All Together Now

Ella, Alex and Charlotte playing on the floor. Charlotte isn't short of admirers as both Alex and Ella compete for her attentions. Thankfully they only push each other around in an attempt to get close to the baby.

Charlotte's First Milestone

Charlotte has learned to smile! It's one of the first things babies learn to do and she loves to smile at her big brother. Alex likes to lie on the floor with Charlotte and pretend he's a baby too.

Alex's New-ish Bike

Bill and Alex fixed a bike that was given to us recently. Alex has graduated from a tricycle to a bicycle with training wheels. He's still very much in the learning to ride stage.

Isn't She Cute

Alex and Ella battle for the attentions of their little sister. They will both often say "isn't she cute" as they lean over and poke her in the eye or rub peanut butter into her hair.

Still Sleeping

Really that's all she does. And when she is awake I have my hands full and am far too busy to be taking photos.

Yawn Yawn

The life of a toddler is a busy one. Sometimes it's all jus a bit too much to handle and everyone has a nap in the middle of the day.

Hip Hip Hooray

Ella and her best friend Piper gettin wet at the Norton's place on the weekend.

Daddy Comes Home

Bill has been home for a week and has been a very busy daddy. He built a see-saw (or teeter-totter for our northern hemespherical friends), fixed an old bike that is now a new bike for Alex, did some Christmas shopping and spent a whole lot of time hanging out with me and the kids. It was a great week.

Third Child Syndrome

I have finally taken some photos of Charlotte. She's 4 weeks old now and met her daddy for the second time today. It's nice to have Bill home and the kids are super excited to have him back.

Mummy Gets High

In a good way. My friend Genny had her birthday celebration at an indoor rock climbing centre. She invited her friends and their kids and we all went up up up. I did four climbs and made it to the top of two and oh-so-close on the other two. The kids all loved it - one kid bragging that he'd done 13 climbs. Little monkeys. I think I might go back for another go.

Sleeping Beauty

A long time ago, when Baby Alex was born, Grandma and Pa came to visit from Canada. They bought a baby swing for little Alex. Once Alex had grown out of it and his little sister came along the swing was a favourite place for Ella to sleep. Then came Baby Charlotte. This is a magical swing, a comfortable swing and a godsend for Charlotte, Ella and Alex's mummy!

Cookin Chocolate Cakes

On Dora the Explorer this morning Dora made a chocolate cake for her mummy for Mother's Day. So that meant that we had to make a chocolate cake like Dora - however I wasn't going to put bananas and nuts in it and we didn't need to go on an adventure to find all the ingredients.

Bubble Baby

Just in case you can't work out the side-ways video below, here's what it was supposed to look like.

Blowing Bubbles

Ok, I know this is sideways, but you just need to tilt your head slightly and shazzam! To get the bubble machine to work you need to press a button on the front side of it. I consider this a bit of a design fault as Ella can't find the button unless she's looking at it, which means she gets a face full of bubbles. It didn't stop her though.

Eight Is Enough

It's true. Today Angela, Genevieve and I with our (in total) eight kids went into Brisbane city to visit the state library 'kids corner' and the museum. Pictured here is (from left) Piper, Darcy, Braeden, Lachlan, some ring-in that we don't know, and Alex. Not pictured is Harley, Charlotte and Ella. The library has a great program for kids and a big room dedicated to keeping them occupied while I sit and have a coffee.

Museum Madness

Ella and the T-Rex. Sounds like a movie title, dosn't it? The kids all had a play with a bunch of dinosaur toys then we went up to see the stuffed animals. I'm not sure they get a lot of cultural awareness from visiting the museum, but they certainly ran around a lot and expended a lot of energy. I expended a lot of noise yelling at them.

Look Out Behind You

Alex is holding a fossil and behind him is the T-Rex in the dinosaur garden where we had a snack later on. The kids has such a good time at the library and museum.

Yummy Yummy

OK, this photo may need some background information... Alex is a HUGE Wiggles fan. Everything in our house that is red, blue, yellow or purple becomes a Wiggle -- from coloured cups, plates, spoons, leggo, whatever. Alex has a box of leggo that he has separated into Wiggles blocks and 'yucky' blocks which are the non-Wiggles coloured ones. He has added other coloured toys and put them into a metal bowl which has become his 'fruit salad' - this is in reference to a Wiggles song.

Now for the punchline. In Alex's shirt is his 'fruit salad', which has made his belly big. The imagination of a three-year-old is astounding!

Beach Baby

This is what 6.30am at the beach in Hervey Bay looks like!

Having Fun At The Beach

Mum, Dad, me and the kids spent last weekend at the beach at Hervey Bay about 3 hours north of Brisbane - or 5 hours if you're travelling with 3 kids. Mum had booked a great apartment unit across the road from this beach. When the kids got up at 5am, they had their breakfast and after sunscreen was applied, swimmers put on and sand toys collected they were at the beach (with Nanna not mummy!) at 6.30am. Best time to be there, though, as the water was really warm and the sun wasn't too hot. We all had a fantastic weekend - thanks mum and dad, aka Terry and Mike.

Hervey Bay Pier

It's a really long pier and it was really really windy. Back in the day they ran a train from the end of the pier to unload ships that docked at the end. Now its just crammed with fishermen and pelicans looking for an easy meal. The kids had a ball running around although we had to keep an eye on them that they didn't get blown over the sides!

Time For A Rest

All that running down the pier makes us tired. We need to sit down and have a bit of a rest.

I Can't Walk Anymore Nanna

That was a really really long pier. Coming back prooved to be a bit of a challenge for Alex. But then again who can blame him when he sees that neither of his sisters has to walk back.

Alex Turns 3

What a huge day! Alex has been practising blowing out candles for months so on his birthday he did a great job. We had a party in the park with a bunch of friends then afterwards we went back to my mum's place for a swim and more junk food. The sugar high wore off at around 5pm.

Sleeping like a baby

They are so cuddly and snuggly at this age. Charlotte is a great baby, very contented and very sleepy! Today we spent the day at Angela's and Charlotte just fed, slept, fed, pooped a few times and slept some more. I think she's sleeping now... maybe I should be too.

In Bed with The Wiggles

Alex is still a Wiggles fanatic. Here he is with Murray, Wags, Anthony, another Wags and Dorothy all in bed. Ella is wearing a Henry the Octopus head band which she insists I wear sometimes too. I swear I'm going to go down to the local shops one day wearing that head band.