Christenson Chronicle past articles

7th December 2008
Lily took her first steps a few days before her first birthday but she is yet to run around. She can dance, clap, jump and we have even seen her do a few handstands but she won't take more than five or six steps at a time. Funny girl.
We still can't believe that a year has passed since little Lily was born.So much has happened in 2008 that we are looking forward to an uneventful 2009.
Getting Ready for the Man in Red.
The girls are still a little young for the Santa myth and we are not sure how Zoe would take the idea of a man entering our house to deliver presents. We might leave that one for next year. Both girls are sure to be totally spoilt this year and we are hoping for a visit from their distant uncle and aunt, as well as NannyO and PoppyO.
Drought Sleeper.
It seems Zoe is a true drought baby and just can not sleep through rain on the tin roof at night. Last night she was awake and screaming every 10 mins for nearly 4 hours. It water torture for us as we had to get up and give her cuddles. She finally fell asleep around 3am - in our bed! First time for that and while we were still very tired this morning it was nice to have her sleep between us until nearly 8am. Lily has been waking at 6ish, having a yell and going back to sleep until Zoe wakes her up. So this morning 745am was a wonderful sleep in for the birthday Mum.

News and Events in the Christenson Family Last Updated 25th December 2011 Brisbane, Queensland Australia


		9th November 2011 A birthday boy and new diggers... It has been a HUGE few months for the Christenson Clan. For The Boy’s birthday Heath put in a sand pit under the cubby. Henry worked hard helping his dad and loves playing in the new pit. The girls play there sometimes though if all three are down there fights erupt within minutes. Henry doesn’t mind playing on his own with his new ‘diggers’. He is such a boy. The girls love being fairy princesses these days (see photos below) and their games are way too complicated for poor Henry to keep up. The girls are not too patient with him either and as long as they ar playing apart, life is pretty peaceful.


Robots and fish... We have a couple of new additions to the Christenson Clan. Firstly is Jayden, our new pet. The children have been bugging us to no end about getting a pet (they want a dog) and we compromised with a Siamese fighting fish. They are extremely low maintenance and after a couple of days all three kids pretty much forgot about him. This was a good thing as we remind them about how much time they spend with the pet they have when they start on again about getting a dog. We tell them we will talk about a dog (perhaps a Beagle) when Henry is in prep. This gives us another three years to get used to the idea. Or come up with another reason not to get a mutt. Zoe says it would be hard to play hide and seek with Jayden... The other new addition is Little Guy. This addition is wonderful and Lec loves it so much. He is small, round and vacuums the floor all by itself. Heath sets it when Lec leaves for the school run and when she returns, the floor is clean. Zoe named both of our new pets (no idea where Jayden came from) and the vacuum robot is LG brand but we don’t think that is why she called it Little Guy. No matter, we love our new additions. *Sickness and no naps...* There has been some sickness in the house over the past few weeks. The first really bad stuff for the year so we think we have done rather well this year. The girls had to have some time off school and kindy and while Zoe was actually sick enough to want to rest and sleep, Lily was her usual bouncy self and very hard to contain.
				All three monkeys developed a bad cold as soon as Lec recovered from hers and Henry spent a few days only wanting to be cuddled. This was lovely when we could actually sit down with him (and grab a nap too) but Lec’s back is not good and it was hard to make dinner with the boy yelling for ‘cuggles’. He recovered though has decided to drop his day time nap. This is fine but he still needs to have some kind of sleep so he now sleeps wherever he wants. Usually in the car on the school run (morning and afternoon some days) though see the photos below of where he now likes to grab 40 winks. Check out the last one - he fell asleep eating a cookie.


The boy... turned two at the end of September. Yes, we know that has gone fast! He loves his new diggers as much as his new books and like to play with them both at the same time to make sure the girls don't steal anything of his. Henry is getting much better at playing with his sisters but they do get along better when one of the girls is doing something else while the other plays with him. Zoe breaks up from school two weeks before Lily finishes kindy for the year so we are hoping Henry and Zoe get to bond a little more.

			Princesses... Our little girls are growing up so fast. Lily loves dressing up and costume changes. Nana likes to provide her with lovely dresses that she changes a few times a day. Zoe refuses to wear anything with buttons (except her school uniform as she has no choice there) so her dresses can be quite simple. They both love anything their NannyO makes for them (as long as there are no buttons). Zoe has only two and a half weeks left of prep. We are not sure who will miss it more, Zoe or Lec. We have all enjoyed our first year at school and marvel at our little girl and all she has learned. We have been so blessed to have the best teachers in the school taking care of her all year and it has been a wonderful introduction to schooling for all of us. Zoe has been trying really hard in class, savingher best behaviour for her teachers and was given her Silver Award at assembly this week. We are so vrey proud of her and who she is becomming. Her meltdowns after school are usually from not eating her lunch and being so tired at the end of the day. She falls asleep every day on the way home from school and is quite cranky when she has to be woken up to get out of the car. Lily still grabs a little nap every afternoon when we go to pick Zoe up and boy does she yell when Lec has to wake her up! Henry yells a lot too so it is stereo yells most afternoons until they see their friends and have some time to play in Prep. We are not sure what we are going to do next year as Year one is not fenced...

New floors... Heath – you might want to use the back door when you get home from school… Lec – er ok, why? Heath – I kind of put my foot through a floorboard in the play room and I have had to pull up a few boards… When Lec got home there was a quarter of the playroom floor missing and a pile of lovely reclaimed Baltic pine sitting on the front deck. Heath managed to get a fair bit more of the boards from the wreckers and we now have enough to re-floor the playroom and most of our lounge room. This weekend PoppyO and our regular handyman helped Heath lay over half of the playroom floor and it looks wonderful. We will have to get a professional in to sand the floor but Lec should be able to find the time (sleep is overrated anyway) to coat it when it is ready. It will look amazing when it is finished and worth all the effort.



	Holidays... We have nothing planned for the eight weeks of school holidays so feel free to come over for a visit or organise a catch up. Heath is flat out with his clients (the photo above was taken on a weekend:) so the rest of us have to make the most of our free time.


		18th September 2011 *Mess in the yard…* The days are just flying by! Thankfully the holidays are finally here and we have nothing planned except for rest. Lily is doing well at kindy and Zoe is loving school but they are both very tired and really need to do nothing for a couple of weeks. Today was mud pies a few weeks ago it was fun with goop (corn flour, colouring and water). Henry just liked to drink the goop making him look like he had eaten a Smurf. Summer has arrived so we will be spending lots of time in the yard with water and probably more mud. Oh yay.
	Enjoying time at home alone... The boy Henry, is showing no signs of missing his sisters when they are at school and kindy. He knows where both of them are (Zoe at ‘koo Lily at ‘dindy) and loves going to school every morning. Lec has to drag him kicking and screaming out of the prep sand pit and brush him off to get in the car. His screams are now so piercing that everyone looks around to see if it is the school fire alarm. In the afternoons Lec has to wake him up from his nap most days to go get the girls and he doesn’t like that much either. Henry really likes his Wednesday Mainly Music class and loves hanging out with his lovely friends there. We think he loves the morning tea the most. Henry does like his food.
		Lovely little flower... After only one term at kindy Lily has adjusted so well it is though she has been there all year. We are not sure how she is going to do another year of kindy before school but we know she will be very ready for prep in 2013. She has learned many of her numbers without us knowing and even reads some of Zoe’s home reader books. She surprises us with guessing the odd word in our nightly stories. Lily’s imagination has no bounds and makes us laugh with the way her mind works. Unfortunately she is very sensitive about people laughing at what she says and thinks we are laughing at her, not just her words. It won’t be long before she is trying to make us laugh, just like her dad.
	The big school girl... Zoe has been giving us glimpses of what she is going to be like when she is a teenager. Wow we are in for rough few years. We did warn her teachers that she has a little ‘tude at times and they didn’t actually believe us until she tried it on them. They were so shocked their Zoe could be anything but thoughtful and loving. She even spent some time by the fridge in the classroom – something she never wants to repeat so her behaviour in class has improved and she is back to the old Zee (Mr H’s nickname for Zoe). For the most part Zoe gets along quite well with her siblings though Henry does seem to push her buttons a bit too easy. Lily and Zoe can now play for a long time before there is screaming and it usually because Zoe can use her extensive teasing tactics to make Lily so mad she just has to yell. Oh yes, can't wait for the tweens...


Lec has finally had some of her art mass produced. The itti bitti nappy company has had her prints put on a range of their products and they do look rather amazing. What looks even more amazing to us is Lec’s art on Henry’s bottom. Itti bitti are sold in more than 20 countries so there are now thousands of babies wearing Lec’s art. Which we all think is very cool:)


	27th July 2011 Kindy Girl! Our little flower has started kindy and she has not looked back! In fact on the first day she was 'too busy' to give us a kiss goodbye. Her teacher mentioned that after only a few days, it was like she had been there all year. Every morning Lily asks if it is a kindy day, even on the weekends. She even asked when she was going to school.. not so fast kid! Below is Lily's first construction at kindy. She was very proud!

The little guy... ...is loving being home alone with Mum three days a week. Today Henry started a music class with some of his favourite friends and loved dancing and singing. He loves being in the car to go get the girls and also like screeching which is making his mum quite deaf. Our First Born... Zoe is still doing very well at school. She comes home some days with something new that takes us by surprise. Yesterday she told Lec she was hungry - in Spanish! At least they are teaching her something useful as she is hungry all the time! In fact they all eat so much that our grocery bill has increased significantly recently. So has their height and weight! Growing kids eat so much...

Trip to Melbourne... The girls and Lec braved a weekend in Melbourne during the holidays. They stayed at a very dear friend's house and had a super great time with Grace and Kelly. Thanks so much Kelly :) We were so blessed to have a little party while we were there with some of the members of Lec's online mother's group. Lec joined this group when she was pregnant with Zoe and they have been through so much together. Even though it was the first time she had met some of them in real life, they have been virtual friends for more than five years. Thanks to NannyO for the new jackets - we needed them! Melbourne was very cold and wet... The plane trip was exciting on the way down because it was running a little late and there was free TV for the kids. On the way home there was no tv at all and after a very long weekend which included a trip to the zoo, the poor girls were not very settled. Lily screamed for much of the trip home and it may take some time for Lec to get over it all. The next mother's group meet up may be a few years away... Playing in Grace's backyard... Lily may have to learn the piano at school...Kelly and Grace at the zoo... Sophie and her little sister Abby with Zoe Which monkey is mine? Instant new friends with Sophie and Grace... Sophie, Lily, Grace and Zoe... Grace had a sad moment around the same time as Lily... How cold is it girls?



				2nd July 2011 Five years... Yes, our little Zoe is now five years old. Today we celebrated with some wonderful friends and their families and we all had a great time. During the week there was another little party when one of Zoe's school friends came over with her family. Now Zoe thinks she has two birthdays! Have a look at the Zoe sandwich with two of her favourites, Isaac and Cooper. Way too cute!



It has been a while... We realise a whole school term has passed by without a Christenson Chronicle update. It seems time is getting away from us so fast that we are struggling to keep up. At nights and weekends Lec is hard at work with her art (we will be able to show you some results very soon!) or her other job (hard to believe she actually does get paid to be on Facebook) and the expo circuit has started for the year. So far this year she has been to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as well as the expo here in Brisbane last weekend. Life sure is busy for this side of the team!


	The other half is just as busy as Heath has taken on new clients this month. He is enjoying being so busy but it seems he may be getting a little weary. When Lec is away for an expo NannyO flies down to help out and she is a HUGE help. It means Lec doesn’t get home to a bombshell and a frazzled husband. It also means Heath can actually get some work done while NannyO is here and the kids love her being a part of their life. They missed PoppyO this time but Henry was able to talk on the phone to him and giggled and the sound of his PoppyO's voice. He remembers their time together.

		Our little flower... Lily has been enrolled into kindy half a year early and she is very much looking forward to it. She will still do a whole year of kindy next year and we all think that is a good idea. Lily seems to be getting so bored at home that three days a week (9am-2pm) in a structured environment is just what she needs. We are lucky enough to have the same wonderful teacher that Zoe had last year so we know she is in great hands.

The boy... Henry is just growing and growing. He has many words now and lots of them are telling his sisters where to go. He likes ‘Gowaaaaaaaay!’ and our favourite ‘Cuggle’. He likes to ‘cuggle’ smaller kids to the ground so we have to watch him close when there are little kids around. He can actually ‘cuggle’ Zoe to the ground too and we all think that is funny. Even Zoe. He loves playing with Lily these days and they both trot off down to the cubby most days fighting dinosaurs or dragons together. They are very loud so it is easy to know where they are in the yard without going to look for them. We do go look for them when we can’t hear them because quiet time in the yard usually involves one or more of Nana’s plants being tortured.
			Zoe had a great term at Citypointe College. She received a behaviour reward at assembly in the final week and we are very proud of how her teachers talk about her. We are amazed at the level of education she is receiving and so very glad we chose this school. The antiques... Beverley and John’s little business is booming. The Cottage Garden in East Brisbane has a new chef in the cafe and it is booked out most weekends. This is great for Beverley and John as there is now lots more people though the door and some weekends the place is packed out all day. If you are in the neighbourhood drop in and say hi.
Lots of photos... Even though we are all very busy, we try to get out with the camera and capture as much of our growing children as we can. We will make up for our lack up recent articles with some photos. Enjoy!



	14th April 2011 This term has just flown by! We are still alive and kicking and for the most part healthy and happy. It is Heath and Lec who are struggling to keep up with the ever growing babies! The children are loving going to the school and Zoe loves staying there five days a week. Most mornings she doesn’t even say goodbye to her mum and is in the classroom to start the day before Lec can grab her for a quick hug and kiss. At the end of the day she is quite tired and has even fallen asleep on the way home a couple of times. Some of Zoe’s classmates have younger siblings that will be in Lily or Henry’s class when they start school. Lily and Henry have joined the sibling possie that congregate on the jungle gym every morning and afternoon. We have made friends with some amazing families and like the idea that we will know them for the next 15 years and probably longer. Even though time is going much faster now, we are really enjoying being a part of this school community.

	Lily and Henry are enjoying some time together while Zoe is at school. Henry is growing up so fast and he can now keep up with most things Lily gets in to. Sometimes after school and on weekends, all three monkeys play together for at least 10 minutes before someone gets hurt. See pictures at the bottom of the page...
Lily also likes to be with Nana and Papa and also plays quite well on her own these days. This term we didn’t put either of them into any classes during the week. Next term is probably going to be free too with perhaps some more informal play dates with our new school friends. Term three may see Lily in kindy three days a week...

Lec is doing her best to find the energy to go for a run most mornings. She is very lucky to have a great neighbour and running partner, Julie, who keeps her motivated. It does make it easier on Lec to get out there in the dark and cold of 6am when someone is waiting for her. They are running in the Mother’s Day Classic next month in a team called Team Tish. Tish is a friend of Julie’s who has had a really rough time with cancer. This is a link to her story, feel free to donate if you can http://s.eventarc.com/sponsor/view/13366/tish-kirkland It is a worthy cause and we will be running with Tish and to raise money for breast cancer research early on Mother’s Day.


	Heath’s business is growing and he is very busy. We don’t think it will ever slow down now and Heath is quite happy with that. Lec is even busier now the baby expo circuit has started and she really enjoys getting away for a weekend to chat about nappies. Her art is still going well and it won’t be long until we can show you all some of her mass produced work. We have seen samples and they look UNREAL!
We have been blessed to have NannyO and PoppyO visit quite a few times over the last few months. Henry LOVES PoppyO because he will read to the little guy until Henry can find no more books. NannyO is a very big help while Lec is away and Heath is less stressed when one or both of the O's are around to help out and be a part of the children's lives.


		It seems Zoe is also learning a lot at school. We knew she could write her own name but we didn’t know she could write more than that until she bought home a card to her mum. Yes lots of kids can write at this age but we are very proud of our little Zoe learning how to write without us even knowing!


24th January 2011 And it starts... Our first born has started school. Lec cried and kept her sunglasses on, Heath laughed at her and Zoe’s teacher commiserated with us. Zoe was so excited we thought she might pop but she made it through the day and is ready for more. Check out the photo of her running off across the playground. She did turn around briefly to give us a little wave and then she was off again. Lily had to give her a hug twice before we dragged her kicking and screaming out of the room. She then had to rush back to give Zoe yet another cuddle before we could leave quietly. She missed her sister and was actually quite nice to her little brother. We think she might realise that Henry is almost as much fun as Zoe. He can’t move as fast, but can yell just as loud.
			Lec’s art work is going very well and recently sold a few pieces she has been working on for some time. She is just happy to be using one of her degrees – the only one she actually wanted to do but thought it wise to add an education degree because she didn’t want to be a starving artist. The expos for the year start in March and she is looking forward to the little holidays. Heath is flat out as usual and has a new flying hobby - a helicopter that took its maiden flight of about ten minutes before crashing into the tarmac like a dart. He is now engrossed with totally dismantling the instruction-less machine to replace the largest internal part that was bent when it crashed. Henry loves all flying machines - he can sign ‘helicopter’ and loves to race out to the back deck to see if he can see one flying overhead. He loved Heath's too until it crashed. So did Heath.




The flood of 2011 was rather bad and some of the worst affected was only a few kilometres from our home. We will always be high and dry here on the hill, but so many homes went under and our nearest parklands, about one km away, was totally inundated with some yucky water. A heap of volunteers have been working 24/7 to clean it up for everyone and it is well on the way to being almost as lovely as it was at the beginning of 2011. We went for a drive just yesterday and so many homes and businesses are still being cleaned up. This will take a some time for Brisbane to recover. As you can see the Dry Dock at Southbank was not so dry...





		24th December 2010 Our little Lily has turned three! At the end of November she enjoyed a special day with her sister and Mummy (as well as some very special new friends) at the museum. Our flower child has grown so much and is an amazing little girl. If not a bit of a handful at times. She adores her sister Zoe and the fighting between the two has become sporadic and usually easily settled. Her little brother on the other hand does his best to annoy her and most of the time she does not want anything to do with him. Other times she is so loving and kind to him it is almost like another girl. We like those times and try so hard to encourage her to be nice to him. Henry only has eyes for Lily, probably because she reacts so strongly to his presence! Santa is on his way... We are gearing up for a visit from the man in red. This year the girls are very excited after hundreds of views of the movie Polar Express they finally understand the concept of Santa. They even got a video message from Santa. Got to love the new age Santa letters. Henry, he doesn't care. He just wants something of his own to play with that Lily won't take from him. Good luck with that little guy.



	The little guy... Is really getting around these days. He can almost keep up with his sisters in the daily race around the house for an hour. He is rather smart though and usually turns around and runs the opposite direction and catches them out. Henry has discovered a new decibel in his screams and we think we have suffered some hearing damage in the last few weeks. He has two more teeth to cut until he has all but his two year molars. Then we will have a short reprieve before he starts yelling again. His temper rivals Lily's every afternoon for about an hour we get a taste of what he will be like when he is older and can throw heavy things. Henry loves to climb, see below, and Lec caught him 'raring at a lion at the museum. Nothing scares him!


Merry Christmas everyone. We pray you all stay safe during the festive season and we are going to make a concerted effort to see more of you in the new year. Thank you all for following us on our family journey and we hope to bring you continuing news from the happy and blessed world of the Christenson's!




	Henry loves getting into the freezer. He doesn't like getting messy though! He loves PoppyO and is chatting to him this trip. Below is the play room void of most toys, ready for the Christmas influx of new toys!



	28th October 2010 The year is almost done... Our little man Henry turned one at the end of September. He got up and started waking the same day and hasn’t stopped to crawl since. He has a few words (that all pretty much sound like ba!baa!, amazing really how many words start with 'B') and he is picking up a few signs, like ‘more’ and ‘finished’. His signs are quite subtle so we have to look for them. If we miss ‘finished’ at meal time, he just spits out whatever is in his mouth. He just loves playing in the yard and will stay down for as long as we let him. Pretty soon all the work in the yard will be finished, it will be much safer for him and we won’t have to watch him so closely. As you can see from the photos below, Lily is beginning to enjoy his company. We think she is starting to realise he is her playmate when Zoe is not around. When Zoe is around they are usually very, very noisy. Their games are getting quite rough and we can usually have about ten minutes of laughter before the screaming in pain starts. We check for blood and let them go again.

Our first born, Zoe, started the final term at kindy this month. It is so hard to believe that she will be off to big school in the New Year and all her friends are going to different schools. We have been very blessed to meet some great neighbours who we hope will remain friends in the future. The girls have also started swimming lessons this term and so far they are enjoying it. Lec still has to get in with Lily but we found a new centre and there is only one other student in Lily’s class and only four in Zoe’s class. The teachers are lovely and the pool is not too hot. The girls love the weekly bus ride over the river to UQ campus and the pool. Henry loves staying at home sleeping while Nana listens out for him.


As you can see we are very close to finishing the renos. Upstairs the kitchen is finished and we love our new family table and all the extra space. The kids have a play room that spent a few days with all of the toys in it. Then we all got very sick of cleaning up the mess as it was too messy for even the kids to play in it. Now they are back to having a few toys out at a time making it easier to clean up at the end of the day. The adults have their own lounge room that fits the new TV though no one gets much time to watch it. Downstairs Nana and Papa have moving into their new pad. We try not to make too much noise above them but Henry just loves to push the chair around and it sounds like thunder above Nana and Papa’s heads. We have tried to explain this to him but the little fellow just giggles at us. Check out Nana’s blog for some lovely photos http://www.whitefrench.com.au/


	Lec has had her final expo for the year and even squeezed in an extra one in Sydney before the one in Melbourne. She was oh so lucky to be able to catch up with a dear friend while she was in Melbourne:) Most nights she is still busy being a professional facebook’er. Yes, it seems there is such a thing! Still possibly the best job in the world... Only a few weeks until our second born is three years old, and out little flower is growing up so fast. Her meltdowns are still very large and very noisy but it is getting easier to bribe - erm, negotiate with her. Next year we are going to have to fill our days while Zoe is at school so she doesn’t miss her so much. This term we have dropped kinder gym but next year Henry will be old enough to join us. Heath’s business, now Macross Pty. Ltd., is going well. His clients are happy and his days and some nights are very full. Check out some cute pics of our grown brood below. Life is oh so busy and quite happy in the Merton Manor...


	24th August 2010 Speeding by... How fast is this year going? It seems our boy Henry only just arrived but he will have his first birthday next month! We will probably forget to keep up tradition:) He is such a character. His little personality is emerging rapidly and the girls had better watch their step. Lily is helping him out by trying to establish a pecking order where Henry is at the bottom. Today she came off second best to Henry for the first time though we are not sure she will remember that next time she wants to put him in his place. Zoe is learning not to put her lovely locks too close to his chubby fist as it usually ends in her tears and a chubby fist full of golden hair.

Growing monkeys... The girls are doing quite well now they don’t have a regular nap during the day. Lec was very dubious about them not lying down even for a little while but they generally play so well that it hasn’t been a very big transition. However at night, especially after a day out at the museum, they beg to go to bed at around 6pm. We are all totally ok with that! Most mornings they sleep until past 6am though it may get earlier as the summer approaches. Lec has moved her runs to the morning (when she isn’t sick!) and it is good daddy and kid time while she is out making enough endorphins to get through the day.

		In other news... Heath’s business is going well. He has some great clients who keep him very busy. He also likes his ‘bunker’ as it blocks out most of the house noise. All except for Henry’s horrible ‘I want my Daddy’ yell. Aside from bio breaks it is the only thing that will bring him upstairs during the day:) Lec worked her second last expo for the year at the beginning of the month. Perth is a long way from Brisbane but it was so lovely to be able to nap (on the plane) during the day! Melbourne is next, at the end of October. NannyO and PoppyO continue their world travels and are back in the UK this and next month. Hi Marmonded!! Bring us home some... stuff:) Henry is still warming to PoppyO but loves NannyO. The girls just love them both and get excited when they are coming to stay. Soon they will be able to stay a little longer as there will be guest quarters at the Merton Manor...

Renovations... The renovations are still traveling along. Right now everything is painted (though not very well - that is another story) and we are waiting on floor coverings in Nana and Papa’s new pad. The electrician is due to finish his work this week and the plumber... well, we are not sure when he will be done but he does such a thorough job we don’t really mind. Once Nana and Papa have settled into their new home, we will begin the task of taking out the old kitchen and transforming the room into our new lounge room. The current lounge room will be the kids play room with lots of space for them to make a mess and create masterpieces. It is all happening at the Merton Manor!


Above is Bev and John's new home. A small pergola roof has been added and there is still some work to be done on the yard. Above is also the beautiful slumped glass wall of the butler's pantry aka Heath's busy room. There is to be some strip lighting at the bottom of the glass so the texture will be look amazing. More photos to come as it all is finally finished! Oh and below is the boy:)


6th July 2010 The last few months have been extremely busy. The renovations are moving along and the Merton Manor is expanding fast. The new kitchen arrived today and will be installed in the next couple of days. All of the new appliances are in Henry’s room along with lots of other stuff and there is just enough room for his cot. He doesn’t complain though. Downstairs at Nana and Papa’s new pad, all the walls, doors and windows are almost finished. We don’t know the date of completion exactly but it doesn’t seem too far away.





		Birthday Girl Zoe celebrated her 4th birthday without a party or much fanfare. Instead she enjoyed the day with her mum and sister at the museum. We enjoyed hanging out with Dorothy’s cousins (the dinosaurs) and the girls loved the under the sea exhibit. They enjoyed looking at the skeletons of the crocodiles the most and Zoe almost put her head inside one! Her new favorite thing is her Tag reader – a talking pen that she can play games with and it reads books to her :) She even lets Lily sit with her and they are quiet for at least ten minutes at a time. Then Lily gets bored and makes Zoe yell.




Walking in no time... Henry is an amazing little guy. He is on the go all the time unless he is eating. He does sleep quite well but is an early riser. This is ok for now as the girls generally sleep though his yelling. He is standing up whenever he can and will climb the leg of anyone who stands still long enough. We have to warn Lily to move or her brother will climb her like a goanna up a tree. She runs. Henry is still not her favorite person though we are hoping this will change next year when Zoe is off to prep. For Henry, Lily is wonderful. Even when she is screaming at him - he giggles. Or perhaps he just knows already how to push her buttons. Lily's hearing is better and seems to have kicked the glue ear. She has another check up next month and we are hoping she doesn't have to have grommets. With the improvement in her hearing, her behavior is a little better too.

Lec is off to Perth next month for another baby expo. The Brisbane expo in June was one of the biggest yet and more than a little fun:) Her new job is keeping her very busy at night and on weekends and she is actually using her arts degree! Heath is in the midst of a very hectic stage with his business, working all day, most nights and at weekends. We do get lots of quality time with him though and he is not far away when Lec needs some help. Nana and Papa are still working hard at the garden centre with their antique shop. Papa also escapes the house two days a week to drive a bus. Life at the Christenson house is happy amid the chaos:)
Below are some pics from May and June...


Tuesday 27th April 2010 We are back... Some of you might have noticed the lack of recent news from the Christenson Clan. The main reason for this is Lec’s computer has had some trouble. Lucky we know someone who can fix computers though he has been so busy recently Lec’s poor puter has had to wait its turn.

Growing fast... The other reason you have not heard from us is we have all become victims of the Kindy Germ Factory. One by one, and for a while all at once, we have had all kinds of sickness visit us. The girls are old enough to tell us what hurts but poor Henry just yells. The little guy also popped out four teeth in a couple of weeks making him quite cranky at times. Last week he had his six month check up (nearly a month late due to being sick) and he weighed in at 8.8kg. He is a bruiser! Just before he turned six months he started pulling himself around the place in a commando crawl. Most of the time he is not interested in sitting up though he can for quite some time if the girls are entertaining him with their antics. Henry has an awesome voice and loves to imitate the girls’ screams. A couple of times he has stood on his own though he has not figured out how to pull himself up to standing which is ok with us for now.		As he get older the little guy is letting us know he is probably boss. Of all of us. He loves his food, being in his mum's arms or in a sling and generally moving about and making noise. Typical boy so far...

		Our little dancer... Zoe is back into her second term of ballet and Kindy. She missed a month of both as she couldn’t shake a horrible cold (after a tummy bug) that turned into an ear infection. We only made it to four swimming lessons last term and decided not to do swimming again this term. Earlier this month we had an interview with Zoe’s new headmaster. We were told that she will be doing swimming in the second week of term one when she starts prep next year. So it seems Lec will have to endure more of Lily’s screams during swimming lessons next term. Fortunately Zoe loves swimming and we don’t think she will have any problems with her lessons next year. Lately Zoe has had her share of meltdowns. She seemed to have missed the terrible two's and heading for the freak-out-the-parent-four's. Oh but the biggest news is we have the all clear from Zoe's hip surgeon. Two years now until her next check up. See her hip page for more information.
Our little gymnast... Lily is enjoying her kindergym lessons and loves the trampoline most of all. When our backyard is finished we may have to invest in a trampoline for her. She has no fear and loves jumping off things. Like the lounge. Or the last step on every flight of stairs she descends. Some Kindy days she really misses Zoe but other days she enjoys some Mummy-Lily time. It seems our second born is having some difficulty adjusting to having another sibling stealing her mummy. The clingy Lily only emerged when Lec went away twice last month for work. For a while there she was waking many times during the night for mummy cuddles. They were some very trying weeks. She seems to be on the mend now though she does prefer mummy to everyone else in her life. Saturday morning ballet is a trying time for Lily and Heath has to try hard to stem the meltdowns when Lec has some mummy-Zoe time. Henry loves his littlest sister but Lily doesn’t like him looking at her. 'Henee is looking at meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!' The sister rivalry has started early when one of Zoe's favourite boys at Kindy developed a fascination with Lily. Lily was totally indifferent to Holiday's attention but Zoe was very put out most days. Fortunately Holiday has moved to a new Kindy and Zoe has yet to form an attachment to another young lad. Good thing too we think. Heath may have to renew his gun licence sooner than we planned.
		Expos, hail and nappies Lec is really enjoying her return to paid work and last month went to Melbourne and Adelaide. While in Melbourne she was lucky enough not only to have dinner with a very dear friend but to witness some amazing weather. There was a rather large traffic jam after it rained and hailed in the city causing heaps of damage to buildings and cars. Adelaide was just hot though a very pretty city. New office and Renos Heath’s clients are keeping him very busy and his business is growing. Last month he moved into his new server room/office under the house and now Lec doesn’t have to keep the kids quiet when he is on a work call. The renovations have been moving along. The cubby is finished except for some painting and the new back stairs leading into the quad (small grassy area - see left) is getting a workout. They also need painting but will have to wait. The back yard is having a face lift starting this week and under the house is to become Nana and Papa’s new pad. After that... well that is for future news. Until then, enjoy some photos of our every changing family.



29th February 2010 Thank you to everyone who sponsored me and left me messages. Together we raised over $600 for the Royal Children's Foundation and for that I was able to start at the front of the pack, next to the elite runners. I was also next to a guy who was able to raise money from his friends if he wore his girlfriend’s bikinis. He looked very... unique! I was a part of a pack of about 50 people way out in front of the rest of the field ready for the start. A few minutes before the starter’s signal, the rest of the 5000 pack rushed forward... Ramblings on the 10km Tunnel Run... Oh my gosh there are a lot of people. I am so going to get trampled. If I keep left I should be right... left! There is some kind of siren that I assume is the starting gun and everyone surges forward. I am being passed by so many people. I wonder how many five thousand look like and if I will be last. Ok I just have to keep running, all the way – no walking! More people pass me as we run down a steep hill and into the tunnel. Apparently we drop 60 meters over two kilometers. I am feeling pretty good and my knee is not hurting much at all so I am hoping it will be fine once I am all warmed up. Ok I am warmed up. More people pass me and I am surprised that with so many people in the tunnel there seems to be room for everyone to go at their own pace. My pace is so much slower than everyone because they are all passing me, but I keep running. Thinking about my pace I figure that it is ok as I am not getting out of breath and can keep the two step – breath in, two step - breath out pace. Oh I wish I had gotten some sleep last night. I woke up at midnight with Lily at the end of my bed. I look forward to the day she can go to the bathroom on her own and let me sleep. Then Henry woke up for cuddles pretty much every hour after that. I am so tired. This tunnel is so hot and humid or maybe it is just me. There are massive fans that drown out my tunes and blow dust into my eyes but offer a short cool reprieve from the heat. My feet have pins and needles. I wonder why. One kilometer mark! That one km was so long. Only nine more. Well, 9.4km. We were told before the start they had to make it a bit longer due to the length of the tunnel. Meh. What is 400m? Unfortunately the extra 400m is up hill at the end isn't it? A lady with a pram passes me. A pram! Oh there is a guy dressed as Borat in a pink... what would you call that? Bikini? Mankini? He’s going fast and I lose sight of him. There is a kid running with his dad. That is so cool but I know that kid will beat me. He must be about ten years old – oh I feel so old and slow. There are security guards at every emergency exit. Must be so we can't just run across to the other tunnel and take a short cut. Just keep running... Ok two kilometer mark. There is a line up for the porta loos. Pass. There is a line up for the water table too but it is moving fast. No cups just small bags of water that I have to bite to drink. I grab two as I am so thirsty. I suck down the first one and run with the other for a while. I down the second one as I was told there are water tables every two kilometers. I feel bad about dropping my rubbish on the ground for someone else to pick up. The sound of people running on half empty bags pops loudly in the tunnel. Three km mark... At the four km mark there is no water left at the water table. Oh dear I am parched. Just keep running. Daylight! I see daylight! We run up an off ramp on the South-East Freeway, cross over and go back into the tunnel. It is about 645am and the day is actually quite cool and it’s not until I get out into it that I realize how hot it really is in the tunnel. Back down hill under the river. Somewhere along the way I see a sign saying I am 60 metes under the river. How cool. 5km mark and I am trashed. It is not even half way yet. I will make it but I am not sure in what state I will be in at the end. I walked a little before I came out of the tunnel and I my legs got cold. It was hard to get going after that and now I want to walk again. There are heaps of people walking now so I don’t feel so bad. A power walker overtakes me. Gee I wonder if there is anyone else left to pass me. So far there have been about seven prams pass me including one with two toddlers in it. There is now way I could push Zoe and Lily at the moment. I am struggling to lift my own feet. The pins and needles have spread from my feet up my legs and back, almost to my head. Just keep running. Or at least fast walking... Six km mark and the water tables are empty too. There isn’t even anyone at these tables so they must have run out a while ago. My gummy mouth has turned pasty. I see a guy with a water belt on. Why didn’t I think of that? I wonder if he would take a $20 for one. Just keep running... Seven and eight km marks and it is the same old tunnel now. No water tables and I see a bloke off to the side getting some medical attention. The kid and his dad that passed me earlier pass me again with the kid catching a ride. The poor little guy is so tired he is almost asleep on his dad's back. There is a lady in front of me with a back pack on. Ten kilometers seems a long way to run with a bag on and it is not even a hydration bag. I pass her and slow down and she passes me and this goes on until I lose sight of her ahead. Damn. The bag lady is going to beat me. More prams pass me. Great. Now I feel really slow. Nine km mark and I am so tired. I am wishing I actually managed a full hour of sleep last night. I wonder how the girls are treating Heath. Just keep running... Daylight again. Another fallen runner on the left and oh dear he is in a bad way. I am glad he is getting some help but I wish there was more water along the way. The last 400 metes are all up hill as predicted and I find some energy from somewhere and run the rest of the way fast. Just near the finish I run as hard as I can and I see 1hr27mins on the clock above me as I end the race. Not too bad considering I had not been able to do much training over the last few months. The last time I ran 10km my time was 1hr11mins. That was 18 months and one baby ago. If that was 10km, I’m done.
A huge thank you to my sponsors and support people itti bitti nappy co Linus Thomas Nancy Westerman Caitlin Guarna Kate Barltrop Beverley Christenson Karen and Alan Tru-Grit Labouring and Deanna Suey The Photobooth People and Matt and Nikki Kaylene, Michael, Hudson and Abby Mueller Jodi and Tas Osborne Christine S Mel Mac and Bela Mum and Dad Zoe, Lily and Henry and M'Heath Shelby and Sierra Kel, Rick and Gracie - thanks so much Kel;) See you Thursday.		Forgive the quality of the photos as I only had my phone with me. In this shot you can see the runners as they are about to move forward. Below is the entrance to the tunnel. I wish I was a better runner as there was very few people in front of me. Above is a very tired looking Lec at 530am.


	31 January 2010 *All grown up...* Our first born is now a kindy girl. Zoe had her first day on Friday and had a great time. Even though she has never spent time alone with anyone but family, she had no problem with Mum leaving her playing with all the toys. Poor Lily had an enormous meltdown when Lec and Zoe left though we are pretty sure it was because Lily wasn’t going in the Prado too, not because Zoe was leaving. Our second born was so upset she took herself off to bed and went to sleep for a few hours. By the time Lec arrived home both little ones were fast asleep, leaving mum a bit lost with her ears ringing in the silence. When Lec picked Zoe up in the afternoon her teacher described her as knowing everything about everything – ‘she is one of those kids’. We are still not sure what that means though Nana says to expect similar comments from now on.

Our little flower Lily is doing ok with being out of nappies. It is a bit hit and miss but we are hopeful she will get the hang of it before Heath and Lec lose their mind with the mess. Aside from that she is a very entertaining kid. Lec is looking forward to some quality time with her when Zoe is in kindy. Lily is starting kinder gymnastics this week and we are interested in seeing how she goes when she is actually encouraged to climb and jump off things. She seems to have amazing balance and rarely hurts herself doing crazy things, like jumping off the lounge, landing perfectly on both feet, over and over and over again. Lily’s temper is still quite volatile though the older she gets the easier it is to bribe... erm persuade her with things she enjoys doing. Zoe tends to bring out the worst in her sister and we know this will never change. Most days they do play well together with only minimal screaming.

	Henry Ruben Our little guy is such a delight. He is still sleeping quite a bit and is very happy. He had his four month check up last week and weighed 6.5kg which is right on average for his age. He just loves his sisters and has a special smile for each of them. Zoe seems to spend more time with him and is more interested in him than Lily – that is why there are lots of photos of Henry with Zoe and not too many with Lily. When Lily is with her brother, she is surprisingly gentle and we encourage this side of her as we don’t see it often.
New things to do... Along with Zoe going to kindy, the girls are starting swimming lessons this week, Lily is doing gymnastics on Thursdays and Zoe is starting on the path to her dream – to be a ballerina. She will be doing ballet Saturday mornings so stay tuned for some photos of her in her pink leotard if she enjoys the class. Lec is training hard for a 10km race through the Clem7 tunnel in the near future on a date to be announced, as well as the 10km at the Gold Coast Marathon in July. March sees her travelling to two expos and she is looking forward to getting away for a few days. Life with three little ones is really wonderful but sometimes even mum needs some time out.


		3rd January 2010 We trust everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. This Christmas was a quiet one here at Merton Manor until the girls discovered some rather large presents at the end of their beds. Fortunately it was at the decent hour of about 630am - way more decent than 5am! The peace was broken as soon as they figured out how to switch on their ‘crawling babies’. Lec didn’t check the awful noise that emitted from the demon dolls before bringing them into our lives. Luckily one of them stopped working and only Santa has the special batteries to make it go again. It will have to remain mute until next Christmas. The other one actually screams when the switch is off! It is possessed but the girls just love them. The devil dolls are excellent leverage for good behaviour though the they have spent some nights in our wardrobe. Aunty and Uncle Addy and Kimmy have bought and moved into a great unit in a resort at the Gold Coast. The girls love visiting as there is heaps to do including swimming in the pools and a giant play gym. Today they even braved the beach for the very first time in their lives. Lily was a bit worried about the water moving towards her but soon got the idea that it wasn’t chasing her. Zoe just giggled and squealed and enjoyed every minute of it. Heath takes them both to hang out with their Aunty and Uncle for most of the day and returns for nap time in the car. This leaves Henry and Lec home alone for some quality time.

	Little Man Every time we lift Henry out of his cot, he has grown. He giggles at pretty much everything his mum says, making her feel very special. As you can see he just loves his bath time. If he is a little grunpy after missing his afternoon nap, a bath always makes him happy. He is also now noticing the blurs that rush past him (his sisters) and is starting to reach out for them. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) they don’t take too much notice of him and let him sit in his rocker taking in all that is around him.



Grown up Girl At two years and one month, Lily has decided not to wear nappies anymore and so far is doing ok with using the bathroom like a big girl. Heath has converted her cot into a toddler bed and she loves the new freedom. However, rest of the family is not enjoying her bed time antics. The first night in her big bed she went to the bathroom no less than 27 times before she finally gave up and went to sleep. Zoe thought it was great and got out of bed almost as much as her sister. After a couple of late nights we decided to combat the nightly battle with an early bed time. This seems to be working to some extent and tonight neither of them got out of bed after lights out. It did help that they were both so tired after a trip to the coast for the day with Heath.


New Cubby House The monster cubby house has finally arrived. Below is the crate being unloaded in to the driveway with a crane. It weighed nearly a tonne. Uncle Addy has returned from his race in Malaysia and begun building. You can see the floor beginning to take shape. We expect it to take some time to finish and Heath is very glad Addy is a chippy as there is no way Heath could build it on his own. In other news The courtyard is also being installed. We will have a lovely patch of grass for the kids to play on when they get sick of playing in the cubby. Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen! Also, the new stairs connecting the back deck to the courtyard are expected to be completed by late next week.	12th December 2009 As you can see our man child is growing very fast. He still likes his sleep most days and every night, however he also likes to wake up at 5am. Every morning. He then goes back to sleep with Mummy until 7am most mornings. He is smiling heaps but still not doing much more than eatingg-sleeping-pooing. He is doing the best he can though, he is only 11 weeks old after all!




	Little Monkeys... The girls are getting along a little better lately. However it has to be said - Lily has an evil streak. As much as we dislike labels some days we think she really has hidden devil horns because she is so unpredictable. Lucky she is getting old enough to understand consequences and being sent into her room all by herself, sometimes deters nasty behaviour. They both generally love to hang out with Henry for a few minutes when they are in between games. It is only a matter of weeks before Zoe goes off to kindy and Lily will be with Henry and Lec for five days a fortnight. We wonder how she will handle that...



29th November 2009 That’s right; our baby girl Lily is two. Above is a shot of our little Picasso – that is (hopefully washable) texta all over her. All of the girls had great fun decorating the puggy house and themselves. After months of debate on what kind of birthday cake she wanted, Lily finally decided on Thomas. Lec was up until midnight the night before the party trying her best to make the cake look a little like the train man and Lily loved it. She especially enjoyed putting it in her face – see pictures below. It was a huge day for everyone especially the girls as we went to another birthday party (our neighbour Olivia turned five) in the afternoon. A big thanks... We would like to thank Nana who catered for the party and made sure we were all happy and fed; Aunt Kimmy for doing such a wonderful job of setting up, cleaning up and doing everything Lec didn’t have time for; and Papa who did what he was told by Nana. Life with three kids is very busy and the extended family makes life so much easier for all of us.





Henry Ruben Our little man is growing very fast and has weighed in at 5.3kg at his eight week check up. He still likes to sleep at night and even slept through his predawn feed this morning so his mum got a little extra sleep. Zoe and Lily continue to fascinate him except when one (usually Lily) is a bit rough with him. We are very glad we have a boy to play rough with her (when he grows some more) as Zoe can be a little fragile when Lily is in a mood. Zoe has grown heaps lately and is all legs at the moment. Lily is not too far behind in height and weight, about 60mm shorter and about a kilo and a half lighter. They still don’t look too much alike even though we are frequently asked if they are twins.

Another Happy Birthday! Speaking of twins, we attended our lovely friend’s first birthday this month. We were very happy to see Julia and Owen enjoying the company of so many babies. Shannon out did herself with Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle chocolate cakes. It seems neither of the twins were concerned that their cakes were not for them to eat. Our girls loved them; however we didn’t like Zoe’s behaviour for the rest of the day. Lily seems to be able to eat anything without turning into a monster like her sister.

Trip to Byron... We were so lucky this month to visit our friends from Melbourne who were on holidays in Byron Bay. Zoe and little Grace couldn’t keep their hands off each other and really enjoyed the short time they had together, as did their mums. We are hoping for a Brisbane visit from them early in the new year...

Noisy construction The renovations are progressing with a small slab poured under the house making ready for a room to be built for Heath’s servers and computer gear. Uncle Addy has been doing a great job jack hammering and even suggested he do a few more hours work to make another store room for Papa’s stuff and perhaps even a studio for Lec. The cubby house is due to land in Brisbane early next week so as soon as Uncle Addy gets back from his race in Malaysia he might help Heath and Papa put it up. Stay tuned for some photos of that. Think IKEA furniture construction multiplied by 900kg. The women of the house are looking forward to watching that!



	28th October 2009 We were told recently that babies don’t smile before six weeks. Ours do! This is our little guy at three weeks... Forgive us for the short article this month - life with three children certainly is busy! We will make up for it with a few more photos. This month... We have had NannyO and PoppyO stay with us for a couple of weeks. Also, Uncle Addy and Aunt Kimmy have finally arrived from the USA to stay for a while. The house is very full at the moment and the girls are pushing the boundaries to see from whom they can get the most attention. Lucky they have enough books and willing readers to keep them occupied while Mum is busy. Little Man Henry is growing so fast. He is over 4.5kg at one month of age and is growing out of clothes before he can wear them more than once or twice. We have been so spoilt by our wonderful friends and family giving us an entire wardrobe for the little guy; we have not bought any boys clothes. He doesn't care though and vomits on whatever is close. He smiles quite a bit but saves the cutest ones for 3am for his mummy. Sisters The girls are enjoying being big and big big sisters. They are fascinated with Henry and he loves looking at them. Especially when they dance and sing for him. Lily is loving playing with Zoe these days and most of the time Zoe is very patient and seems to enjoy playing with Lily. I hope Lily won't be too lost next year when Zoe starts kindy. Renos The renovations are proceeding. We have received the finally plans and are waiting on builders’ quotes to begin the extension and building in downstairs. The cubby house is on its way too...







27th September 2009

We will be back once we get some sleep!!!



2nd September 2009 This month has been very busy keeping the cheeky monkeys occupied while the outside of the house was turned into a construction site. As you can see the front fence has been completed minus the pedestrian gate. We are still working on the design for that as well as repairing the step and tiles. The fence gave us no end of grief due to the use of a level that didn’t work. No, I didn’t know they existed either. After the pillars were rebuilt (one rebuilt twice due to the concreters knocking it down) the fence was ready for rendering. It took longer than expected to paint everything but the end product turned out exactly what we wanted. The driveway was the least stressful and was finished in one day. We are now waiting on plans being drawn up to begin the next stage of renovations and for now we are just resting and enjoying the work so far. We are also enjoying the electric gate and I hope that it doesn’t have a finite life (gate opens, gate closes, gate opens, gate closes) as the novelty is yet to wear thin. Monkeys... The girls have been extremely healthy this month and full of fun and life (read - a total handful). Zoe has been offered a place at the local kindergarten and next year cannot come too soon. She shocked us the other night ‘reading’ a book almost word for word. This is probably the third book she has memorised and I know she is very ready for kindy. Lily is a parrot and repeats most things Zoe says and she will really miss her sister next year. Lucky she will have a new toy to play with by then... New addition Not quite yet! Only 4 weeks to go if I go full term but as the girls both came at 38 weeks I am hoping (oh my gosh am I hoping) that this one is not too far away. Lily is very interested in the baby in Mummy’s tummy though for the most part Zoe is a bit over it. She has changed her mind now and says the baby is a girl. I think the concept of a brother is way too foreign for her. We still have no names! Baby Christenson sounds good though...


			1st August 2009 New Wheels July was quite a big month in the Christenson house. Our new car – known as ‘the Prado’ - has arrived and the girls love it as much as Heath. Every time Lily goes for a drive she tells us all ‘I’m Happy!’ Heath has even taught them a song (Daddy’s Prado-ahhh-oooo-ooooo) that they sing when we are going out. It is even funnier when Zoe sings it as a lullaby for Lily! Lec is just happy that it will fit another baby seat as well as everything that is needed for three kids while out and about.
Renovations Start The first stage of the Merton Manor renovations has begun. The aging front fence has been demolished and a new block and wood fence is beginning to take shape. We are also having a new concrete driveway poured hopefully sometime next week. The next stage will begin once all the dust has settled from that mess! Housebound We have not left the house much this month. Not the swine flu but Lec had a chest infection then all the girls in the house caught a nasty tummy bug. On the day the machines began digging up the back and front yard, the Zoe and Lily spent it on the lounge, sick and miserable. They were too sick to even remember that TV existed. This is the first time either of them have had anything more than a cold and it was a bit scary. Luckily the next day there were much better and a few days later they were up and almost back to normal. Lec kept them at home until they were symptom free then hit the park for Playgroup. They were very happy to be able to run around and not feel sick. New Baby Lec’s tummy is growing at an alarming rate. We are now less than two months away from meeting our new Christenson and none of us are prepared. We have chosen no names and while this baby will be much loved, he or she might remain nameless for a while. Zoe likes ‘Fred’ which might be ok for a boy (she is sure it is a boy) but she has no name if it is a girl. We might have to ask Lily...



28th June 2009 Today our little Zoe turned three. We were joined by some lovely friends to help us eat the Wags the Dog cake. Lec knew Zoe wouldn’t care what it looked like, she was just happy to eat it! (or did she just rub it on her face like last year?) Thank you everyone for her great presents and birthday wishes. It has been an amazing three years with this little person and she has changed our lives for the better. Happy Birthday Zoe!!

1st June 2009
Another month has passed and we are closer to our new little stranger coming to live with us. You can see from some of the pics from the last ultra sound, that the baby looks like me (Heath) again.
The girls are gowing so fast it is hard to remember the little babies they once were (not too long ago!!)Both girls are having great fun playing together with many more cuddles than fights. They both seem keen, for now, at the thought of a new baby arriving at home. We will see how that one pans out.
She Speaks!
Lily has had a huge word explosion over the last few weeks. She has started to copy words and phrases and string three and four words together. Still a little hard to understand sometimes, but its very nice to see her little personality continuing to emerge. This week Lec took her for her 18 month check up and vaccinations. Our 'little' Lily is at the top of the growth charts for everything. During her needles she didn't make a sound. It was only once the doctor put a band aid on her leg that she said 'Ow sore!'. The lack of screams was kind of odd. She did make up for it that night though making Lec give her numerous cuddles through the night.
Still Working...
The new shop is going well for Nana and Papa, and the sales have got off to a good start. Its encouraging to hear the feed back from the regulars at the garden centre and so far, everyone has had lots of good things to say.
Vehicle Upgrade
Due to the impending arrival of the new addition to the family, we have been car shopping for a new family wagon. We will post some pics of the new Christenson mobile once we pick it up. Stay tuned.

Cooking at Nana and Papa's place

Queen Zoe

Not too fond of the paparazzi...

Princess Lily


		Tuesday 5th May 2009 We have been very busy this month. Just this week Zoe has grown up. She is sleeping in a big bed, using the toilet like a big kid and riding on her new Skuut. She is also throwing massive grown up tantrums rivaling her father's meltdowns. Not so little Lily is also growing up very fast. She is rather envious of Zoe's Skuut though she now understands it is too big for her to ride just yet (she only fell off once). So for now she is happy to follow Zoe around the house on her trike. New Toy For Heath that is. Stay tuned for photos of Heath's oil cooled computer.

	Bungaberg We also braved our first road trip. It took five and a half hours to reach 'Bung-a-berd' (Bunderberg) and we stayed a couple of nights with Lec's parents. It was the first time in over six years that Lec has been home and we were glad not too much has changed. The girls loved running around PoppyO's huge yard looking out for snakes. They even slept very well in their portacots and ate everything put in front of them. Dreamworld and some Special Friends... This month we were lucky enough to be able to spend a day at Dreamworld with our friends the Robinsons. Little Tav is a favorite friend of both girls and we enjoyed seeing the new baby, Darcia. Lily and Zoe enjoyed seeing Dorothy too as well as kangaroos and various other animals. It was Lily's first time at Dreamworld and she even stayed awake hours after her usually nap time without too much fuss.

Tuesday 14th April 2009
Thankfully our girls don’t really understand that Easter usually comes with chocolate. As a result we have had a meltdown free weekend. This week Lily has discovered that Zoe can read her books too. We have a great video of Zoe actually reading their favorite book to a totally entranced Lily. We have read it so many times Zoe can remember almost every word. (Thanks Nikki and Matt, dinosaurs rock!!)
The girls are getting along with each other better and better every day. Zoe wakes up asking for Lily most mornings and Lily loves to tickle and – get this – kiss Zoe’s feet! Zoe just laps up all her sister’s attention and when Lily kisses her cheek she says ‘aww Lily that’s lovely kisses!’ Sure there are regular tantrums and yelling but at the end of the day we marvel about the girls just loving being together.
Check out our new page - thanks Ablie!!

20th March 2009
Yes the newest addition to the Christenson Clan is due to arrive late September. As you can see in the 12 weeks scan, he or she looks just like an alien and yet again, nothing like his/her mum. Lec is feeling typically sick and the decision for this baby to be the final was made quite early in the pregnancy.
Hip Check all Clear
This week has been full of great news. Zoe had her 12 month check up after her major surgery and our wonderful surgeon has given her the all clear until next year. Zoe was such a brave girl and was happy to get a photo (x-ray) of her hip and only cried a little when she was being examined. Such a massive difference from our screaming, hysterical little girl last time we had a check up. She seems to have come through this trauma without affecting her too much in the long term. Zoe is still a very sensitive girl and as long as we stay aware of this, we can prepare her for everything and make all of our lives much easier - and quieter. Lily also had a check up and her hips really are perfect.
Good Sisters...
For the most part Lily and Zoe get along very well. Lily is now able to follow simple instructions and Zoe is beginning to tell her not only what to do but where to go! Unfortunately for Zoe, ‘shoo!’ is one direction Lily is yet to follow. Zoe has grown quite a bit over the last few months and seems to be all legs. Lily looks kind of like a hobbit next to her but she is also growing quite fast and may catch up with her sister soon enough.

10th February 2009
Happy belated New Year!
Our little monkeys are growing up so fast. For the most part they are good friends and that is the time the camera comes out. The other times when there is yelling involved are the times are when certain toys are hidden away.

Little Princess...
Lily is quite the model and she is fascinated with clothes, hats and of course shoes. We have no idea where this has come from... When she puts a dress on she has to go and show Nana saying ‘Ahh” as she pats her dress. She loves visits from NannyO and PoppyO as there is always a new dress involved. This month Lily has had a bit of a word explosion and she can say a few words such as 'up' (give me a cuddle), 'more' (throw me in the air again), 'off' (take this shirt/dress off) and 'no'. She uses this last one with Zoe quite a bit but it is more like nunununununo! Lily is a very loving little girl even though she can be quite rough at times. She is now big enough to tackle Zoe to the ground and Zoe can’t help but collapse in a fit of giggles.

Toilet Training
Zoe is no longer a baby and she is wearing knickers rather than nappies. The first day she was out of nappies we had a nappy wrapping and giving ceremony for Lily. So all of the nappies are now Lily’s, who is a baby and not a ‘big girl’ like Zoe. After a month it is still a struggle to make it to the toilet in time but she is doing very well. Lily is quite fascinated with the toilet too - unfortunatly. Recently Lec caught them in the bathroom, up to their armpits in the toilet with the soap bottle and bubbles everywhere. It was very hard to be upset with their behaviour when they looked so funny.

We wrapped all of the nappies and gave them to Lily. Zoe doesn't need them anymore...

Meltdowns
Zoe is still having the odd tantrum with the usual nearly-three-whinging-mode in full swing. Lily has even bigger meltdowns than Zoe ever had. The poor tacker gets herself so worked up that she is impossible to calm down. Zoe puts her hands over her ears is she is close by and we don’t blame her. Lily has such a massive voice when she is upset. There are times when we just have to wait for her to sort it out herself. She is still very much a Mummy’s girl though sometimes even mummy cuddles won’t stop the screaming.
Playgroup
We have joined two playgroups and we try to get to at least one a week. The girls love playing with other kids even though Lily is much younger than the other kids she loves to watch what everyone is doing.

The following are articles from 2007 and 2008.
The most recent are on the top so just scroll down to view the others.

26th December 2008
Today started at the now usual time of 5am with the opening of the girls’ first Santa Sack in Mummy and Daddy’s bed. We are sure this is to be the start of a long tradition and we are only too happy to play our part. Last night we packed up all the girls’ old toys to make way for the Santa stuff that didn’t disappoint in filling the house with lots of fun as well as packaging. There were no big pressies this year, except for the jumbo set of Lego blocks, as we don’t think the girls are quite old enough to enjoy a bike or trampoline just yet. Perhaps next year the pressies may not fit into the Santa Sack as well as they did this year. We are so lucky to be joined by NannyO and PoppyO for the next few days. The girls just love the extra attention (so does Lec!!). Today we also had a few close friends to help us eat the mammoth Christmas spread Nana prepared for us.
Pressies
Lec bought Heath some uber geeky headphones to replace the deteriorating ear speakers he uses every day for his computer. Heath totally surprised Lec and produced possibly the best point-and-shoot still camera on the market so check out the 2008 Images page for some of the 400 odd photos she took today. The camera did come with a 4gig memory card and it is there to be used right?
Walking at Last!!
Lily is finally walking. She started confidently trotting around with her penguin walk about a week after her birthday. She tries hard to keep up with Zoe and the fun they are having together at the moment is just amazing. Sure we are still having the odd meltdown by one or the other (rarely both at the same time) but most of the time the girls are just lovely to be around.
Early to bed
We are trying to combat the early mornings by having the girls in bed and asleep by 6pm. They are both much happier to be in bed at that time and go straight to sleep every night and still sometimes give us a morning closer to 6am than 5am. Even if they are awake early at least they are getting the extra time in the evenings to sleep. It is not like the early mornings will last forever. We hope...
Tomorrow...
is our second Christmas of the year that we share with Lec’s family and a few friends we consider family. We are thinking it will be a much bigger day for us all and we are glad everyone will be eating leftovers. Check out the 2008 Images page for photos tomorrow night. Providing Lec actually reads the instruction manual (as if) and figures out how to put the photos on the website.

We would like to thank everyone for reading our little articles and we hope you all stay safe and happy during the silly season. Merry Christmas!!!
All our Love

The Christensons...


Friday 7th November 2008 The girls are growing so fast that we are sure that they are both taller and heavier every morning we get them out of bed. Zoe seems to be all legs at the moment and Lily is not far behind in height. Lily has taken to walking on her hands and feet in an awkward looking fashion. She can traverse half the house like this and then drop down on her bum like it was nothing at all. Yes, we have it on video and intend to bring it up at a later date such as her 18th birthday party. Doesn’t every parent threaten that? Both girls are getting new teeth. Zoe now has two or three (no way are we putting our fingers in there to check again) of her molars and Lily has four or five on top and three funny looking chompers on her bottom jaw. Again, there is no way we are checking her teeth with our fingers either. Neither of them seem to be too upset with the teeth erupting except for the occasional yelling. That also may be due to other external factors such as not being able to watch ‘just one more Tigger and Pooh’. Lily still eats everything and is sleeping quite well. Zoe is occasionally sleeping past 7am and the 5am starts are getting fewer. We are none too fond of that stage. Kendo and Nappies Lec has started back at Kendo, and is enjoying it very much. It is great that she can get out of the house and mix with big people, and hit them on the head with a bamboo stick. The yelling and screaming is a good release and probably best done at training. Her nappy trip to Melbourne went very well and she is looking forward to the next expo in Adelaide early next year. Gold Coast Antique Centre The new antique centre is going well from all reports and Bev and John have made some sales already. Only small items, but the response from the customers has been very encouraging. Its a bit of a drive, but not too bad of a run now that the Tugan bypass has been finished. The garage (storage centre) under the house is starting to empty out and bits and pieces around the house seem to go missing from time to time as they get whisked off to be sold.... Just like the good old days. Busy IT Guru Heath is busy at work and is enjoying an eventful schedule. There are some exciting IT projects that he is working on and some new leads for more work all the time. He still gets to spend a good deal of time with his girls and they are all grateful. Especially Lec.

				Dorothy and the End to Screaming Mee-Mee's As you can Zoe is finally over her fear of.. well, everything and everyone. Lec was so amazed to see Zoe giving Dorothy a hug that she was glad to be wearing sunglasses. Zoe had a great time at Dreamworld with Baby Tav and Megan. See the photos page for more highlights.


				Friday 10 October, 2008 As you can see Lily is now upright. Four days after she figured out how to crawl, she was pulling herself up on the couch. Two weeks later she is pulling herself up on anything that stays still. Poor Zoe has to keep moving when Lily is close otherwise she is almost pulled to the ground when Lily tries to stand up. Good eating We weighed the girls last week and Zoe is an average 12.5kg at 27 months. Lily is 10.5kg at 10 months - near the top of the scale. They are both wearing size 2 clothes which makes clothing them very easy. We have no problems with either of the girls eating and Lily pretty much eats everything we give her. Zoe also gives Lily anything she does not want to eat. So everyone is happy! Travel... Lec is enjoying her new job and is off Melbourne next week. She is working for a cloth nappy company, setting up their stand at the Pregnancy, Babies and Children's Expo, and telling people about the nappies. The expo travels to most capital cities around Australia so Lec gets to see a bit of the country. It seems Lec's obsession with cloth nappies has paid off! New shop Beverly and John have moved in to a new antique centre in Miami on the Gold Coast. They are very excited to be selling again and the new premises look amazing. The centre is on the Gold Coast Highway in the middle of busy Miami so they should get plenty of people through the door.

Marmondid NannyO and PoppyO (Lec's parents) stayed with us for a couple of weeks this month. The girls loved all the extra attention. The day before they left PoppyO, Heath and Lec went to a rather large air show at the Amberley Air Force Base. Heath was very excited as it has been years since he has been to an air show and there were planes there he has not seen before. Lec was just excited to see the F1.11's in their final public performance before they are retired (they are NOT over rated Heath!) After over 2 hours of sitting in gridlock (everyone is south east QLD wanted to go to the air show) we spent five hours looking at static displays and some very cool aerial shows. It was well worth a day in the sun and a few hours of traffic.


Tuesday 16th September 2008 Yesterday we saw Zoe’s orthopaedic surgeons. In between Zoe’s hysterical screams we were told her hip was fixed. They are very happy with how the bone graft has taken and how the shape of the hip socket is now very close to perfect. This means we now have to visit the hospital for six monthly check ups probably until she is about 16 years of age. Needless to say we are very happy with this news. Months of splinting, surgery, more splinting followed by more surgery, a cast and further splinting – was all worth it. She probably won’t remember any of it and she will develop and grow just like every other girl her age. We still struggle with Zoe’s sensitive nature at times. We are not sure how much of it is innate - or typical for a two year old - and how much of her fears are the result of what she has been through lately. Most of the time she is a very happy kid and other times she is a screaming mess if someone she doesn’t know tries to talk to her. We are dealing with it the only way we know how – cuddles and ear plugs. Yay for the terrible twos...

Thursday 4th September 2008
Yesterday Zoe had surgery to have the wires removed that held her bone graft together. It was not a very nice day and we are all pleased it is over. This morning she woke up a little sore but by the end of the day she was back to her cheerful, Zoe self. She even managed a shopping trip to get a new dolly (Upsy Daisy) and happily played with her and Lily this afternoon. Nana and Papa looked after the pooing/eating/sleeping machine otherwise known as Lily yesterday while we were at the hospital. Yes Lily is very easy to look after as she does little else most of the time. She can also look pretty cute, as you can see above.
River Fire
River Fire was viewed from our back deck this year. Not quite as good a view as from the Church Unit or Nana and Papa’s old unit at Southbank but just as loud. The F111’s flew a practice run - directly over our house - the day before and scared our poor visitors (sorry Jett’s family!). On the night they were spectacular and Zoe stayed up an hour after her bedtime to watch. We were amazed she wasn't scared because many other things terrify her without explanation. She even seemed to enjoy all the noise of the jets and we could see some of the fireworks that went on for about half an hour at Southbank. The next night she asked ‘more loud planes?’ We explained that she has to wait until next year to see them again. This seemed to satisfy her and she went back to yelling ‘Nigh Night!’ She does love her bedtime.
Crawling - not yet
Lily is so close to crawling she is yelling in frustration. We expect her to get up and go very soon and Zoe better be careful. Lily knows what she wants and it is usually the toy Zoe is playing with. Most of the time Zoe will just give Lily the toy for some quiet – Zoe is none too fond of the racket her sister makes. Other times Zoe will take the toy Lily has and replace it with another toy, checking to see if that keeps her quiet. Some days all Lily wants to do is look at Zoe and if she gets close enough, pull her hair. We are sure there are lots of fun and games in our near future...
Sorry BoZo
Speaking of hair: Zoe this is a public apology about the job your mother did trying to ‘neaten up’ your woolly mop. Sorry kiddo. If we thought you would sit still and not scream the hairdresser’s down (and scare the entire suburb) we would get a professional to cut your hair. Until you can get close to strange people without breaking crystal you have to put up with your mother’s attempts to keep your hair out of your eyes.


1st August 2008 We have had heaps of fun last month playing in the garden when it was not raining. Nana and Zoe have planted some veggies and we hope to be eating them soon. Lily likes to hang out wherever Zoe is and seems to enjoy being outside. BrisVegas has turned on a perfect winter so far and we love the cool days. New Teeth and almost off... Lily has really woken up over the last couple of months. She has gone from sleeping all day and night to being awake for more than a few hours during the day. She still likes her naps most of the time and there have even been a few days when both girls had a nap at the same time. Lec didn’t know what to do with herself. Both girls still sleep 12 hours most nights though Zoe likes to sleep in on work days and get up before 7am on Heath’s days off. He feels very cheated and thinks she does it on purpose. Lily has discovered the joys of solid food and has taken to yogurt and fruit (among many other things) with gusto – or is it gutso? She has also produced her first two teeth without too much fuss and she is almost crawling. She spends lots of time on her tummy and is getting better at lifting her weight off the floor. It won’t be long now and we won’t know what hit us with both of them on the move.
		10km in 71mins. Lec ran her first race at the Gold Coast Marathon at the beginning of July. It was only 10km and she did it in 71mins. It was a minute more than her goal time but she was happy she finished running all the way and with no injuries. The local paper thought it was interesting even though the article they wrote on her was not. Lucky the photo they printed in the paper was not put on the website so you can check it out. The other Lec news is that she has landed a dream job that has her travelling to Perth in August with future interstate travel a big possibility. Heath still loves his job and girls are enjoying the extra day a week with him. It is really a great time in the Christenson home.


		27th June 2008 Today we celebrated Zoe’s 2nd birthday (even though her birthday is actually tomorrow... shhhh!). Three of her favourite friends and our favourite mummies came along and Zoe was very happy to be with all of them. We had loads of fun painting tee shirts, playing with bubbles, baloons and shaving cream. Lec made a Dorothy the Dinosaur cake and Zoe loved it. She even ate a little cake though it looked like she just smeared it over her face. It was a wonderful day shared with some very lovely kids and mums. Zoe played and giggled and went to bed soon after everyone left, tired and happy. And two...


		18th June 2008 Kodi has left us... Our poor Kodi died today. It seems the cancer he had a year ago came back again and there was not much anyone could do. He was an excellent guard dog, a wonderful friend and part of the family. He will be missed by us all.


13th June 2008 Yesterday Zoe and Lec went to Dreamworld for an early birthday present. As we live in Brisbane we are considered ‘locals’ and get in half price on certain days with Zoe. We met up with Zoe’s friend Jett and his mum and sister. Zoe played hard from 10 am till almost 3pm without any huge meltdowns. There is a toddler playroom where the Wiggles were played on two big screens. The room is filled with some very cool toys and Zoe could have easily stayed in there all day. She was so funny to watch playing with Jett and the other kids then all of a sudden she would hear a Wiggles song and break in to dance. She even got up onto the small stage and danced and sang. Of course no one thought to bring a video camera. Next time for sure! Lec managed to get her away from the Wiggles room and we saw some lovely baby animals and Zoe even tried to feed them. Well, she threw the food at them when they got close. We saw Dorothy the Dinosaur and Zoe loved looking at her from a distance but when we got close for a photos she put her finger in her mouth and would not look up for anything! At least she didn’t scream. We ended the day with some baby rides including the horse carousel that made Zoe squeal and giggle and made Lec almost puke. We managed to get to the car without any dramas and Zoe fell asleep before we left the car park.

			Entrepreneurs... Our dear friends Nikki and Matt, have started their own business. Check out their web site - it is unreal!


19th May 2008 Zoe is back to her old self. She is running around almost normally (she is still a little stiff) and is very happy. Her surgeon is happy too with the results of the surgery and is confident her hip will now develop normally. Of courses there are no certainties with this disease but the x-ray looks good and after the wires are removed (that were used in the bone graft) she will be monitored until she is all grown up. The surgery to remove the wires will be on the 3rd of September and she will be in and out in a day. The surgeon said she will be up and about very fast so we aren’t expecting it to slow her down at all. Now she is upright again we can see how much she has grown. She had a lot of fun today running around and being nearly two. Speaking of being nearly two, Lec has planned a small gathering of her little friends to celebrate and we won’t forget this year. And no one will tell her we forgot last year. Ever.
		Our Chubba Bubba Lily is growing so fast she is wearing the same size clothes as Zoe. It is kind of freaky except Lily is totally in proportion and well, totally beautiful. Today for the first time, she rolled on to her tummy from her back. Zoe watched and cheered with Lec and tried to roll her back to do it again. Lily didn’t mind as she is very much in awe of her sister. Zoe is even learning to dance for her and Lily squeals with laughter. Lec has gone all hippy (and taken the family with her!)and ditched the disposable nappies for cloth or MCN – modern cloth nappies. They come in some fantastic colours and Zoe gets to choose which colour she wears making change time almost bearable. Lily of course doesn’t care. She just chuckles and goos at everything making life very amazing at the moment...
Our chubba bubba 'lil Lily


7th April 2008 Yes it is gone! In its place is a splint called a Denis Brown. It is similar to the other Denis Brown she was in when she was little except the fool who made this one chose material that can’t get wet. So we have another six weeks of sponge bathing the little monkey. Taking the cast off was very traumatic but Zoe was pretty much over it all by this afternoon. Mum and Dad however will take a little longer to get over this day. The surgeon said Zoe will probably walk in about three weeks though she was cruising the coffee table this afternoon and stood a few times unaided. It is kind of like watching her learning how to walk all over again. She is not too fond of the splint and can pull it off if she tries. She was yelling ‘Off! Off!’ and doing her best to get rid of the thing today. We are sure she will get used to it or find a way to drive us mental trying to keep it on her.


	Little Lily The other monkey had her four month check up and vaccinations last week. She is a hefty 7kg and though we can’t remember her exact measurements she is on the 90th percentile for all her stats. Lily is so much like Zoe in that she smiles all the time as we hardly hear her cry. Lily is on a perfect routine and we can almost set our clocks to though she does sometimes wake at 630am and yells happily before going back to sleep. Unfortunately she wakes Zoe up and our day has to start then. We are looking forward to the day when we have a sleep in. Not this decade... Check out the new photos of both of them in the gallery.


22nd March 2008 This week we were lucky enough to have our cousins from Melbourne visit us. This is Thomas, five months old and Bethany who is nearly two and a half. Thomas is a very easy going bub and smiled a lot while he was here. Bethany is a great little mum who played well with Zoe. It was a real shame Zoe couldn’t run around with her but they seemed to cope ok with Zoe’s limited movement. We loved hanging out with Scott (Heath’s first cousin from John’s long lost clan in Melbourne) and his wife Narelle at night when the kids were all asleep. Their stay was far too short and we are hoping to get down to see them in October.
			Mamoth Tantrums Zoe’s tantrums are escalating. Her screaming has now reached a decibel level that would deafen a cat. Her vocabulary is getting better but she still can’t tell us if she is bored, in pain or sick of us (or just mum). We also noticed that she is teething as well. Poor kid. She is in a cast, nearly two and her mouth hurts. No wonder she screams. She can tell us she wants to watch TV (only the Wiggles and only one particular movie) so we do watch a lot these days. The time will come in a few weeks to wean her off TV but by then she will be able to run around so we don’t think it will be hard. She also sits on our lap at the computer and watches the Wiggles on YouTube. Has anyone else wondered if the Wiggles have some kind of subliminal messages? It would explain Zoe’s total obsession...
Zoe's Nana holding Thomas and little Bethany
			Zoe on the phone talking to Dorothy... or is it Papa?
Not So Little Lily Lily is growing so fast. It seems every time she has a sleep she wakes up bigger. She has dropped her night time feed so sleeps pretty much the same as Zoe. However, the mornings are more like 630am rather than 7am. We are working on the 7am wake up for both of them. Lily has been in her own cot in her room (across the hall from Zoe’s room) for about a month. We figured that they would have to get used to each other eventually. Lily can still sleep in the bassinette but those days are numbered – she is getting so big! She also sleeps through most of Zoe's yelling. New Job Heath loves his new job. Every day he comes home and says it was better than yesterday. It is part time so he also gets to spend heaps of time with his girls. Life is pretty good and will be even better when our little Zoe is back to her usual self.


	4th February 2008 Lily’s hip scan came back all clear. As a good friend said recently, there are not too many girls who can claim they have perfect hips. It is unlikely she will have any hip problems which is a huge relief. She is a funny little bub. Her smiles are amazing and even Zoe is captivated for at least a minute or so. She is spending a bit more time awake after feeds but still sleeps a lot. She usually wakes between 3-4am for a feed and is generally nice to her Mummy. She also loves the camera. Check out the new pics for a small selection of her cheeky smile. Zoe's Teeth Zoe is a picture of health although she seems to have cut 4 teeth in a short period of time. She has had some early mornings (6amish) that leave Mummy a wreck if Lily has had a late feed and she has only been asleep for half an hour. Zoe is only having one sleep a day and so far it is not at the same time as Lily’s sleep. So they tag team their awake times and Mummy is a little weary.


				Tantrums We have witnessed some amazing tantrums; one whinging session lasted 3 hours this morning. We could just say it is teething (and that probably is some of the problem) but I think her emotions are just too big for her body. I have discovered she is most happy sitting on the kitchen bench helping me cook. Which is great fun when Nana is there to hold Lily (and give me cooking lessons) while Zoe helps me make a mess. It is only a few weeks until Zoe has her operation. We are not sure how we will cope but like everything else life has thrown at us; we will deal with it all.

2nd January 2008
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Our Christmas was a lovely quite event at Bev and John’s place. Bev outdid herself again with the amazing spread and we were blessed to have the company of some good friends including Lec's mate Nikki and her fiancé, Matt.
Big Sister
Zoe is settling into the role of big sister quite well. This morning she wanted Lily to sit on the floor with her so she went and fetched Lily’s rug, sat down on it and pointed to the floor. We had to get the camera out – such a Kodak moment. Zoe has been particularly entertaining recently and we are having so much fun with her. She is usually quite patient when Mummy is feeding Lily though she can now say ‘TV’ and we don't don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing. She can sit quietly (like a zombie sometimes) watching TV (usually the Wiggles) while Lily has a feed. We have been waiting for her last molar tooth to cut but it was an eye tooth that made her cranky for a day last week. It looks like the other eye teeth are on their way too.

Sleeping Well
Lily is still sleeping very well. Lec has to wake her for some of her feeds during the day and most nights she only wakes once after her 10pm feed. We have seen a few smiles that looked like the real thing and not just wind. She seems like a very content baby even with the arsenic hours most evenings. She is in bed the same time as Zoe and we have the nights to ourselves. She has her hip scan on the 10th so fingers crossed we get the all clear.

12th December 2007
As you can see we have a new addition to our family. Lily Eve arrived after only 20 hours of labor and much less stress than her sister's arrival. She was 2 weeks early (thank goodness, Lec was so over it all) and weighed in at 3.2kg or 7.4lb. Her hair is a bit of a surprise and we think she is making up for Zoe’s lack of hair at birth. Lily is feeding well and sleeping heaps except at 4am a few mornings. This seems to be her awake time so Mummy has not been getting very much sleep lately. Of course we are all totally in love with her and think she is very beautiful. Even though it was only 17 months since Zoe was born, we have forgotten a lot about what life is like with a newborn.
Hospital Bungle
The hospital messed up (again) with Lily’s hip scan so we don’t know if she has the same problem as Zoe. Our GP has checked her out and doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong but we need to have an ultrasound to be sure.

Mini Models
This week both girls are having their photo taken to go into a coffee table book called Two & under. It is to raise money for Sids and Kids and this is the website explaining it all. Hover over the baby’s name to see a picture. Zoe’s friend Octavia is also in the book. The photographer, Brett Jacques, has kindly sent us a few photos of Lily to display on our site.
Nana and Papa Move
Nana and Papa have moved into the Church unit until it sells. We have had a few lookers but so far no offers close to what we want. It’s ok, we can wait a while and it is a lovely unit to live in apparently. We will be having Christmas lunch there with a few friends unless it is a scorcher then we may have to move the venue to our (air conditioned) house.
Stay safe in the silly season!

New Sister
Zoe has been good with Lily and very patient with Mum when they are feeding. It does help that Heath is home at the moment as Mummy doesn't think she would be able to cope alone just yet. Zoe seems to have grown up overnight. She understands everything that we are saying and has a few new words every day. She is spending lots of time with Nana and Papa who think she may be a genius. She has one more big tooth to cut and she is handling it quite well. We get a few whingy moments when something doesn't go the way she wants it but they are not too bad so far.

5th November 2007
Zoe loves her new freedom of the walking world and manages to stay on her feet most of the time. The look of surprise when she does fall on her bottom is quite comical. She likes the pram less so we have bought her some new shoes so she can walk anywhere now.
Nana and Papa's Place
Fridays the Monkey goes over to Nana and Papa’s for the night and Mummy has a rest (read – clean house). We miss her terribly though and Lec has had to restrain Heath from going to get her when he comes home from work a couple of times. She loves going swimming at Southbank with Nana and Papa and they usually have her home before her morning nap on Saturday because they are all very tired. |
Hip Check
We had an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon today. Another x-ray revealed that her femur is in a better position than it was a few months ago. Zoe’s walking has helped a bit and while there are no guarantees, she may not have to have a Femoral Osteotomy. The surgeon won't know until he operates and she will be having a kind of Pelvic Osteotomy called Salter's Innominate Osteotomy. (Check out this site and this one for more information). This is a pretty big surgery but our surgeon is confident that he can fix her little hip. It is going to be a tough 3 months. The surgery is booked for the 20th of February.
A Big Tooth
We also noticed today that she has cut a big tooth. She has been a bit out of sorts the last few days and very cranky today. Especially after the noob x-ray man made her cry hysterically. Panadol and cuddles fixed her right up though. Little trouper she is.

The Bump at 33 weeks - a boy maybe?

The Mighty Bump
5 more weeks till the new bub arrives. Lec has been very uncomfortable the last week or so and while she is in no hurry to have an early baby, she is looking forward to having her body back. She is healthy and pretty fit this time so we don’t expect any complications – like a 4 day labour.
Then again, who can predict?

27th September 2007
Heath has a new job and he likes it very much. More money, better conditions. His new toy at home here is a server. He and his mate Daniel are having great fun making a new forum called TechExchange. It is early days yet but it has lots of potential to grow rather large. They are working on ironing out the bugs at the moment and learning lots of new stuff along the way.
Up and At 'Em
Zoe is walking! It is so cool to watch her little penguin steps and the intense look of concentration on her face. Check out the new photos on the her page. She has been a bit whingy and clingy lately and while she love the cuddles, Mum is getting very tired by the end of the day as Zoe wants to be held a lot. She is starting to assert her little personality. Her tantrums are frequent but we find that she is easily distracted most of the time. Thank goodness as her yelling at us is horrible and we refuse to give in to her. Most of the time...
River Fire 2007
The unit is finished and on the market. The photos that the agent had taken look great. We are working on the page that shows before and after photos. We had a small get together for River Fire a few weeks ago. What a view! The dump and burn by the F1-11’s was quite spectacular as was the fireworks from the Storey Bridge that we don’t usually get to see. Zoe enjoyed it all and wasn’t the least bit sacred when the planes flew over. She also got to stay up late and was surprisingly happy about it all.

Zoe is off and running!

Zoe and her friends

Bad Hip News
Zoe had a hip check up last week too. Unfortunately the news wasn’t so good. She will have to have surgery in January or February next year. It is a pretty major operation and she will have to spend a week or so in hospital and 6 weeks in a spica cast. Probably followed by a few weeks back in the Denis Brown splint. We are understandably devastated and we wonder how we will cope with a new born and poor Zoe in a cast. However, we have been thorough worse and know we are surrounded by love and support to help us through this. Right now we are trying not to think about it.
New Baby Images
We had some pictures taken of the new bub last week. Everything is normal and bub is the correct size for dates so we expect to meet him or her around 11th December. The 3D photos are cool although everyone who sees them insists he/she looks like Heath. Lec keeps saying that we will have to keep having babies until she get one that looks like her. The morning sickness is still rearing its ugly head most days but Lec is either getting used to it or it is getting a little better. 'It’s only until December' she keeps telling herself on the bad days.

25th July 2007
Zoe had her first birthday on the 28 June and it kind of passed us by. The day did not start well as Heath and Lec both forgot and were only reminded when Nana and Papa arrived with a pressie singing ‘Happy Birthday’. Boy did Zoe give us a death stare! She knew we hadmissed something. We were quickly forgotten after that which is pretty typical when Papa comes over. Great parents we are to forget our only kid’s first birthday. Next year she will have a sibling so we will have to make up for it with a big party and some cake. Hopefully by then she is over her face swelling reaction to egg and we can let her eat her fill.
The Church Unit Update
The unit is getting very close to being finished. We have yet to decide what we are going to do with it but it does look fantastic. Below is Zoe enjoying the view.

How can anyone tell who he/she looks like?

6th June 2007
Church Unit
The tiling is going well and we have chosen a kitchen and bathroom to be installed soon. It is all going pretty much to plan and budget so we are all happy.
In Other News
Well the big news this month is that we are having another baby! Early December and hopefully not on Lec's birthday we will have another little monkey to keep Zoe company. Everyone is excited and Lec is still feeling a little nauseas but it will pass eventually.

The view in the balcony mirror at the Church Unit

This month (and May) have been a little huge. Our holiday in the USA was amazing to say the least and we have plenty of photos to bore you all. See the USA Trip photo page.
Zoe update
She started crawling the first night in the US. No commando crawling, just straight up on her hands and knees and off she went. Now there is no stopping her. Sometimes she crawls for a while and gets tired so reaches up with one hand for a hitchhike.
New Teeth!
A couple of days after we came home from the US, she was a little whingy one afternoon. When Lec was feeding her porridge the next morning, she smiled and she noticed two new teeth! Once Lec congratulated her she stopped whinging and has been her normal happy self ever since. It took her about 3 nights to settle back into her routine after we returned which is much better than the rest of us. It took Lec two weeks to start feeling human again.

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