Happy 5th Birthday, darling Austin

Dear Austin,
Happy 5th birthday to our darling young son.  Five years old...REALLY?!! Where has the time gone? You laughed this morning when I told you that you weren't five yet. We've been counting down the days until you're birthday since....gosh, about 100 days ago.  You thought I was kidding when I said you weren't five yet! I wasn't lying.  You actually turned five at 1:17pm.  Yes sir. That's the time you entered our lives, on this day, five years ago. 

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It will forever be engrained in my mind because it's the day you decided to become a part of our family in this big wide world.

My dearest Austin, I'm starting to cry now as I write your birthday letter. This past year has seen some turbulent times. We've had some downs, but definitely had more ups.  You are still such a strong-willed boy and you are so incredibly sensitive and alert to other people's feelings. You have such a huge part of my soul and I can feel our strong connection as though you can read me like a book.  You never cease to amaze me with some of the things you say and do. You often know when I need a hug and know when I just need to see your little smile. I love when you blow me kisses from across the room.

I read your 4 year old birthday letter and laughed when I read the part about your obsession with AC/DC and emergency vehicles. Nothing much has chnaged in those areas! You are still obsessed with them. Whenever I ask you to put on some music, you ALWAYS want to put on AC/DC cd's. You dance around the living room, playing air guitar and jamming to the beat. You still have a great rythym and groove.  Sienna even joins in with you and dances away. It's so funny to hear you two fight over what music to play. She wants Adele and you want AC/DC!  You normally win.

One new obsession this year has been lego's. You received a small one as a gift and then it exploded from there. For your birthday today, grandma gave you a super cool police 18 wheeler lego set (for 5-12 year olds). When you woke at 6am today, you started building it immediately! Three hours later, you were still building it!!  You did a fantastic job with it all on your own. Such a clever boy!!  You have so many lego's now and you have no trouble building new things everyday.  You sometimes get cross with Sienna when she wants to play with your lego's. But, for the mostpart, you are kind with her and let her play with the ones you aren't using.

You started 4 year old kinder this year (3 half days a week). You LOVE it. I have no trouble at all getting you ready for kinder. You sometimes even ask if you can go on your days off!  Batman Park is a lovely kinder with a great group of children. Many of them will be going to your primary school next year.  I can't believe we only have a few more months together before you start your journey into the world of school!!  I'm going to miss spending so much time with you. I've been incredibly fortunate to have all this time with my sweet boy. 

One of my favorite children's books is Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss. Here is an excerpt for you, on your 5th birthday.

[Dr Seuss - Oh the Places You'll Go]
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
.....
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!
That's right, Austin. You ARE off to great places and you WILL move mountains. You WILL. I just know it. 

My sweet boy, I hope you had a wonderful day today as we celebrated your 5th birthday. Always remember how much we adore your sweet soul and that we love you to the moon and stars and back (& to infinity and beyond)!!
Love forever and ever,
Mommy, daddy & Sienna
xoxo
(I will insert some pictures later this week)

Happy 2nd birthday to our darling little girl

Dearest Sienna,
Today you turn 2 years old. You started this year as my baby and now you're an independent, fistey little girl with LOADS of character.

This year was a big one for you as you developed in so many different ways.
- You started taking your first (unassisted) steps on January 6, 2011 (15 months old) and you were cruising by Feb 21st (walking everywhere!).
- At the end of January, you started 'singing' twinkle twinkle little star (la la la la wah dah bah). That has been your absolute FAVOURITE song!! Your second favourite was All the Single Ladies (Chipmunk version). You loved doing the "uh oh oh uh oh oh uh oh oh uh oh oh". You're a crack-up!!  Whenever you used to get upset, your big brother would sing Twinkle Twinkle to you. He adores you to pieces!!!
- You started counting (two, three) in March and you were counting from 1 to 10 by July!! Your big brother obviously taught you that. :-)
- You LOOVE dancing. You always start dancing to music as soon as you hear it and even bend your knees to shake your little bum!
- You had a mad passion for Iggle Piggle until Grandma introduced you to Toy Story (by sending you some Toy Story pajamas). You love Woody & Buzz to no end.
- Teddy is still your favourite little pal. You always cuddle him whenever you need some comforting and you always sleep with him by your side.
- You are a typical little girl, who loves to dress up in "ballerina" skirts and in different shoes. Today, you must have worn 4 different pairs of shoes throughout the day (and that's only because I finally stopped letting you change them!). When you opened your presents from Tia Bren, you immediately said "oooohhh ohhh ohhhhh SHOES!!!".  I wish I had caught that part on video!!
- Thankfully, you also love being outdoors! You often get upset when it's time to come inside because you want to stay outside! You love going up and down our slide in the backyard and you love rolling in the grass. You love going on walks (esp riding in our wagon) and you love picking flowers.
- Although you can be quite shy at times, you LOVE people. EVERY single time we're out in public, you yell out "HI" to anybody who is near us. Often times, you'll say it repeatedly "HI HI HI HI HI HI" until the person acknowledges you (even if they are a mile away)!!
- You love dogs and always want to pet them. You have no fear of them.
- You adore your brother. You often say "come on Austin" so that he'll come play with you. You love playing "chasey-chasey" with him around the house and you always share your snacks with him (sign of true love!).  It's so sweet to see how much you look up to him and admire him. I love the beautiful sibling relationship that you two have.

On October 1st, 2009, you entered our world with a bang. I could have never anticipated that birthing experience that you would bring into my life. [A VERY quick labor, delivery on our dining room floor with ambulance paramedics.  All while Austin was fast asleep in his bedroom.]   It definitely set the tone for your life to come as you are a little firecracker who is anxious to see the world in front of her.

I love you so much, my little birthday girl. May your days as a big two year old be sweet, happy, joyous and always full of love. Huge birthday hugs & kisses. xoxoxo

A little ray of sunshine has come into the world,
A little ray of sunshine in the shape of a girl.

She can make you feel good,
She can make you feel that it's all worthwhile,
Only by her smile, only by her smile

Have you noticed she's just like her father,
A little ray of sunshine has come into the world,
A little ray of sunshine in the shape of a girl.

She can make you feel good,
She can make you feel that it's all worthwhile,
Only by her smile, only by her smile, only by her smile ...
Talkin' 'bout my little ray of sunshine,
My little ray of sunshine.



-- Brian Cadd, Little Ray of Sunshine

01 October 2009
(taken with daddy's mobile phone!!)

02 October 2011

Happy 4th birthday to my beautiful little boy

Every year, I write a letter to my children on their birthday. I keep the letters in their baby journals/books for them to read when they are older. Today is Austin's birthday and here is my letter to my sweet little boy.

Dear Austin,

It's hard to believe it's already been four years since your birth. Just the other day, we were walking in the front door as new parents. We were holding this precious little person and had no idea how our lives were about to change. 

How could I possibly love one person so immensely? 

How could I possibly tune out the world around me whilst staring into your beautiful big brown eyes?

You changed me as a person. 

You shaped me as a mother.

Over this past year, you have grown from my little boy into my big toddler boy. You are an extremely independent child and you have a very strong soul. 

Some of your favorite things from this year include: 

- Emergency rescue vehicles (fire engines, police cars & ambulances). You get so excited whenever we see one on the road; especially when they have their sirens blaring! Your kinder teacher (Kate) even setup a section at kinder called the firefighter corner!! It's quite amazing how much you love these things.

- Matchbox cars. These cars have been well worth the $2 each! You love them (esp the emergency vehicle ones) and we often use them as rewards (like being good at kinder drop-offs).

- Books.  We make a weekly trip to the library because you love reading books. 

- ABC Kids. You love pretty much any show on there, but most especially Fireman Sam and Busytown. 

- Babycinos!  You especially love the ones daddy makes.

- Penny & Elvis. You have two imaginary friends. I think it was around January when you started talking to them and playing with them.  I have no idea where you came up with the name Penny. I've never heard that name anywhere. Elvis is a firefighter on Fireman Sam, so I assume you are using the name from that show.  One day back in July, you whispered in my ear and said "Penny is my big sister. She is four years old". 

- Dancing. You LOVE to dance and have recently even started trying to BREAKDANCE!! I can't remember where you saw it. But, you loved it and now you do shows for us!  

- Music. You started out the year with an AC/DC obsession and you know the lyrics to many of their songs. It's really cute watching you & daddy 'jam' together to their music.  Luckily, over the past few months, we've been able to redirect some of your AC/DC obsession towards other music like Jack Johnson, REM & Chipmunks.  I love watching you perform while you sing at your microphone and play your guitar. You even have a little groove in your hips. It's too cute.   

- Drawing, arts & crafts and writing. You didn't want to have a bar of these things until just recently (maybe in the last 3-4 months). But now, you love creating all kinds of things with old boxes, construction paper & masking tape. You also love writing letters of the alphabet and drawing pictures. I think you are a stunning artist!! :)

- Sienna. You adore your little sister. I couldn't ask for a better relationship between the two of you. That relationship has really developed this past year as you both grow older. You play together and make each other laugh like nobody else can. I love hearing your giggles and love watching the two of you play together. It's a beautiful sibling relationship.

This year you started 3 year old kinder. You attend 2 days a week (half-days) and you've developed a lovely friendship with a boy named Liam. Kate (your kindy teacher) says that you two are inseparable.  It's been fascinating to watch your independence develop (even more) since starting kinder. 

You will always be my little boy (even though you're quickly catching up to my height!) and I will always remember this day in 2007 when you finally entered my life at 1:17pm. You have forever changed me and I will always love you for that. 

We love you to the moon and back, sweet boy. Huge birthday hugs and kisses to you as you move into the world of big 4 year olds.  xoxo

I have given birth to a speckle of dust,

to a sparkle of light

to a small hint of life.

Frail as a flower in the morning

is this tiny work of art

when i see his face before me

this is too much for one heart.

I want time to stop right here

make perfection last forever

in which i could disappear.

I have been living with such wonder

that my soul could burst apart.

-- Thank you Lisa Lucky for introducing me to these beautiful lyrics from Miss Saigon. 

05 August 2007

31 July 2011

05 August 2011

Eyelashes

Our big boy

Someone has a birthday soon!!  Guess how old he's going to be.

Sienna's newest party trick

The other day, Sienna was playing and suddenly started counting....TO T.E.N.!! She was doing it over and over. I knew she could count to three. But, TEN?!! I would obviously LOVE to take credit for this little achievement, but I think Austin probably has more to do with it than me. lol.

Firefighter Austin, to the rescue

In case you weren't already aware, Austin is obsessed with emergency vehicles. ["Obsessed" might even be an understatement.] His favorite emergency vehicles are fire trucks.  He's always asking for another fire truck toy and another fire truck toy and another and another.  So, today I told him to make one... and he did.

Introducing the Firefighter Austin Fire Truck Rescue Vehicle v1.0, coming soon to a store near you...

Drama queen

And this is what happened when I took the bib off her head...

Through these eyes

Through these eyes

What do you see

Can you see my reflection

Can you see the sky

Can you see the beauty of your life in front of you

These beautiful eyes.

When life hands you lemons...

MAKE SOME LEMONADE!!

We have a cute little lemon tree in one corner of our backyard. It has about 3985450876340586345 lemons on it, so Arthur picked about 230498375 of them on the weekend. He juiced all of them (bless his heart) and we made some lemonade. YUM!!

Recipe
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup lemon juice (I like it tart!)
3-4 cups additional water

- Mix sugar in 1 cup boiling water until it dissolves, making a sugar syrup.
- Add sugar syrup to lemon juice and additional water.
- Mix and enjoy!

 

 

Giveaway Winner!!

Thanks to all who left comments for the giveaway. Congratulations to Tricia!!! She is the winner of the Clickin' Moms LIFETIME membership!!!  Yay Tricia! You're going to love it.  I'll be in touch to organise your prize.

Neighborhood walk

The kids love going for walks in our neighborhood. Yesterday, Austin decided to ride his scooter while we walked. Halfway down our street, he needed a break because "his legs were hurting from all the exercise".  

We were also detained a bit whilst waiting for Sienna to pick, yet another, flower. She LOVES "flowas".  

So, needless to say, our walk didn't last very long. 

Smelling the flower she had just picked:

BOB Books for iPhone

A friend told me about the free BOB Books app for the iPhone. So, I installed it and Austin LOVES it. Sienna even loves it. She grabs my phone and says "Sam, Sam" (which is one of the words in the books).

A little 'noise' and a little smile

She had just woken from her nap and was still lying in bed.  There wasn't very much natural light, so I had to crank up my ISO; hence the 'noise' in the shot. I don't mind a bit of noise if it helps tell the story (dark room, nap-time).

Old Mates

Today, we made a VERY last minute decision to venture out to the Kyneton Olive Oil Festival (approx one hour outside Melbourne). The weather at home in Melbourne was cold, foggy, misty and just plain miserable. So, we loaded up the kids, a carload of 'necessities' and headed off on our road trip.

Once we finally buckled into the car, I put the address into my iPhone GPS and realised Kyneton is just past Woodend!!  So, I contacted my old friend Fiona and we made plans to meet up in the country for a good ole' country-bumpkin time!!

Half-way to our destination, the sun started peeking through the clouds and the fog started lifting. By the time we arrived, it was a perfect winter day, full of sunshine and a pleasant cool breeze. The festival was perfect. They had delicious wood-fired pizza, divine home-made jams and (best of all) FREE wine tastings!!!!  Who could ask for anything more? Sunshine + Savoury + Sweets + WINE!  MOST of my favorite things!

We snagged a few (okay FOUR) bottles of YUMMO Shiraz from Bull Hen winery. It was a steal at only $12 a bottle. It's full of body and goes down oh-so-well.  We also snagged a delicious little Vanilla & Plum jam that is, seriously, out of this world!!

The best part of our visit to the festival was our reunion with old friends from Mother's Group, Fiona, Mark and their beautiful girls Katrina & Gabby. It was amazing to see how well Katrina & Austin 'clicked'!! It was as though they knew they were old mates who were catching up for 'just another playdate'. They played beautifully and had so many laughs together. They just couldn't get enough of each other. I wish you guys lived closer!!!

The Giveaway

You've been patiently waiting for it and I'm finally ready to post about it.  Here we go....

Clickin' Moms has been kind enough to sponsor an awesome giveaway valued at $195 for one of my lucky readers!!!!

If you are keen to learn anything related to photography, this is your place. They have over 8,000 members who range from top professionals to enthusiastic hobbyists like me.  I joined Clickin' Moms early last year and quickly found that it's not just for "MOMS".

One of my lucky readers will be eligible to win a Lifetime Membership to Clickin' Moms !!! That is a $195 value for free and that is only the beginning.  This membership will include:
* Advanced notice to sign up for CM workshops;
* Special contests and perks (like this giveaway) available only to lifetime members;
* Discounted CMpro membership (subject to application and approval);
* Access to a countless number of photography tutorials;
* Discounts with participating vendors;
* Photo critiques.

If you are keen to learn more about photography or simply promote your existing business, this is a great place for you!!

So, now for the good stuff.  How do you get an entry to this awesome giveaway?!!! You have FIVE opportunities to win (and an extra 2 opportunities for anyone willing to help me with my technical question in the previous post):
1. Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment here letting me know you did so.
2. Share this giveaway on Facebook with a link to this post and leave a comment here telling me you did so.
3. Share this giveaway on your blog with a link to this post. Leave a comment here to tell me you did so!
4. Tweet about this giveaway, with a link to this post. Leave a comment here to tell me you did so!
5. Join Clickin' Moms through one of my links on this page and leave a comment here telling me you did so. If you win the giveaway, Clickin' Moms will refund your membership fees.

The deadline for this giveaway is June 26th Australian time, which is June 25th US time. I will select a winner using random.org and will post that winner here.

Existing Clickin' Moms members are not eligible for this giveaway. If you choose to join Clickin' Moms (even with a lovely trial membership), membership fees will be refunded if you are the giveaway winner.

Good Luck!!!

Technical difficulties

I am in need of some technical HTML expertise.
I would like to create transitions between my images in my header slideshow.  If anyone can help, please contact me and I'll gift you an extra TWO chances in the awesome giveaway which I'm about to post!!!

Get Clickin'

I'm a lover of photography. I'll admit it, I'm a photo junkie. I've had my little Nikon D80 for over 2 years now and have clicked away over 16,000 shots (16.2k actuations as of April). It's no wonder my little MacBook Pro 250GB hard drive is full! I'm a hoarder of 'sentimental shots' and horrible at purging data after doing my backups!

As a lover of photography, I'm also a lover of all things nice...like a bright, new, shiny DSLR!! This year, my goal is to upgrade to a full frame DSLR. The only problem is that I'm really torn and I'm thinking of switching teams <insert GASP here>.  Yup, I'm thinking of moving over to Canon. I only have 3 Nikon lenses and I could probably make back a good amount of money on their resell.

I still have a lot of research to do. The fact that Nikon factories in Japan are out of commission for a while, is also a big contributing factor. I am willing to hold out though, if I can be certain that Nikon is for me!

Until my upgrade, I'll continue clickin' along on my good ole' faithful D80. It's been there for me through the years, and hasn't failed me yet!

Thankfully, about a year ago, I was introduced to a website called Clickin' Moms.  It's been a wonderful forum which has provided me endless photography tutorials, workshops and general photography chit-chat.  I'll be offering a VERY yummy giveaway, sponsored by Clickin' Moms, to the value of $195!! Keep your eyes open and check back soon!!!

Austin's quote of the day

Austin: Mommy, I want to be a daddy when I grow up.
Me: Really, Austin?  Do you want to have kids?
Austin: Yes.
Me: How many kids would you like to have?
Austin: Two.
Me: Do you want boys or girls or one of each?
Austin: I want two girls and I'm going to name them Alice and Sienna.

[He has a friend at kinder named Alice. I had no idea how much he admired her!]

Helen Keller

Helen Keller was an amazing woman. My favorite quote of hers is:

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart."