Puzzles

Annmarie loves puzzles. Really really loves puzzles. She masters them in no time. At preschool it's her favorite free time activity. And thanks to her Grandparents she has many to choose from.

Ben

Just some recent pics.

Random Stuff

1. When my parents were visiting, Jamie and I took Annmarie out to breakfast one morning before preschool. She drank that entire hot chocolate - lucky for her teachers.
2. Benjamin sleeping. He looks so much like Annmarie when he sleeps.
3. Annmarie and I having a morning tea date.
4. Campos coffee- probably the best coffee in OZ.
5. Annmarie, Jamie and I went out to dinner just the three of us while Nana watched Ben. We actually found a decent Mexican restaurant - too bad there isn't more of a selection. It ended up being a warm evening - we even ate outside. I snapped a picture of the moon as we were leaving.
6. Jamie sent me this picture - it was Hat Day at work - so Office. Ha.
We went to an awesome birthday party. Annmarie had a blast. She even touched all the crazy bugs and reptiles.
At the park. Annmarie is getting pretty brave with her climbing.

Love

Most of the time it's all love - just look at the way Annmarie looks at him. However, sometimes I think Ben would punch her in the face if he could.

Grandparents Visit

Grandma and Papa came out first for a couple of weeks to meet Benjamin.
Cuddling with Grandma and form the looks of it, having a happy dream.
Then Nana came out. Here she is meeting Ben for the first time (BTW - those are his favorite PJ's).
Lunch at the beach one afternoon on a beautiful day.
Nana saying goodbye.
Thanks for coming out and helping, especially with Annmarie.
I'm on my own now - wish me luck!

Living Down Under - One Year and Then Some

Our one year Anniversary of living down-under has come and gone - September 9 was the day. I wanted to write a lengthy post summarizing our adventures, our feelings and thoughts, everything that we love and hate, but given the fact that we now have a new little one in the house, that is just not going to happen. That in itself is a whole new adventure. I also don't want this period to go by and not say something.

I guess the big questions are - do you we like it here? Yes and Yes. Australia is a beautiful country and for the most part Aussie's live up to their reputation of being fun and friendly people. Are we glad we made the move here? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Do we miss our family and friends? OF COURSE we do and this is hard on ALL of us at times. We also miss San Francisco and our little apartment. Annmarie still talks about number five.

Knowing we will be back one day helps with the homesickness. We know this is temporary, so we are trying to live it up. We live in a great community and are close to some of the best beaches in Australia. Also, I get to have this incredible break from working and have this special time with my children (Did I just say children? I think that is the first time I have typed that!). I'll go back to work one day, because yes there are things I miss about that lifestyle as well.

It's also a good thing that Jamie and I like each other, because let me tell you - you spend a lot of time with a person when you move to a foreign country and don't know a lot of people. It has been a good year for us as a family. It's also going to be hard when we leave and Annmarie is going to have to say goodbye to all her mates. But I'm hoping this adventure will also provide her some good life lessons.

Here are some of the more simple things we miss from the U.S (in no particular order).

1. Our favorite stores - TJ's and Whole Foods
2. American Sports, in particular SF Giants
3. Mexican food
4. American TV
5. Certain Internet sites like Amazon and Hulu

This quote has been popping up all over the Internet in light of Steve Jobs passing. It sort of speaks to our decision to move here. You only live once - and this will probably be the most wild and crazy thing we'll ever do, but let's hope not.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." - Steve Jobs

Ben's Weight

Ben had a little check-up yesterday. He weighed in at 4990 grams or 11 pounds (75%)! Are you kidding me?! I'm thinking it took AM like 5 to 6 months to reach this weight. We've taken to calling him Bruiser or Tank.

In other measurements:
Length 57.1 cm (75 - 90%)
Head 38.6 cm (50 - 75%)

Ben :: One Month

(Ben and Mom in our jammies)

Ben is literary growing before our eyes. Flip that bub upside down and one moth ago he was inside my belly. How can that be? I'm not sure I'll ever comprehend that.

Benjamin is doing great. He's a dream in the morning and we get our best play time in then. We have no routine yet, but will be working on one shortly. He smiles in his sleep, loves to be cuddled and prefers to be swaddled. At night he sleeps in our room in a bassinet next to me. He typically has one good four (or even five) hour sleep stretch. He naps on and off through out the day, mostly in the bouncy seat with the white noise machine app on - this has worked wonders the last couple of days. He tends to be more moody in the evening and likes to scream (loud) for no apparent reason. He also screams like no ones business when he's hungry - which is often. He eats all. day. long. He is getting better at nappy changes and once in a while even seems to enjoy them. He has a big sister that adores him, however she can often be a little too enthusiastic around him, but that's ok, he'll have his day.

I'm doing well - things felt a lot better after three weeks - post slice. I'm looking forward to summer and warmer temperatures. Jamie is a great Dad (which I already knew) and usually handles Ben when he goes through his off time at night, by pacing with him around the house. Jamie was off from work for two weeks. We then had the help of my parents for two weeks and Nana is coming out for a week. We've been out to dinner a handful of times and Annmarie and I have had a couple of dates, just the two of us.

It's been a bit of a crazy month - having a newborn and a almost 4 year old and trying to figure out how this will all work out, but I'm trying to remember this time is short lived and oh so special.

Randmon Pics

Ben tolerates her. Sometimes. AM adores him.
Waking up is hard. I swear he would do this move on the inside.
This one too.
One kookaburra.
Two kookaburra.

Go Giants

A little tummy time.
He screams too. Sometimes a lot.
At lunch on Sunday. Apparently, I didn't get the Giants memo.

Weight

With AM I kept a detail log of all of AM's activities; you can see it - here.

With Ben - no such luck. I lose count after the 8th or 9th feed and the 4th/5th dirty diaper.
I have managed to keep track of his weight. I have a handy little blue book that the hospital gave us to track these sort of things.

Here is Ben's weight progress so far:
He dropped a significant amount of weight by the 3rd day - 11%. They weighed him early in the morning. Luckily my milk came in that day and he ate like a champ - like all day long and put on 145 grams in 24 hours. By the time we left the hospital he was almost back to his birth weight. He didn't do much from when we left the hospital and the 6th. On the 6th we had a nurse come see us at home. I weighed him yesterday at our community health center and he weighs 9 + lbs. He put on 210 grams in one week! They like to see 150 grams a week. It's comforting to know that he is getting enough milk; the boy likes to eat.

Here we are after a feed.
Photo taken with my brand new iPad that I got for my Birthday! Thanks Jamie. I'm thinking the iPad was invented for breastfeeding mothers. It's perfect for when all you have is one hand. I love you again Apple.

Bath Time

Ben likes being in his bath. Being out - notsomuch.
And of course, AM wanted to help out.

Watch This*

We made it out for dinner last night - Ben's first night out. He slept like an angel. I'm not sure what it is about loud restaurants and infants, but our babies appear to love to sleep at them.

Ben is doing well. He likes to sleep, eat and scream. Pretty much in that order. We've been pretty lucky in the sleep department so far, and he is feeding great, however this so called cluster feeding in the evening is draining. I'm usually ravenous after this and could eat everything in sight. And then there is the screaming, it's very dramatic and usually occurs in the evening when all he wants to do is feed feed feed and then feed a little more, and when he has his nappy changed.

Annmarie is adjusting and we have had some difficult moments, but she also adores her little brother and is a huge help. I think more of her outbursts are out of the change (the biggest change in her life so far), rather than jealously. But we are slowly figuring things out as a family of four.

Just a little comparison.

(Annmarie / Benjamin)

Check this out. Don't you just love it when babies grin/smile in their sleep :)

*Annmarie's favorite two words.
Watch this guys - as she hops on one foot.
Watch this Mom - as she balances a straight line
Watch this Dad - as she draws.
You get the idea.

Time with Dad while Mum at Hosptial

Jamie kept me updated daily with pictures of Annmarie and their adventures while I was at the hospital. She was all about spending the week with Dad. Of course with Dad she gets away with a lot more. Jamie learned quickly that Annmarie is a pretty firm negotiator and she duped him a few times. They had a lot of fun and Jamie played the roll of Mr. Mom perfectly. Huge kudos to Dad - you rock!
1. Babyccino time!
2. Going for a bike ride
3. Ballet
4. Getting the car seat ready
5. Going out for pizza
6. Obsessed with the car seat - it was one of her favorite places
7. Dinner at home
8. Going to preschool in a Giants shirt and pink tights - I could really care less what Annmarie wears to preschool, it all gets destroyed anyway. And the fact that Jamie got her dressed and out the door without too much of a fight can be huge some mornings.

But probably the best part of Annmarie's week was when she had her first sleep over. Annmarie stayed with some friends of ours when I went into labor and then the next day went to a birthday party where she rode her first pony. I told our friend that Annmarie would probably not want to ride the pony, but I was wrong. Apparently when AM was asked what she wanted to do, she firmly grabbed the helmet, put it on and said yes. The two days she spent with our friends who have three children and a dog have gone down as two of the best days of her life. You should hear her talk about it.
Unfortunately, my parents had to cancel/postpone their trip here. We're hoping one way or another we will see them soon. In the meantime, Jamie will take a little extra time off of work, but everything has worked out well so far.

Annmarie and Jamie together made a few visits and there were two days when Annmarie was in preschool that Jamie got to spend some time at the hospital with me and Ben.

(meeting baby brother for the first time)

(singing twinkle twinkle.....up above the world so high)

I've also got to spend a lot of alone time with Ben and that has meant the world to me. I didn't get this sort of time with Annmarie, due to her unfortunate delivery and events. So in some ways some of this is new to me. I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude to my doctor and the midwives who helped me get him here safely. I couldn't feel more thankful and honored to be this little guys' mum (I know Jamie feels the same way).

Our Little Mate is Here!

Note :: More details to come. The short of it is - I went into labor on Saturday, the 27th (my birthday), labored (naturally) for 20 hours. It was then decided the best method of getting him out would be by doing a c-section (ouch!). I have spent the last 5 days recovering and getting to know little Benjamin (or should I say BIG Ben - 8 lbs. 14 oz. - that's 2 whole pounds heavier than Annmarie). I'm at a wonderful hospital in Sydney and I'm entitled to stay 6 nights post delivery. I'm taking full advantage of that and since the food is half way decent it's not so bad. The nurses and midwives are also extremely helpful. Of course, I do miss the husband and Annmarie and I'm looking forward to going home tomorrow. He's a sweet little guy and looks a lot like his sister did as a infant, but acts nothing like her. We all couldn't be more in love.

4 Things

1. Annmarie with her Fun Bun.
2. Crazy storm last Friday; the veranda and barbecue - destroyed.
3. Hot Cocoa at Cooks Larder.
4. Newport park. Annmarie's new obsession - tights.

P.S. Due date has come on gone. Let's hope the next post will be some baby news!

Brownies

We made some yesterday.