A busy week away

It was a busy week last week! Jeremy had to go away to a course with work, so my parents suggested that Calvin and I came down to Sydney for the week so I wouldn't be on my own. So, Monday arvo we made the trek back to Sydney.

Calvin still went to daycare on Monday, even though it was only for a few hours!! It was the first time he got upset when I left him and it was pretty heartbreaking for me. He was fine though, and it was probably good that this coincided with him only being there for half a day I think.

Monday night was spent with just mum and dad and I enjoying a very rare dinner of the three of us. Really lovely. Tuesday I borrowed mums car and headed back to the gong where I caught up with lots of friends and stayed the night at Jess's place (with thanks to Martina for the lend of the port-a-cot). Wednesday morning I got to catch up with my old bible study group and them spent the afternoon with my sister. Back to Sydney with mum and dad from Wednesday night on.

(it was very cold on Wednesday morning in Wollongong, so Calvin made use of a nice thick coat)

Thursday was a very busy day - Mum, Calvin and I went into North Sydney so dad could show Calvin off at work. After which, we went into the QVB for lunch and a spot of shopping. When we returned, Jenny (Jeremy's mum) had arrived - she was joining us for the rest of our trip so she could spend some time with Calvin too!!!

(it was even colder going into the city on Thursday morning - so lucky he had a lovely new beanie knitted by grandma!!!)

Friday was a nice quiet day at home with Jenny and Calvin, and then I went into the city to the Opera House with dad that night. We saw the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and it was really great!!

Saturday afternoon i went out to Kings Langly with Jenny and Calvin to a cellar tea for one of Jeremy's cousin's fiancés (6 degrees separation, as usual with Jeremy's huge family!!!). It was lovely to catch up with the relos and Calvin seemed to enjoy all the attention!!!

(Calvin with Zosia - note how he is clapping his hands!! He's been doing that heaps lately!!)



(Calvin had TONES of fun chasing this balloon towards the end of the party)

We flew back Sunday afternoon and it was very sad to say goodbye again :(

Since we've been back, we have been flat out purchasing a house!!! It's a lovely big house in Springfield, which is out in the Ipswich area. It's 4 bedrooms, double garage and has a HUGE backyard. Plus it's opposite a park and an easy walk from a shopping center. Talk about a dream house!!! It's a bit run down - needs painting and new carpet, plus we need to landscape as it is just grass in the backyard (no problems for Jeremy!!!), but it's going to suit us perfectly - and all for the bargain price of $340,000!!! Down from $379,000!!! We play hard ball. We'll probably be in by Calvin's birthday, which will be nice because we can have it at the park across the road!!!

The last couple of weeks gas been made extra stressful by Calvin not sleeping very well. He has GOT to get some teeth soon!!! Here's hoping that he sleeps well tonight.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Testing, testing

I'm just writing this post to test out a new app I got for my iPhone which allows me to post from my phone!! Now I'll just have to figure out how to add pictures in...

It's been 2 months since we moved from our little home in Wollongong up to sunny Brisbane! Quite a lot has happened in that time. Calvin has been SO SICK!!! We've started going to lots of playgroups and mothers groups and play centers, and as a result he's picking up every bug known to man. Yesterday he threw up on me about 7 times. Not just little spews either, really massive projectile spews!!

Since we moved up, Calvin has started crawling too. He's been able to crawl backwards for 1-2 months now, but today is the first day that he's been able to move forwards! Very exciting for us all, though a little terrifying! He's only gone a few 'steps' crawling, but i'm sure within a week or so he'll be off!!

Still no teeth for Calvin too. I'm not too worried though - it's certainally easier to breastfeed a baby with no teeth!!

Sleeping has been a bit of an issue for us all since around easter, but it was compounded by us moving - he was starting to wake 5 times a night, so one night i snapped and rung a parents help line. They were very helpful and started me on a settling method called 'camping out', where we sit by the cot while he gets himself to sleep. At the beginning we were very hands on, then moved to just having a hand on him, then just sitting beside him. Now we're gradually moving the chair further away from his cot with the aim of getting out the door. It has been very tiring, but definately paying off. He's slept all through the night 2 nights this week!! Plus, his day sleeps have improved out of sight. Gone are the days when he would only have 3 half hour naps. He's now having 2 naps, and at least one is more than an hour. Today he's had 2 really long sleeps - 1.5 hours this morning, and 2 hours so far this afternoon (he's still asleep!!). I don't know what to do with myself - i might have to start scrapping again!!! I managed to get some quilting done this morning, so that was good!!

I've been trying to get involved with other mothers as much as possible. God blessed us with finding a great church really quickly, so we've been going along to that, though it's tricky to make friends there when you are only there once a week for a couple of hours - most of which is during the service!! Growth groups are starting up next term, so that will be good to help us get to know people better. I've joined the ABA so i can attend the local all age mothers group, going along to a playgroup (at the church), getting myself along to play centers and play grounds where i meet lots of mothers, and i've even started getting out to scrapbooking on my own!!

I've been back to Sydney once already, and i'm going back again in just over a week. It will be great to see my family and catch up with friends. It's so tricky when i'm only there for a little bit though!! Jeremy's mum is going to come down and stay with my parents while i'm there too, so it will be great to catch up with her too!!

I've done a little bit of scrapping recently, so i thought i'd share.

This is a layout i've done for Becky Fleck's PageMaps Blog (with the hope of winning some yummy chipboards!!):

Here's another page for Calvin's first 12 month's calender - this is for April i think:

And here's a double LO that i was working on before we moved, but i only just finished on Friday night at a shop crop - i just needed a little something that i couldn't put my finger on. I think it's finished now: