesan crisp salad. And of course milktart for dessert, which unfortunately was a complete flop! Didn't set at all so we had biscuits and custard! LOL! Tasted good though! Will try again and get it right! Or wait for mum to get here and help with my milktart craving!

Not looking forward to work this week, even if it is a short week. But it will come nonetheless!