Beautiful Sydney

We have arrived back in Perth with the McMillan clan in tow!  The trip to Sydney went off without a hitch and we had an amazing time! 

We were a little concerned about how Kylie would handle the flights, but she was AMAZING!!  Sometimes I look at her and wonder what I did in my previous life to have deserved such a wonderful little girl. With the exception of one night she was wonderful the entire trip (we think the night she was fussy was due to the time change and us trying to put her to bed too early).  I think I may have the best baby in the world, honestly.

Relaxing after our flight

View from our hotel room

We arrived Friday morning and had plans to hang out with the folks for the day. Unfortunately they were delayed so we spent the day hanging out and walking around the botanic gardens. It was a nice, relaxing day; even though the weather was complete crap. It had rained that morning so it was cold and windy. Even still it was great to get out and see the sites.

Checking out the sites, Kylie was so impressed she slept through it!

Bundled up for the Botanic Gardens then happy to be inside where it's warm!

The McMillan's arrived Saturday morning and thus our adventures began!  While Jamie's mom spent the morning cuddling Kylie (it was the first time she's met her!) Jamie and his dad did the bridge climb.  The weather was rainy that morning but lucky for them it had stopped by their climb time and the sky had cleared a little.  It wasn't sunny, but at least it wasn't raining!!  That evening we all went on a sunset dinner cruise around the harbor.  This was quite the trip for Kylie as she was able to cross a lot of "firsts" off her list. First vacation, first flight, first hotel stay, first boat ride...check!

"First" photo with Mama Connie

Photo on the cruise and Kylie passed out afterwards... Man, it must be exhausting to be so damn cute!

Sunday was our morning to shop.  We started the morning off at Krispy Kreme to full fill my 6 month craving.  Why o' why can't we get one in Perth already, I mean come on people!!  After that little taste of heaven we went to the markets and the shops in downtown.  After that Jamie and his dad went to the top of the bridge pillars to take photos while the girls shopped some more!  While in downtown I decided to get proactive and get some chores done, so I stopped by the Gucci store to have my sunglasses and watch battery fixed (I noticed it was dead on the flight...ugh so annoying).  They couldn't do either that same day but the trip was not a total waste.  As I started to walk out something in one of the cases caught my eye.  What is it you ask?  A handbag?  A watch?? A pair of heals???  No my friends, surprisingly it wasn't for me.  It was however, the CUTEST pair of pink, Gucci, baby shoes!!  Yes, baby shoes!!  They were simply adorable.  So, another first was crossed off Kylie's list.  First Gucci experience...check!

Sunggled up watching cartoons before our big shopping day!

Our trip to Gucci (check out her shoes!!) 

Do you think it was fate that they happened to match her outfit that day?!?  Like mother like daughter!

Photos from the bridge.  When they did the bridge climb they climbed to the flags!!  To high for me!

That night was also the night we had tickets to see WICKED.  The show was fantastic!  By far the best show I've ever seen!  Not that I've seen a lot of them, but still.  I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to see it.  It's definitley worth the money!

Me at WICKED!!

Monday was spent relaxing by the harbor and walking around the botanic gardens again before our afternoon flight.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect day to enjoy the fresh air.  If only the entire trip could have seen weather like that!

Flying foxes at the gardens (basiclly the biggest bats ever) and Kylie with Mama Connie and Pops

Our little family

The flight back home

So, now we are in Perth hanging out and enjoying what the city has to offer.  Sunday we head down to Margaret River for some wine tasting, national parks and maybe a whale watching tour!

Final countdown

We are now less than 24 hours away from out long awaited departure (as I write this we are 14 hours and 30 minutes away but who’s counting?). Woo Hoo!! I have spent the last 2 days doing everything possible to get ready and yet I am sure I will have forgotten something.


I have told you all about the McMillan travel curse at one time or another. He shows up at the most unreasonable of times and always seems to try his hardest to ruin any trip we take. Thinking back I can't remember a trip that he hasn't shown up to (yes, it is a he what else would it be???). Well, he has decided to visit us once again and today he is in Atlanta with Jamie's parents. As of lunch time in Perth they have been at the Atlanta airport delayed for almost 4 hours. They are expecting to miss their Los Angeles flight to Sydney which means they will be delayed an entire day since the next flight doesn't leave until the following night. I have my fingers crossed that he (the travel curse) enjoys Atlanta so much that he decides to stay there!

Aside from that things on the home front have been pretty busy. Jamie has been working late nights all week and I have been getting things ready around the house for our trip. It's amazing how much more you have to pack and plan for just by adding a little one to your travel plans! To make matters worse Kylie is still showing symptoms of teething. I think it's more of the teeth just shifting at this point because the pain (and symptoms) seems to come on for a few days and then go away for a week or two. This past Sunday was the worst day yet and Kylie just wanted to be held ALL DAY LONG! She would bite down on everything she could get her cubby little hands on and ran a mild temp pretty much all day. Sunday and Monday night she woke at 2 am and didn't fall back asleep until 4am. Yesterday however she was in a much better mood and went back to sleeping through the night again so hopefully we're good for the next few weeks.

On a side note the name of this post is "Final Countdown" for 2 reasons. The first one being our trip to Sydney and the second you ask?

Clemson Football starts this weekend and Jamie couldn't be any more excited. We've got Kylie's first tiger’s jersey arriving with Jamie's parents so she is all set to go as well.

That's about it for now since Kylie is up from her nap. Here are a few photos taken this week of Kylie receiving a gift from her Uncle Jason and Aunt Laura. 20 week weight is 14 pounds 6 ounces and length is 25 1/2 inches.

Jason said something about Jamie fighting off the fellas and she just thought that was hilarious!!

Swimming and more

I mentioned in the last post that I would try to get some photos from swimming.  I am happy to report that I was able to get some but unfortunately Kylie is teething and most of the photos she has her entire fist in her mouth!  We were able to get a few good ones so here they are.

Floating and talking to her friend Rocky

Usually the noodle is her favorite part (she smiles and kicks the entire time) but this week she had other things going on, like a sore mouth!

Me and my girl!  Should have taken this photo at the beginning of class when she wasn't exhausted!

Wednesday we had our mom's group over to our house.  Preparing everything is time consuming as it is, add a 4 month old to the equation who is teething and refusing to take ANY naps and it's damn near impossible!  But, in the end everything turned out great and we all had a good time.  What should have taken a few hours to prepare ended up taking all day but in the end it all got done.  It was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time.  It was also a big day for Kylie.  That afternoon after everyone left she did her first roll over from back to tummy.  Lucky for me the camera was close and I was able to get a photo of her expression after the roll.  Priceless!

Some of the "mums and bubs" hanging out and Kylie with her friend Amelia

Kylie after the roll

And then came Thursday.  So Thursday night Jamie came home from work while I was playing with Kylie in her room.  I was trying to get her to roll over again (which didn't happen) and after she was tired of trying she started to get fussy.  So, Jamie decided to make noises using his mouth to prevent a meltdown (which worked).  The problem you ask??  Please see video below!

This is what I woke up to Friday morning.  At first it didn't register, but after she continued to do it for the rest of the morning I realized where it came from.  That is what Jamie did the night before.   Now she pretty much does it on command and gets aggravated when it doesn't come out right the first time!  She'll keep trying until she gets a good one, then she'll give you a smile!  She even uses it as a way to get your attention.  After her bedtime feeding last night she wasn't ready to go to sleep.  She would look at Jamie, talk to him and when that wouldn't work she would make the noise, so cute!  Jamie thinks it's hilarious and is so proud of the fact that she decided to imitate him!  Just goes to show you that you really do have to watch what you do around a baby!


To end our week we met up with one of the mom's from our group, Michelle, and baby Matilda Rose for some shopping and lunch. It's the final countdown to Sydney, only 12 days to go.  Does anyone know of a fast forward button we can hit?!?!

Where does the time go?

I feel like it's been forever since I've been on here, but much to my surprise it's been less than a month. I swear I look at the clock and its 10 am and like 5 minutes later its 4 pm! Our social calendar is getting full so I figured I should give an update before I get too far behind.

Since my last post Kylie and I have been quite the social butterflies. Two weeks ago Kylie and I joined "Mums and Bubs" swimming classes. It's a class taught by a physiotherapist and takes place in a hydrotherapy pool. The first 30 minutes is time with Kylie and then we break for 15 to change and feed. After I get her settled, it's back to the water for an hour of cardio. We enjoyed it so much the first day we decided to make it a twice a week deal. Kylie has a blast, so much so that the volunteers don't get a chance to play with her while I workout because she is passed out! She is usually so exhausted that she falls asleep on the bottle!

In the last few weeks Jamie has also started playing golf again. He joined a golf group and is now playing on Saturday's. They meet at the course at 10:30am and after the last group is finished they hang around for drinks and awards. So far he has enjoyed it, with the only downside being that it takes ALL DAY!! Literally. A round of golf here is about 6 hours. Everyone walks and there are no rangers on the course to keep things moving.

Aside from our weekly adventures I have been busy planning our Sydney vacation. I am so excited for it to come; I can't even begin to tell you! Jamie and I haven't been on vacation since last August (I don't consider going home at Christmas a "vacation"), when we hopped around the US visiting friends and family. I've got lots of fun stuff planned, including going to see WICKED the musical!! I have wanted to see this show FOR YEARS and I am so excited to go! The downside is that we will be taking Kylie on a plane for the first time. She's a really good baby so I think things will go well, but you never know. Fingers crossed she does okay and isn't one of those screaming kids I use to get aggravated by!

On another note next Wednesday is our last "official" mom's group meeting. It's not really going to be a "meeting", but instead we'll be taking a group walk with all the babies. Since it was our last scheduled meet-up I decided to invite everyone over after the walk to eat, drink and hang out at our house. It's now up to the group to decide if we want to continue to meet up weekly, so I thought it would be a good chance for us all to get together and discuss what we want to do.

Of course I can't end a post without the newest Kylie photos so here they are.

Playing with her new bear (14 weeks)

Spending time with Mommy (yes...that is Real Housewives of New York in the background!)

Check out this face, she's already learning to freeze me out! (15 Weeks)

New activity center.  She didn't really know what to do with it, but she liked it.

After a day of shopping she thought she'd enjoy her purchase.

Getting ready for our first swim class (my mom wanted a photo of her ruffels!) and waiting to get in the pool. (16 weeks)

Is she not the most beautiful little girl you've ever seen?!?!  I mean, seriously!

Now that she's figured out how to use it she can't get enough of it! (17 weeks)