It's A . . .

Baby!

This afternoon was our normalcy scan. The tech checked out baby's bones, heart - pumping with 4 chambers, kidneys - there are 2, spine - no spina bifida, nose and mouth - no cleft, fingers & toes - 10 of each although baby was trying very hard not to show its right foot, and brain - looks smart :) Everything looks good and healthy so far.

Oh, and the tech also checked between the legs, baby squatted like a cooperative little thing and showed that it is most definitely . . . a . . . GIRL!!

I am in a bit of a shock because although I loved the idea of a girl I had kinda convinced myself that I was having a boy and prepared myself for the fact that I might be ganged up on for the rest of my life. Well have no fear, there will be some extra estrogen in the house to balance out all that testosterone!

So, if everything goes as planned in about 20 weeks (that's mid-April for those who don't want to look at a calendar!) we should be welcoming a brand new little girl to our house :)

My Baby Is 3

I am having a little moment here and cannot believe that my little boy is three. Three seems so much older than two - he isn't a baby anymore. I love the sweet little boy that Makoa has become - my thoughtful, generous, gracious, encouraging, clever, chatty . . . little man. How did the years pass by so quickly? (Somehow I can hear myself saying that when I am 80 as well!)

Zero to One

and now Two to Three

Oh my!

And while these birthday parties were fun, we enjoyed some of Koa's summer favourites for a quiet dinner last night (on his Aussie b'day) - homemade pizza, corn on the cob, and pineapple and watermelon, then Daddy took him for ice cream. And as if that amount of celebration wasn't enough, Elsina is throwing a little party for him today, and on Friday we have a joint Mother's Group Party for him . . . the fun never stops!!

Australian Weather

As you may have just read, or perhaps about to read, on Sunday it was 106 degrees in Sydney. It was hot hot hot. After Koa's birthday party I tried so hard to cool down - even pulling an ice pack from the freezer to put on my feet. Homes here generally do not have heaters or air conditioners because, as I have heard countless times, "It doesn't get that hot/cold here" and "Australian homes are built for the summer so they may be cool in the winter but they stay cool in the summer too." Um, it was freakin' hot in my house on Sunday. We have this silly little heating/air conditioning unit that has a tube the blows air outside and you have to keep adding water to it to keep it blowing cool air. By 2pm, after a cold shower and melted ice pack we had to turn it on. It cooled the living room down a few degrees, which was great, but then Don and I had to sleep in the living room because our bedroom was just too warm! By 10pm it was still about 90 degrees. And yes, I do realize that this is like Chico weather, however, you all have air conditioners or at least somewhere where you can go with an air conditioner, but I do not :)

After living in Australia now for 2.5 years I wasn't even that surprised to see Monday's weather.

Yep, that is rain, lots of it, outside my bedroom window. There was a high of 21C on Monday, that is just under 70 degrees F. Happy that it cooled down, although I wasn't quite expecting to need a sweater the day after I used an ice pack to cool myself down. But that's Aussie weather I suppose!

Koa's 3rd Birthday Party

Sunday was a busy, fun, and HOT day. We woke up early and caught a cab to the airport to surprise Don who was coming home from a week in Belgium. Koa was VERY excited daddy was coming home because we missed him, and because it meant his birthday party was here!

I had been working hard all week to prepare for the party. On Monday, I switched the theme again and my friend Shannon and I went shopping (her son Ryan turned 5 on Friday) for decorations. On Tuesday my wonderful friend Jenny, who made Makoa's cupcakes last year, came over to teach me how to make awesome cake toppers. On Wednesday I ordered balloons, Saturday I baked, cut, and went to the shops yet again for last minute items.

After we came home from the airport we carried everything downstairs for the room by the garden I reserved for the party. I think it turned out quite festive for a golf-themed 3-year-old birthday. (Note: Australia is not CA or FL and so did not have any golf themed party items except for the one balloon that I found at the second balloon store I went to - I had to be quite creative!)

Here is the room we used for the food and toys. There were 4 golf holes set up, bubbles, bouncy balls, cars to drive on the track, and new pool toys.

There were triple chocolate cupcakes with Koa golf balls and golf clubs that frustrated me so much that Jenny wonderfully agreed just to make them instead of teaching me how! And carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting dyed green with 3 flags and orange tees with balls that were supposed to sit on top but kept falling off.

Five of Makoa's closest friends came, Tis & Tex, Ryan, and Matthew & Jaime. After some snacks, bubbles and checking out of toys everyone jumped into the pool.

Koa loved the new ring I bought. And as the heat got up to 41F I was happy that we had the pool for everyone to play in. Just to mention the weather again 41F is 106C, YES A HUNDRED AND SIX, in November, while I am throwing a birthday party, and of course there is no air conditioner to go sit in front of. So the pool was a relief, but only half of it is under a shade so by 11:30 it was time to stop for cupcakes. No one wanted to come out though so I brought the cupcakes to them!

"Happy Birthday to Koa" Don was taking pictures and laughed at how very Australian it was that you couldn't see any of the kid's faces because they were all wearing hats :)

And they all came up a bit faster from the pool than I thought they would so the cupcakes were in the only shade by the wall. So I tried to get all the kids to face me instead of the wall for at least one photo!

A little more time in the water, then a few rounds of golf, and some ball bouncing before gifts and saying good bye to our friends.


We had such a great time with everyone, and Makoa received some very generous gifts from our friends. Wish you could have all celebrated with us but Makoa has really enjoyed our trips to the Post to pick up all the lovely pressies that have been sent to him from America! Thank you!

Koa's Turning 3

Make a Smilebox invite

Interpretation

Don and I were in the kitchen, Koa walked in and said he was looking for his "duc-ca" (*hear it in your head like an Aussie who puts all his words together and leaves a few sounds off the end).
I asked, "Your dog car?"
"No mommy, my duCK CaRR."
"Thanks for interpreting in American sweetie."
(*chuckle from Don)

Tasmania

Last month two friends from Monterey came Down Under. Patricia and Holly came to explore Australia, visit me, and to celebrate Patricia's birthday. I showed them (or at least told them about) all the Sydney sites and we checked out Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. Holly the architect loved the Opera House and I left them there to do some further exploring of their own.

On Wednesday we met at the Sydney airport to head down to Tasmania. There was a huge dust storm (excuse me, the pilot corrected himself when he used the word 'storm' I think we were calling it 'raised dust'!). Some of you might have heard of Big Red, which blanketed Sydney (including my balconies and wood surfaces in my house) with red dust. This is Holly and I waiting to board, and those are windows behind us!


We arrived in Hobart, Tasmania bright and early in the morning. Patricia was testing her driving on the left skills and we made our way to the Freycinet National Park. We weren't too sure during the drive just exactly what would be waiting for us 2.5 hours from Hobart. It was raining and the river that we were driving along had obviously just receded from the road. The drive was beautiful and we saw lots of sheep and cows along the way, but there was no way were expecting the amazingly gorgeous views from our lodge.

Sadly I don't have any photos of our cabin which had 2 rooms, a living room, a kitchen, shower and jacuzzi tub . . . but trust me, it was beautiful.

The next morning we explored outside and took this photo at Honeymoon Bay.

Then I read my book in the warmth of the lodge as Patricia and Holly hiked to the overlook of Wineglass Bay. But I did join them on the short hike to the Lighthouse (behind the trees behind me).


We slowly made our way back to Hobart stopping for lunch and ice cream along the way. We didn't have plans for where to sleep so Patricia and Holly jumped out at the visitor centre in Hobart and followed the recommendation of the man who was working there as he called and booked us our room for the night. I was driving and the place was under Holly's name and while she was checking us in I started laughing hysterically at the site of our "Cozy Cabin!"

I believe shed would have been more appropriate, but perhaps they wouldn't have quite as many people calling in. My eyes were watering and I could barely park the car between our 'cabin' and our neighbour's. Luckily the woman bringing our sheets didn't know why I was laughing so hard! Here is the inside just so you get the full picture.

Patricia is lying on her bed laughing because she can't believe that on our 'girl's weekend away' where I got to leave my husband and child in another state that we somehow found ourselves in a shed along the freeway in Tasmania! Although the place may not have been great for my body (Holly and I were on bunkbeds in the room just behind her), but it was warm and clean and it was great for my soul. I really haven't laughed that hard in a really really long time :)