FINAL COUNTDOWN!!!

I must start by telling you that as I type this, the song The Final Countdown by Europe is on repeat in my head! I even attempted to put it on the blog so you guys could hear it as well, but because we are not in the US the music players will not let me add it to my blog due to licensing agreements. Oh well.

The past few weeks have been loads of fun!! To start, 2 weeks ago I was starting to look for Christmas gifts online to cut down on my shopping time when we get home. I was on Amazon.com when my computer froze. I waited for it to do its thing and restart but no luck. Instead, what I got was a wonderful little message that said "attempted to reboot, no hard drive information found". Lovely! I attempted to restart it several more times, thinking that it was just a mistake, but after 45 minutes of doing so I decided to go ahead and run the diagnostic test. In the meantime I am almost in tears, on the verge of a major breakdown! Why? A few months back, Jamie told me that I should backup all of the photos, documents, etc that we didn't already have backed up. I started to do this, but only got through the photos from 2009. What that meant was I had not backed up any photos from 2010, which meant no photos of Kylie except the ones I had put on the blog or facebook. I was devastated! 1000's of photos, gone! I guess that's the downside to digital cameras, noone ever prints off all the photos and keeps them in albums anymore.

Jamie got home a few hours later and managed to get the computer to start up in a safety mode and luckily we were able to get the photos copied without losing any. The next morning I turned the computer back on and it was completely back to normal as if nothing had happened the day before.  It was weird! When Jamie got to the office and talked to his IT guru he said that what happened to our computer is actually a common thing when someone gets into your computer to get your information. He said it especially happens on sites like Amazon, etc and what they do is shut your system down so that they can track the credit card information you've just put in. Jamie hadn't even told him what site I was on when it happened when he used Amazon as an example. Lucky for us I wasn't actually buying anything at the time.  I had just signed into our account where our information is stored under our profile. We spent the next few days backing everything up, changing log in info on all of our accounts and credit cards, it was a nightmare!! But now it's all fixed and there were no crazy charges posted to any of our cards, which is good.

Other than that fun filled few days, we've pretty much been gearing up for the trip home, hence the "final countdown". As of the time I write this, we have 3 days and 7 hours until take off! Ah, that's it; less than 4 days! I've spent the last week preparing the house and dogs for the trip as well as packing and doing some shopping for items that we will need to have on hand for Kylie. The house sitter has been by and received her instructions, the dogs have been to the vet for check-ups and teeth cleanings, the gardener has been by to do the yard and double check the sprinkler system and I have been through several lists and shopping trips to ensure that I have what I need for Kylie. Whew! I thought packing for Sydney was hard, but boy was I wrong! 3 weeks is a long time to be on holiday with an infant, especially when you're going to a different country. The formula is different, the baby food is different and in our case right now the weather is different! Even with all this, I am completely ecstatic to be going!! Not only do we have plans to meet up with some great people and eat some WONDERFUL food, but this year I'm really excited about the gifts we've gotten for people and I can't wait for everyone to open them! Not that we usually buy crappy gifts, but this year is special for reasons I cannot mention right now. Not to mention that it's Kylie's first Christmas, even though she has no clue what she's in for! Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE holiday and I can't wait to share all the fun with my little one!

Speaking of my little one, here's an update on her life! She will be 8 months on Monday but since we were leaving the next day we had her 8 month developmental check last week. On the 11th of Nov she was 27 3/4 inches long and 7.42 kilos or 16 lbs 5 oz. As of Dec 1st she was 7.7 kilos or 16 lbs 15 oz and 28 1/2 inches long! That's right, in less than 3 weeks she grew almost an entire inch! I know it's correct, because I always come home and measure her myself since there have been mistakes in the past. The nurse also said that "she is extremely socially mature for her age" which I already knew. I mean, at 12 weeks old the kid was smiling and babbling to get people to stop talking to others and look at her. She loves to be the center of attention and loves people! I just hope that the trip to the US doesn’t freak her out because there will be so many new people in such a short time. We've still only got one tooth, and actually, it's only a half of a tooth. That thing is taking its sweet time coming in, not that I'm mad because we really haven't had any problems with her being unwell due to teething. The right tooth is still just hanging out as well. I'm sure it will decide to show itself when we are in the middle of our 16 hour flight from Dubai to Houston and Kylie will decide that the pain is so unbearable the only thing that makes her feel better is to scream for hours because it hurts! Fingers crossed that doesn't happen!!!

She's still not crawling, although a few weeks ago she attempted it. Her last try resulted in a nice little face plant in which she hit her chin pretty hard. This week she’s back at it, but I think we’ve still got a few weeks to go. She's also really close to moving from laying on her back or side to sitting on her own.  She gets so mad that she can't do it. I know that it will be a huge relief when she can finally do it on her own.  She's still eating like a champ, and has even moved on to eating the same dinner we have depending on what it is.  This past week I made baked ziti with green bean casserole and she LOVED it!  The kid couldn't chew fast enough!  She had her mouth open waiting for another bite before she even finished what she had in her mouth.  The next night I attempted to give her something from a jar and after acting like she was gagging and spiting it out she gave me a look like I had just given her the worst thing you could ever imagine, and it was something she had already eaten the week before with no problems.  I got out more ziti and green bean casserole and she ate it like it was her last meal!  I've also discovered in the last month that if I want her to take any water or juice it has to come from a straw.  She doesn't want anything but formula in her bottle and she's not digging the sippy cups.  It's gotta be straight from my glass or a straw, no exceptions!

Tomorrow we have Kylie's last swim class of the year and then it's off to Jamie's work family picnic at Kings Park. Santa will be there to bring gifts to all the kiddos which should be lots of fun. Jamie wasn't with us the first time Kylie saw Santa so he's looking forward to seeing her reaction. As usual, I’ll leave you with the latest and greatest!

Jamie and Kylie hanging out while I finish making our Thanksgiving meal.  Must be nice to relax and just eat!

Kylie in her new swimsuit right before leaving for swim class

Taking a nap.  One minute she was laughing and playing, the next minute she was out. 

Now that's a good baby!

November, are you serious?!

To say that it's been awhile is an understatement! I can't believe that a month has already gone by. I could have sworn that I just put a new post up a week ago. None the less, it has been a month and a busy month it's been.

To start, Jamie's crazy hours continued all the way up to his birthday and a little beyond! What that meant for me was that I was pretty much a single mom for about 3 weeks, weekends included! From the time Kylie got up till the time she went to bed it was all mommy, all the time. It's a good thing she likes me! 9 and 10 o'clock became the norm for Jamie's arrival during this time with a few 11pm and midnight exceptions. It was a long few weeks, for all of us. We had a few good nights after the birthday but of course things started to roll in again and the usual 6 pm arrival was knocked back to 7-8pm again. At least the "weekend duty" is over...for now! This week he had to go to Melbourne but luckily it was a short trip and he is on his way home as we speak. Oh the life of the wife of a business man, gotta love it!!

Because his birthday fell on the day they were submitting the proposal for work I didn't have too much planned. He had already received his big birthday gift before his parents arrived (a new set of drivers and woods) so the fun and excitement of the gift was kinda done. I did however bake him a completely made from scratch "American style" chocolate fudge cake with butter cream icing. It was sooo good, I completely impressed myself. The only bad thing was that I didn't take a photo of it when I finished it. Why is that a bad thing? Couldn't I have just taken it later? Well, yes I could have and I did. The problem, I didn't realized that it was going to be a 32 degree day and when I went out to run some errands I didn't turn the air conditioner on. The icing started to melt and the picture below is the result! It may not have looked professional, but it sure as hell tasted like it!! Kylie and I also arranged for him to have a spa day which included a 1 hour full body massage and a 40 minute Indian scalp massage on Tuesday while we were at our playgroup and dinner at Fraser's in Kings Park that evening. It has a wonderful view of the city and was a nice change from The Boatshed, our usual restaurant of choice.

My beautiful cake!!  It looks like a 5 year old made it!

Outside of Fraser's in Kings Park

Jamie's birthday treat!  Kylie was in awe over the sparkler!

In the past few weeks I have also decided that I am ready to go back to work, assuming that I can find a job that will meet my demands! I would like to start with 2 days a week, only day shift and they have to be okay with set days (for the daycare). I went on 2 interviews last week and they both went really well. The first one was really good and they are willing to work with me on the days. They are only open during the day so no night shift but they are looking for someone to fill full-time hours. So, if they find a full-time person they like the spot will be filled by them, but if they don't they will use a few part-time people and I'm in. The second interview was with the same hospital I was offered a job at a few months ago but turned down. It's in a different area of the hospital that is a day unit so again, no night shift. They weren't "thrilled" about the set days and she really wants someone who will work 3 or more days but liked me so she said she'll consider my requests. I think that's code for "I like you and would love to have you come aboard but since I want someone to work more hours I'll wait and see if anyone else is willing to before I offer you the job". Usually I would be the one who is really flexible and willing to accommodate people but right now I'm not willing to do that. So, if I can find something that suits me I'll be going back to work after the holidays but if not nothing will change.

Kylie has lots going on as well. As of Thursday the 11th of November she is no longer "toothless"! That's right, my little girl has a tooth! It's on her bottom left, in case you were wondering. I'm both happy and sad about this new development.  It's exciting because well, it just is; but at the same time OMG...she's growing up! It has completely broken through the gums but has not come in enough to see it when she smiles, so for now it's just hanging out. Smart enough not to show itself all the time just yet, but still sarcastically reminding me of its presence every time she tries to suck or bite on my finger. Its little friend to the right is hanging out as well, but this one is smart enough to stay under the safety of the gums for a little bit longer. I have a feeling that by this weekend it will be brave enough to show itself though! Ah, the joys of watching your baby grow older! Who knew that something so exciting could be so heartbreaking?!  Maybe I'm just a little sensitive!

This past weekend she also got to meet Santa Clause. We weren't exactly prepared, as we were just doing some shopping and I didn't know he would be there but I had her photo taken anyway. She's got an expression on her face like "mom, are you sure we know this kid?". So cute even though she's looking at me and not the camera! Here are a few new updated photos, including the one with Santa. (Just an FYI we've now got 29 days until our Houston arrival!!! Yay!!)

Taking photos for our Christmas cards!!  Wait till you see the one's that made it onto the card!

(6 1/2 months)

New high chair

Hangin out with Mommy in the kitchen

 I've convinced myself that she was excited because I told her that she could eat what I was making instead of baby food!  I know, not likely!

First photo with Santa. "Hey mom, you sure we know this kid?!"

(7 months)

Hanging out in the backyard.  One day this look will mean trouble!

My little cutie!

 

 

And I leave you with the following mini story line...

"Mom, I'm stuck!"

"Well, if I could just see how this thing works"

"Wait, I think I've got it!"

"Okay, I've got nothing.  Since you're just sittin' there think you could help me out?"

 THE END!!

Half Birthday

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I can explain...really. Jamie has been working MAD hours lately, home no earlier than 8:00 and even worked the weekend. I've had Kylie all to myself 24 hours a day for the past however many days it's been!! We both (Kylie and I) got sick two weeks ago and it took a good week for Kylie to get over it! Awww, her first "true" cold! If it wasn’t so annoying I'd think it was cute! I mean seriously, how do you tell a 6 month old that if she blows out she will clear her nose or that if she opens her mouth and breaths that way she won't pass out from lack of oxygen??? Any who, it's done now and all is well, with the exception of Jamie's crazy work schedule probably hanging around until his birthday.

Since we haven't had any time to actually do anything as a family this post will strictly be a Kylie update. This past week we celebrated her "half birthday"!! Yay, 6 months old!!! The weeks leading up to this have been packed with so many new and exciting things, Jamie feels like he's looking at a different kid when he finally does get to see her awake!

We've started solids and so far I can tell you that we haven't found a food this kiddo doesn't like! She doesn't take to everything right away, but usually if it's not an instant hit the second time around we have no problems. She is sooo in to what we eat; I can tell that the transition from baby food to table food is going to be an easy one! It's gotten to the point where I can't even take a bite of something if I'm holding her. As soon as she sees it coming to my mouth she leans in mouth wide open and tries to take the plunge!

For the past few weeks she's started sitting on her own, but made HUGE improvements the beginning of last week and now can sit and play with her toys long enough for me to actually leave her alone for a while and get things done. She's also rolling lots more, but only from back to tummy. I don't know what's wrong with the kid, but she refuses to roll from tummy to back! She's done it twice, back when she was like 13-14 weeks but I can count on one hand how many times she's done it since. The funny thing is, she HATES to be on her tummy, but as soon as you put her (or she falls) on her back the weirdo rolls right onto her tummy. You know you hate it, so why do you do it??? I don't get it.

She's not crawling yet, but she has begun pulling her legs up under her and bouncing her bottom to try and move. It's freakin' hilarious! Until she gets mad that is. My sweet girl wants to move so bad, you can see she is seriously starting to get pissed off that she can't move around like she wants to! You put her in a chair and she kicks and rocks, you sit her in your lap and she starts rocking and bouncing around. It's so cute but at the same time I feel bad because I know it has to be so frustrating for her!

On a side note, we started "big girl" swim classes today and she did well. I on the otherhand almost had an anxiety attack when they told me that I had to dunk her completely under water. Up until the point of doing it I thought I was going to pee in the pool I was so nervous! Why I was nervous I haven't a clue because she came up and started sucking her thumb like it wasn't a big deal! A few minutes later however hunger set in and she was kinda over the whole "swimming" thing. Lesson learned, next time swim class falls in the vicinity of usually feeding time, go ahead and feed beforehand!

Here are a few updated photos of Kylie, as well as her "Half Birthday" photos.

Escape from bouncy chair. I love how she looks like she got caught doing something bad! Practicing I guess!

 (used my phone thinking she wouldn't try again...)

These were attempts 3 and 4!  Glad I grabbed my camera! (5 months)

Sitting up and testing out the Jolly Jumper (5 1/2 months)

Last "mums and bubs" class : (  (6 months)

Kylie and her friend Alyssa holding hands.  Too Cute!

Photos taken on her "Half Birthday"

First week of Spring!!

Most of you who read this celebrated the first day of Autumn this past week.  Us "down under" celebrated our first week of Spring.  Of course the first day after the McMillan's left we had 26 degree weather and 26-28 degree ( high 70's low 80's) weather for the next week after that!  It doesn't sound that warm, but when there's not one cloud in the sky it gets a little toasty.

Kylie has been enjoying her first Spring as well.  In the afternoon's we've been lying out in the backyard and she absolutely loves it!  Pretty soon she'll be ready for picnics in Kings Park and walks along the Swan River, I can't wait!  Here are a few photos from our first week of Spring!

Game Day!!

Hanging out in the backyard 

 She loves her puppies!

Relaxing and watching the puppies chase the birds

How the afternoon ended! (until I took the photo, then she woke up!)