Spitting image!

If you know my 3 kids well you will know Aimee and Jayden pretty much look the same, with dark brown eyes, exactly the same brown coloured hair and olive skin...they basically look like me but with a few of Gregs shaped features (particulary Jayden).
And then came Zach...(sorry for some reason my blog doesn't pick up the last letter in the alphabet..weird) our odd little baby who looked completely different to me even at birth... coming out blue and having very little hair (compared with big mops of black hair Aimee & Jayden had).... later on I found when Zach was a few days old he had blue eyes!! I prayed for a blue eyed baby in this last pregnancy not expecting to get one with my dark genes taking over! To my utter amazement they have stayed blue....so I was thinking this baby might be a mini Greg.... well heck yes...check this first photo out of Greg at the same age!!! OM Goodness, I could not believe it when Gregs mum first showed me the photo!! I was sure she has secretly taken a photo of Zach and told me it was Greg... the other 4 photos are not sooo much Zach but boy some of the looks & expressions are him all over!!
Check these out!!

Even the smile is exact the same....and the hair!!

Greg was a lot fatter... his 8 months plus photos he is one budda baby!!

Greg a few days old....even looking similar here!

Wasn't he just a cutie.... Zach is such a little Greg in the making!!

Celebrating 4 months :)

Heres proof of how quick a baby changes in 4 months!!

Birth Day :)

1 month

2 months

3 months

Taken today at 4 months!!

Wow!

I am going to record each month of the first 12 in roughly the same postion (this idea I pinched from Lizzie.. thanks Liz!).
I'm hoping to get the 12 framed as a great momento of the growth of little zach, I just so wish I had done this with the other 2 too!! Third time lucky hey ;)

:)

Our 10th Anniversary!

I am so amazed that today is actually 10 years!! In ways it has gone so fast but yet seems like such a lifetime ago!! I guess our lives have been so incredibly busy this first 10!
Greg and I have had our up and downs as every marriage does but I guess the one thing that we always come back to is our wedding scripture given to us by Pastor John Warrick who married us on that beautiful day, April 8th, 2001.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowlege him and he will make your pathes straight"

Here are a few photos I scanned of our wedding day...(gee we're old, no digital cameras in them days!) 



Oh soooo young!



My wedding party: Brett Jackson, Jessica Davey, Sarah Jackson, Peter Minchin

Still single here!!

I have been searching through our old photos and I hardly have any of us together....I guess I'm always behind the camera so its either Greg and the kids or me and the kids... oh well here a few recent ones of us I found....

Family photos 2009

Chirstmas 2009

Easter 2010

Its amazing how far we've come and how much MORE we are in love now... you never think its possible when you first get married but love does really grow and mature until you become so one there's just no way possible we could ever be separted.

Happy Anniversay my love and I look forward to the next 10 with you.... teenage kids here we come!

We have each other :)

I just wanted to share how beautiful the bond between Aimee & Jayden has become since having Zach... understandably I have had way less time for each of them, as much as I have tried to spend quality time with them both together and each of them separately it is definetely less than what we used to have...especially now since Jayden is 2 and half days at school as well...but they have adjusted so well having little Zach added to the sibling bunch.
What I love is that they have now clung to each other.... they realise I can't give them all the attention I used too so they have discovered each other & have been forced to learn how to "play" together...creatively. It is so beautiful to hear them doing role play games and Aimee sharing her craft with Jayden so they can make a card for Nanna together... something that Jayden has never been interested in.... and Aimee will play "blocks" or Thomas the Tank with Jayden... their little bond is so beautiful and it reminds me of how I was with my brother Aaron... we rarely fought and we truly loved & cared for each other...instead of dobbing we'd stick up for each other more often...something we do to this day, the bond of a brother and sister is a beautiful thing.

I think teaching children to love & care for each other is a must because sometimes it just doesn't come naturally...unfortunately we live in a fallen world where SELF rules... but as Mum & Dads we know God's way is for us to be SELFLESS, children NEED to be guided to put others first...

Here is a cute moment of both of them "breastfeeding" their favourite things...  of course Jayden copies Aimee in everything...his heroine :)

Oh how I love them...

8 weeks!!

Wow my baby is 8 weeks already, or 2 months tomorrow! He had his needles on Monday, how sad it was... :( He was also measured and he now weighs 5.57kg or 12Pound 3 by the old book! He is smack bang on the 50% line in everything!
Time has gone too quick...I have been enjoying him so much, he is definetly one of my easiest babies but then that might be cos I'm pretty chilled out this time, I dunno, he might just be placid in nature... he sleeps well, feeds well, is happy when he is awake...I am so blessed to have him & I quite often find myself with a little tear in my eye when he smiles at me, just overwhelmed with how blessed I am!

So as a little mini celebration of the 2 month mark here are some cute photos of late....

Latest photo.... the first time I put him in T-shirt & shorts! Too grown up!

VERY much loved by his Sister & Brother!

Watching mummy while I have a shower... cute AS!

Happy 2 months Zachary!

Blessed Coffee!

How blessed am I to have this little gem of a coffee machine!! My good friend Lee (who is by far one of the most generous people I know!) GAVE me this coffee machine!! I am so amazed at her generosity... I received an email from Lee asking if I would like a coffee machine because she had remembered that in one of my facebook posts (9 months earlier!) that I wanted a coffee machine for my new kitchen! So of course I said yes! When she dropped it off, she even thought to buy me some Decaf coffee preground for me to get started (decaf cos of me breastfeeding) plus a pressie of homemade RED candles 4 my new house..... sorry Lee about going on about this but seriously I am so thankful I just had to do a blog!!
People like Lee sometimes really shock me cos you don't come by them very often in life...people that actually go out of their way to bless someone...

The kids are loving the "frothy milk milo's" I make for them sometimes after school, they think its so special, and they have to have them in their little mugs which for Jayden only holds like 100mls ! haha! But they don't care its their special cuppa...

And here is my beautiful machine...and it makes awesome coffee!! Something special I can do for when visitors are over or I just want that special yummy cappucino when I need a break...
My red kitchen stuff looks sweet with it I think anyways :)

Thank you Lee!

A little girls bedroom...

I remember when I was 6 I had so many special bits in my room that I saw as my treasure (& mum would've seen as junk!) & I remember if anyone moved or chucked my "treasure" out I would be soooo upset...so now having my own 6 year old girl I can understand some things are sacred to her....but oh how I wish I could get rid of it!!
So anyway I have been meaning to sort Aimees room for ages now cause it was just getting beyond messy & her "cleaning up" was just not quite to my standard so I spent a few hours the other day doing it....moving furniture and all.... this before photo was when I was 3/4 thru doing it...I wish I'd remembered to take the photo earlier...it was shocking!!

And the end result...much better and brighter looking.... there is still so much I want to get for her room to finish it like a beautiful Decal for her pink wall and some flowing curtains...and a desk... heck I would love for the furniture all to match but the budget won't stretch so we'll just have to make do for now!

Aimee's "treasure" shelf.... oh the things I had to resist getting rid of!

The window in need desperately of some pretty curtains!

At least now when I vacum half the barbies and ton load of craft gear won't end up half way up the vacum cleaner!

To top it all off when she got home she had such a surprise and there was a little present on her bed.....the latest 7 year old FAD... A Zhu Zhu pet pink hamster... she was in heaven :)

Beachy Kinda Day

How cool is this photo I took down the beach yesterday, & it was with my crappy 5 megapixel camera!

Anyway yesterday turned out different then what we planned.... Aimee has been doing swimming lessons at school and she did really well & wanted to show me and Nanna what she has learnt so our plan for the last week was to take the kids down the pool on the public holiday when Nanna has some time off!

But on arriving the pool was closed!! Can you believe how ridiculous that is!! How slack is our council in closing the pool on a public holiday!! Anyway I had one very upset little girl on my hands so we tryed we convinced her eventually that the beach would be just as fun... and it was!

The kids had a ball, here are some pics....

Go Aimee!!

Zach slept the whole 2 hours down the beach, all that fresh air!

Some more of my "creative shots" with Aimee & Jayden in the background....

After the beach we waterparked it and then ended up at Dome for a milkshake, was a lovely day for the kids :)

Honest Opinions please!!

Ok here is an idea I have been thinking of taking to the markets sometime in distant future.... Instead of painting I thought maybe pictures with fabric?? I really really need some honest (I mean honest people!) if you think people will buy something like this? I am really unsure... I don't like the frames at all but have some ideas of making them look better so they have glass and are in a box frame which I'm hoping Greg will have a go at making for me....
Yay or Nay??

Oh and if anyone has any scrap bit of fabric lying around that are too small to do anything much with I would love it!!!

Please let me know what you think!

An Eventful Day

Well yesterday we had a very full day, but it very much enjoyed considering it was so hot & humid!

A bit of photo blog this one....

Jaydens little friend Noah had his 4th party in the morning down the waterpark.... it was perfect weather for it, no need to dry off or get changed....the kids just stayed in their wet clothes on the way home! I was kinda wishing I had taken my bathers tho!!

Pass the Parcel...Audrey had such a cool idea, instead of the traditional wrapped toy over & over again with newspaper she covered a formula container and inside she wrapped individual little presents that the kids got to get out of the container when the music stopped....less mess & the kids were all happy cos everyone got a present!

Carry the "fake" egg on the spoon game so everyones a winner & theres no cracked egg!

Jess was up from Perth so the kids had fun running around with Luke too...how gorgeous!

Little Ben & Aunty Deb :)

And then it was off to Khya & Dan's wedding...not too many good photos because my camera is in serious need of an update...

Look at this smile!! Happy beautiful bride!

Aimee came with me and was in awe of how pretty the flowergirls looked...

I then had the reception at night which was heaps of fun and Zach was such a good boy all day being carted all over the place! (his 3rd night out in the last 4!)

Family & friends just make life that little bit sweeter don't ya think! :)