kids reading

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6 months old today!

My beautiful little Lucy has reached her 6 months milestone in what seems like a blink of an eye! She's a joy and a blessing and seems to get sweeter every day.
I'm in awe at what she can do already, crawling, pulling herself up on the furniture and sitting unaided! She's still extremely clingy with me, but I'm sure that will change as she gets older! Scary how quickly the time flies by, and I'm making the most of each second! Here's to the next 6 months!

Poppy and Lucy

GeoTagged, [S27.56080, W152.86632]

I love watching my girls play together, there is something just so pure and beautiful about it. Poppy is very gentle and nurturing and Lucy looks at her in adoration! I could watch them for hours.

Lovelies

I took some pictures of my beautiful girls today, Here is one of them. People ask me why I while away the hours taking pictures but I think it's because I have such wonderful subjects surrounding me!

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What a lady!

Here are a few of the many faces of Miss Poppy Emma 'Princess' Wood, as she insists on being called! She's a little fruitloop as you can see!

Lucy and Em

I thought I'd post a couple of pictures to show the similarities between me and my girl! I was a bit older in mine, and the quality is bad, but you get the idea!

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Mastering the Crawl!

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Originally uploaded by Emm4lin4

Lovely Lucy can finally crawl and although is still perfecting the process, she's getting quite fast at getting where she wants to go. No more keeping her on her mat, or in one room, she is able to go pretty much where she wants to. I think it's time to invest in a stairgate before she discovers the stairs.
She's not yet 6mths old, so we're pretty impressed that she's already reached this milestone, although I can imagine not being quite as impressed after a few weeks of chasing such a young baby around. Time to reinforce the word 'no'! :)

Mamma and Lulu

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8 Gibson Crescent

Well, here we are in our own house. We've been here just over a month now and things have gone better then we'd even expected. The house has a lovely Mediterranean feel about it, with white tiled floors in some rooms and all the fixtures and fittings quality made. Bellbowrie is much breezier then Brookfield, which is fantastic as the house lends itself to being open and outdoorsy. You can see straight through to the back garden when the front door is open and the landscaping is really pretty. It takes me about 3 mins to drive to the primary school and Joey and Daisy moved from one school to another almost seamlessly. No more busy roads, no more crazy drivers, just peace and tranquillity. The birds in Brookfield were quite impressive, but the wildlife here is amazing. You wake to kookaburras, lorakeets, crickets, frogs, you name it, we probably hear it. Some mornings the noise is quite intense - it does actually 'wake' you and it literally is like living in a tropical rain forest - I don't think I'll ever get used to how loud the wildlife is, or take it for granted, it's mindblowing at times and probably for me, the biggest surprise about living in Australia.

We've had a few milestones too. Joey turned 7 and lost his first baby tooth. Barnaby turned 17 and bought a car, (Suzuki Swift), to share with David. Lucy is finally (for the last 3 days) going down to sleep in her cot at night. And although she migrates back into my bed during the night, it's a good start. She is crawling in her caterpillar way, eating one meal of pureed fruit and veg a day and saying 'dada'.

David finishes his line flying with Qantas tonight, and after 6mths flying with them, he's back on the Squadron on Thursday - so no break for him!

I'm beginning to feel human again. I no longer always have a small child attached to my arm, and I am starting to get out and about, exploring the local area and taking Poppy to music classes, playgroups and get togethers with other small children. There is no pre-schooling out here for her age, and i'm now considering putting her into 'Kindy' a few days a week. It's very expensive but I can't see how I can keep her occupied the way that she needs to be unless she goes. She's not due to start school until 2011, which is amazing since she was at preschool in the UK over a year ago...very different here.

I will post more pictures of the house, as and when I find time to take them and when I get a spare 2 mins....that's not often enough! :)

In my strawberry hat

Don't I look cute!

Baby in bed

I can't quite believe that Madam Lucy is having only her second evening in her cot at the grand old age of 5 months! She's still such a cling-on with me, but I think she's now at the age where she really isn't comfortable lying in my arms all night, she's too big! I feel very weird though, almost like I'm missing a limb. I will learn to like it though and who knows, maybe I'll even be able to socialize again! ;)

Night night all!


Kate and Emma lookalikes!


-- Posted from my iPhone

5 weeks with Lucy!

The last 5 weeks have been fantastic, exciting, exhausting, challenging, hard and great all at the same time. I somehow manage to survive on about 3-4hrs sleep a night, despite going to bed at about 8.30, or as soon as Poppy and Joey are settled. I think I can just about function on this little sleep, although, I'm sure I come across as 'extra blonde' and pretty tongue tied to people who don't know what my life entails, I just can't seem to think fast enough to give sensible answers to pretty obvious questions!

Lucy was 5 weeks on Wednesday and apart from a little heat rash, she's doing brilliantly. She was weighed by the health visitor yesterday and is now 10Ibs 4oz, amazing since she lost so much after her birth. She's like a little weighted beanie bear, very satisfying to hold and cuddle. She started smiling at 4 weeks, such sweet little shy smiles and now she does it all the time, it's soo lovely and just makes my heart melt. She is now also making little noises which sound like gurggles or chuckles, she laughs in her sleep and is starting to get into a routine. She still wants to feed all the time, and tends to snack, but she has good and bad alternate days and is very very clingy with the 'milk bar'. She doesn't settle easily or well if I'm not holding her, and calms right away if I take her from somebody else. I'm pretty sure that this is just because she knows that i'm her next meal, and that this will change as she gets older. I had to top her up with formula in the first few weeks, only once a day, but now she is exclusively fed by me, and I'm managing just fine.

Poppy is still giving me a run for my money. She loves Lucy but, apart from the fact that its a difficult age to be going through, she has definitely shown some attention seeking behaviour. She has melt downs more often and gets upset by the strangest things seemingly out of nowhere. We just give her lots of love and cuddles and include her as much as we can with Lucy and on her own. It's getting better and hopefully it will continue to improve.

School runs are an absolute nightmare. Imagine, driving through the busiest town, that all the Brisbane traffic drives through on the way to the city, in rush hour and with aggressive stupid people who refuse to give way. And then imagine, collecting a very hyper Joey, and a very slow dreamy Daisy with her head in the clouds, all the while trying to hang onto a 3yr old who wants to run off if you so much as let go of her hand, and trying to hold onto a baby at the same time! We're not talking about a rural quiet school either, it's very chaotic, with kids running all over the place, lots of steps to go up and down and main roads to try and cross. It's particularly lovely when Poppy decides to 'chuck a wobbly' as Great Aunt Virginia would say, and hit, bite and scream 'I hate you' her way across the road, with about 50 other people all trying to cross at the same time, all of them looking at you as though you are mad - which you probably are! I have found that carrying Lucy in a ring sling helps, it at least leaves me with one free hand to cling onto Poppy with!

The good news is that I wont have to do this for much longer. We finally went unconditional on our house today, so we move in about 9 weeks, yippeee! Joey and Daisy will move schools to one nearer, it doesn't have steps, or fast roads, instead it has a 'hug and drop', which means I roll up alongside the school in my car, give them big kisses and then turf them out straight into the school grounds, and move along leaving the car behind me to do the same.....bliss!

The new house is also very exciting, apart from being dirt poor for a few years, and surviving on about 100 pounds a week, (not easy for 9 people), we will be much happier there and we really can't wait to have our own place at last.

The rest of the kids are fine and although I'm having to 'crack the whip' a bit with some of them, we are managing to run this house in some sort of order and routine. I just hope that I can keep juggling all the balls and not let any of them drop, because once you drop one, they all fall and you've had it. Hope you like the recent pics of Lucy - she's changing as you can see and I'm trying to make the most of all her sweet little milestones.

Little Lucy is 3 weeks old tomorrow! She is a gorgeous baby, she doesn't often cry but she does still like to snack rather then feed. She's now reached her birth weight and her jaundice has improved.
The kids have all accepted Lucy very well, although Poppy does sometimes need a bit of help understanding why Mummy can't spend quite as much time with her!
I can't believe that 3 weeks have already gone by, it seems like just yesterday we were walking into the hospital waiting to be induced! Poor Daddy hasn't seen much of his baby and has been in Sydney for most of her life, so we are excited to have him home for the weekend this Friday!



-- Post From My iPhone

Lucy 8 days old

Here she is aged 8 days, she's dropped a bit of weight and is down to 8Ibs 3oz, but feeding has been a bit difficult, while the jaundice lingers and she's still a bit sleepy and a bit snacky! She's just lovely though and this Mummy is absolutely in love with number 7!

Lucy Belle

So my beautiful little Lucy was born on Wednesday morning on April at 12.37am. She is just perfect and weighed in at 8Ibs 12oz.
At the moment she is undergoing light therapy for her jaundice and bilirouben blood levels, due to the anti-e antibodies that I carry! Hopefully she will be able to come home soon and join her brothers and sisters, who are wanting to give her lots of cuddles!

Joey and Daisy

So amazingly, today Joey and Daisy were having a loving sister/brother day! I had promised more pics on this blog, so decided to take advantage of it! Hope you like them!

Poptart!!

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I've recently taken a few pictures of Poppy, and used some different techniques so I thought I'd post them in here so everyone could view them. I will take more of the other kids soon. Hope you like them!

End of school day!

This is what Poppy and I do at the end of each school day, park up and chat for 5 mins before collecting Joey and Daisy from school !



-- Post From My iPhone

Fresh Start

I'm beginning a new blog for the Wood Family, for a few reasons. I want a fresh start, and this blog is only for very important, select family and friends who we care about and who care about us.

It's been an interesting, exciting, scary, fun, stressful, sad, and different year for us. We left the UK, moved to Australia, became pregnant, David started new job, kids new schools and moved into our rented house. All a lot to take in and a lot to cope with. But, despite it all, I'm very proud of my family - we've struggled through the hard times and laughed with the good times and although we're all still finding our feet and finding it hard to be away from our families, we've overcome most obstacles.

Poppy has started Ballet, and loves it. She'd been on the waiting list for a few months and spoke of nothing else, and is over the moon that she gets to do her dancing each week. There is a window in her dance studio, that looks like a mirror on the inside, but for us Mums, on the outside, it's a window - it's such fun to watch the little ones without them knowing.

The baby news is pretty positive. A few weeks ago we found out that baby number 7, Lucy had a hole in her heart, and a few scans down the line, it was discovered that she actually has two holes. Both are pretty small though and not causing her any problems while she's still inside. We wont know how she copes with them until after she's born, but the cardiologist is pretty hopeful that she wont have any problems and that eventually the holes will close. They will scan her heart a few weeks after she's born to have a look and see if there has been any change and reassess the situation. Meanwhile, I'm getting bigger and bigger and really looking forward to seeing her on the outside.

David is in the midst of his Qantas training. He's learnt how to be a good Air Steward, and now is onto the learning to fly the plane part. It's been a lot of theory, learning and exams and I've been lucky to have him home most weekends, although that probably will change soon.

The kids are all fine. Barnaby has decided to apply for a university for students wanting to join the RAAF, he's realised that it's what he wants to do, and he has an interview with them in a few weeks in Brisbane. He's also learning to drive, and is busy working with his part time job at our largest local supermarket, Coles.

Gabrielle is a social butterfly, enjoying school with lots of friends that she sees after school and weekends too. Lots of sleepovers, party's and dances. She is almost as tall as Barnaby and looking more gorgeous everyday.

Daisy is loving her school, has started Jazz classes, and is on the school Netball team. She's really embraced living out here and has discovered that she's also a pretty good swimmer.

Joey is struggling at school a bit, he's finding it hard to stay interested in it but has improved over the last week. He's such a homeboy, and has his odd ways about him, but is so loving and sweet. His swimming is crazy right now, he spends so much time in the pool and can even do back flips off the side.

Libby is really enjoying her catering course at school, she gets to wear a chefs uniform and thinks she's very grown up. This is her last year at school, after that she will be looking to find a job and start immersing herself into the 'real world' - scary!!!

So...that's pretty much it for now. I will continue to keep you all updated, and I hope you enjoy reading our blog.

xx