Friday, May 30

Not a claustrophobic...

Before you all start thinking that I am a horrible mother who keeps her child locked up in a laundry basket - Beth *wanted* me to do this! This photo was taken last week... we had just been playing the "laundry basket & ball game" (where she puts balls in the basket and I pour them out)... and then she pulled the laundry basket on it's side and crawled in and got stuck... but didn't want to get out... she was so intent on getting *into* the basket even though she is too big for it! So she sat down and I put the basket over her... she looked so funny. And after a few moments, I went to take it off and she didn't want me to take it off!!! So I just let her sit under the laundry basket... which she did... for about 5-10 minutes... she was very happy just sitting there... very still. Probably the stillest I've ever seen her. I just did a couple of things on the computer while she sat there... and I knew she'd had enough when she started making noises to get her out... she is so weird.

Thursday, May 29

Running for miles in search of birds...

Yesterday afternoon, Beth and I went to the park... she played on the playground for about 20 minutes and then got bored of it and spotted some birds on the oval *way* off in the distance and made it her mission to go and run after then... We seriously walked around for about 15 minutes chasing birds... little ones that flew away... and those big ibis birds that just ran away. Beth thought it was the best fun! To entice her away from the birds ('cos we had walked *far* and we needed to walk back to the car), we engaged in a game of chasey, which had her in fits of hysterical laughter and shrieking... high energy... but lots of fun... Really made me laugh too.

This morning, Sharon and I ran the playgroup session which went well... it wasn't hard with the two of us and we had friends help us out too... We organised pipecleaner tissue paper flowers and paper plate fish for the craft activities and because the playdough was missing, we put out paint for the kids to play with (which attrached Beth like a magnet 3 times!)

Just a quick backtrack on our week - on Monday we went to KindyRoo and Beth is finally used to it and was happy to do most of the things and even went to the "Treasure Bag" to get her red pony (which has never done before because she has been scared). So I think we're making great progress.

Tuesday, morning we did some drawing and craft stuff and then played with raw rice (moving it from one bowl to another with a spoon). And then I had to do a spot of shopping at Chermside and Beth was being a pain and didn't want to shop. We spent 2.5 hours there, 45 minutes of which was spent waiting for her whilst she drove a Wiggles Car, an ABC van and a Humphrey car (at periodic intervals). It was hopeless walking past any of those ride on things, because the moment she saw one, she would want to get in it!

We're having afternoon tea later today with the Sharon and Gina (who just got back from Columbia (after spending 6 weeks there) with her two boys)... so I better go organise something for dinner now...

Tuesday, May 27

I have exciting news...

Just thought I'd merge my worlds of motherhood and scrapbooking for a moment and share some exciting news with you all - I am on the Creative Team for Nuts4Digi! Not too sure how many of you non-scrapbooking folk are going to really understand what this is all about, but to try and explain - when I digital scrapbook I use papers and elements found in kits... I used free stuff for the longest time (and still do!), but there are heaps of online stores where you can buy stuff as well. Nuts4Digi happens to be one such store ... and it is an Australian-owned and Australian-based one too. I applied to be on the Creative Team last week and on Sunday found out I got a full time position... so now I get to have access to the kits in the store and make gorgeous layouts/pages using the kits. In return, I post my layouts in various galleries in the digi-scrap community and promote the kits so other people can seem them and want to buy and use them. I hope that makes sense... In the scrapbooking world it is a bit of a big deal being on a CT.. and in my mind it makes me feel like I must be finally getting good at scrapbooking if other people like my work enough that they want me to help promote their stuff.

Anyway... I haven't posted any LOs on this blog for ages, because I am now going to be making a conscious effort to be posting my scrapbooking stuff on my digi-scrapping blog - which you can find here -

Capturing Moments, Preserving Memories...

I've put some of my latest layouts on there...

Saturday, May 24

Random Moment...

This is little B sitting in her "car" yesterday afternoon... she was a bit hungry and just took the bread from me and went and sat in the box by herself -

Eating Bread Eating Corn

Cheeky...

Beth has figured out how to open the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. I had my suspicions last week when a couple of times I found her half way up the stairs when I thought I had shut the gate... but we witnessed her in the act today. Plus, at one point, Phan and I were both downstairs and next thing you know, we hear her proudly calling out "*UPSTAIR!*" whilst she was halfway up the stairs... cheeky... she thinks she is so clever and is very proud of herself.

Tinka Tinka Star....

Last night we had Vinnie and Koh come over to watch the soccer (a friendly game between Australia and Ghana)... Beth was nervous at first at having them over, but quickly settled down and started being ridiculously funny and was showing off and dancing and giggling at Vinnie a lot. She ended up staying up until 9pm (which is really unheard of) because she was so excited at having them around. Before she went to bed, she brought her "Baby Touch" book over for me to read to her and the last thing in the book is the "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" song. After I read her the book, we went upstairs to get ready for bed and as we were putting on a jumper and socks, Beth started singing "Tinka Tinka Star"... She did it a couple of times and it was sooo cute!

She's also started saying "It's stuck" too when she can't get things out that she wants (like facewashers from the drawer, or brooms from the cupboard).

And we have 2 new favourite game , the first invovles putting her in the computer desk chair and spinning it around. The second involves, putting her in an empty nappy box and pushing it around like a car and making it bump into things (not a game for the non-energetic... it's hard work!)

Thursday, May 22

Apologies...

Just sending some apologies to the grandparents for the lack of webcam calls this week - Phan has just switched over to a new roster at work and he's had to work late most days this week... which means we've had to go and pick him up from work later and has pushed the whole dinner/bath routine out of whack a little bit... plus Beth has been mega-tired. I think the chickenpox vaccine has made her a little tired... and she also has a bit of a rash on the back of her neck that she keeps scratching and is making her a bit irritable (I think is a reaction to the vaccine). Tonight we went and got some calamine lotion to sooth the itchiness for her after we picked up Phan from work and the poor thing fell asleep in the car (and it was only 7:30pm!) Managed to wake her up to have her bottle of milk, but she was pretty drowsy and out of it.

Nothing else too exciting going on here... Sharon and I are going to be stand-in playgroup coordinators next week when our regular one goes away on holiday, so that will be interesting (never thought I'd be helping to run playgroup!)... and I have started a new routine with Beth where we try to do something new and creative every afternoon. So far we have -

- Played a game where we put balls (we have 4) in the laundry hamper and then I pour them out and Beth shrieks with delight and runs around after the balls and puts them back in. (Simple pleasures - but really, it's quite fun, for her and me!)

- Made a cubby house using 3 chairs and a large sheet.

- Made an oatmeal slice (that surprisingly, was quite yummy!)... This may sound like an easy activity, but involves her emptying my baking cupboard of every baking tin/cookie cutter I own and then emptying my utensils drawer and then making a *HUGE* mess on the floor involving flour and sticky mixture. And she loves eating raw dough mixture. It's a fair bit of effort... but I like to think it's worth it.

- Listened to different music (not just kids songs) and danced together. (I have discovered she likes to mosh to rock music!)

Amongst all this, we have also squeezed in a couple of visits to the park... done our KindyRoo class, gone to playgroup and had Em and Sharon come over and visit ... so we've been pretty busy... looking back on this list, I'm not sure how we've managed to crammed all of this in and it's not even Friday yet!

Looking forward to having Phan hang out with us all weekend... bring it on!

Tuesday, May 20

The Art of Making Scones

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago (7th of May) when Beth and I were making scones one afternoon... (yes she is in daggy home clothes and she has bed hair, but she is naturally adorable isn't she?)



Tough Cookie...

Took Beth to have her 18 month immunization shot today... only one needle (chicken pox vaccine) today, which is a nice change to the 2 or 3 needles we've had to have each time we have previously gone. Beth took is amazingly well... she didn't even cry. The needle went in and she just made a single uncomfortable shriek... and then that was it... no crying, no tears. She's a little tough cookie. Now we have no more needles until she is 4 years! Yippeee!

After her needle, we went to Chermside... I thought Beth deserved a babycino after being so brave... so I had a mocha and she had a babycino and a lamington... She is just like her dad... she basically inhaled the lamington, she loved it so much! Then we got sidetracked by a Humphrey.B.Bear car which entertained her for 20 minutes, until I forced her to leave (and she caused a scene in the process).

We had a dodgy night last night for the first time in ages... Beth's been sleeping really well at night for the last fortnight, but last night she decided to wake up 4 times... I don't know what her problem was, but I was knackered this morning... and so was she, When she woke at 5:40am, I ended up sleeping with her in my arms on the floor... and we slept in until 8am... (Poor Phan had to walk to work).
And then we had a bit of funny business at her lunchtime nap where she kept waking up ... first time because she had a soiled nappy, and then was happy and chipper for about 10 minutes and then hit a wall and became really gurmpy... and then she tried to go to sleep again and woke up 10 minutes later (I think the room was too hot... so I put on the airconditioner (it's only hit a 23 degrees max here and I still need to use the aircon because it gets sooo hot upstairs in the bedroom) and then she finally settled down for a long sleep.

Monday, May 19

Uneventful weekend...

I've been slack with the blogging... we had an uneventful weekend, 'cos Phan was working...

Saturday - we didn't go swimming as we have the past 2 weeks ...nor did have our weekly dinner outing to Trangs to have pho... but instead went to Toys'R'Us in the afternoon (after Phan finished work) where Phan wanted to buy Elizabeth a red car (don't ask... I managed to talk him out of it!) and then we had bbq for dinner (which was a funny experience because it suddenly decided to pour down with rain for half an hour, the half hour Phan was outside cooking the food!)

Sunday - went and browsed Chermside in the afternoon... I had a Target voucher, so bought Beth some more winter pajamas and a couple of long sleeved tops. We also spent 20 minutes at a Wiggles carousel ride thingy... Beth wanted to drive the big red car... it entertained her for ages! We also had heo quay (roast pork) for dinner... I've had my fix now... don't need to have any more for a couple of months now!

I might be a bit slack on the blogging this week, 'cos I have a few things in the pipeline that I want/need to do. I also am taking Beth to have her 18 month immunization shots tomorrow, so that will not be a good time.

Friday, May 16

At 18 months...

Fun and Silliness
I wake in the morning to the heart warming sounds of "Mumumumum".

She asserts her independence and is her own little person, but she still loves kisses and cuddles from Mummy and Daddy.

Reading will occupy her for hours. Monday the Bulldog is a firm favourite.

Dancing is a fabulous way to burn energy (especially to the tunes of Hi5, the Wiggles or the Neighbours theme song)

Dead leaves, sticks and rubbish are treasures that are worthy of being given to Mummy.

She imitates everything we do, monkey-see/monkey-do style. For example - I gave her my deoderant stick to play with as I put my moisturiser on this morning and she pretended to put moisturiser on too by rubbing the deoderant stick (with the lid on) all over her face.

Her laughter is infectious - tickles and cookie monster kisses will always elicit a giggle.

She points at things she wants that out of her reach. Often at things she is not allowed to have. Like chocolate almonds. Strawberries and cream lollies. Or pizza shapes.

She helps herself to stuff in the fridge, when she manages to catch it open. Again, often to things she is not supposed to have. Like salad dressing bottles. Or unwashed fruit.

Water is her first love. She could swim all day, or have a bath all day. Or sit under the shower. Give her a bowl of water and sit her outside and it's instant entertainment.

Eating is also her speciality. She consumes an amazing amount of food for a little person. Loves fruit, meat and carbos (esp pasta and rice). Will eat vegies, but need to mixed it with any of the previously mentioned foods or smothered it in cheese.

She is a little quirky - will randomly do somersaults... sometimes will walk along and then squat for 5 seconds before standing up and continuing on her way.

Elizabeth - The last 18 months have been an amazing journey. You have brought so much joy and love to our lives with your presence... I have never learnt so much, had so many sleepless nights or worried as much as I have over the last 18 months... but I have never loved and laughed as much before either. Every moment has been worth it. Keep on being you... we love you just as you are. xo

Wednesday, May 14

Candid Shots

Uh Oh Her Natural State Dreamy Tulle Sweet Innocence




























I think I'm starting to get the hang of this photography gig... I'm particularly happy with the 2 first shots and the shot from yesterday (the Angel-Grandma photo), because I've captured the catchlights in her eyes (something I've not had much success in doing in the past) and the photos are tack sharp (this varies 'cos I have shaky hands... but I'm getting better)... Still needing to work on the post-processing side of things though ... there is no consistency in these shots, 'cos I was experimenting with some different manual processing...

On a different note - 4 times now (since yesterday), Beth has woken up from her sleep or nap and instead of crying/shrieking/yelling for me to come and get her, I hear "Mumumumumumum" coming from her room... Just makes me go "Awwww..." when I hear her actually calling me and makes me feel so loved and needed.

Tuesday, May 13

Hi Angel-Grandma...

Looking Up
Hi Angel-Grandma... I know you're looking down on me and that you've seen each of my milestones and are amazed at how much I've grown up over the last 18 months. Thank you for being there to guide my little steps and to help my Mummy out along the way... Sending you lots of heavenly kisses and hugs... Beth xo

Monday, May 12

We Have A New Game

New Game Called "Let's Touch Mummy's Lens"
I was doing a bit of photoshoot with Beth in our bedroom today and towards the end of it, she decided to play a game called "Let's-Try-And-Touch-Mummy's-Big-Lens"... a game I can't say I'm particularly keen on playing since the lens she is trying to touch is my somewhat expensive 24-70mm L series. However... in between the dodging to prevent her from touching the lens, I did get this fun shot which really just captures her personality (cheeky!) and how much fun we were having...

Oh - and I have just realised from examining this photo that Beth is getting another tooth... the matching bottom right tooth we have been waiting on!

Sunday, May 11

She has a sixth sense...

My special girl...
I had only just finished writing that last blog entry, when Beth came up to me and tugged on my leg and wanted to go to bed. I brought her over to Phan so they could exchange goodnight kisses and then as I walked past the buffet, she pointed to the picture of my Mum. I have a mini-altar set up in memory of Mum and the photo has always there... but today is the first time Beth has ever pointed at it. So I said to her "Yes, that's Grandma... we wish her a happy Mother's Day too as well." And she nodded, then pointed at the photo again and then she gave me a spontaneous kiss... And at that moment, I had to hold back the tears as my heart just melted at the intuitiveness of my baby girl... that she knew I had been thinking about my Mum and she knew I needed a kiss. How I adore her so much... I never cease to be amazed by the way she has changed my life and my heart with her little, yet profound presence.

Thank you my baby girl - you are the best Mother's Day present I could ever ask for.

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there. Hope you had a lovely day.

My mother's day started in wonderful fashion with Beth sleeping through the night and then sleeping in until 7:45am! Just blissful being able to laze in bed that long. Then Phan and Beth gave me a card... Phan actually gave Beth the card so she could give it to me, but she loved the card soooo much that she made off with the card and wouldn't let me read it... it took about 15 minutes for her to put the card down so I could actually read it!

We had a low key morning and in the afternoon went out and bought part 2 of my mother's day present. Part 1 of my mother's day present was my new Manfrotto tripod which I got last week and I have used a couple of times, but am waiting to get a wireless remote trigger so I can use it more. Part 2 of my present is the coolest most functional compact bbq I have ever seen. I've been wanting an outdoor gas stove burner ever since we got here to Brisbane because our townhouse has electric hot plates and I miss cooking with gas. Anyway, we accidentally came across this compact bbq which is perfect for cooking bbq food for the three of us, but also has 2 high powered gas burners which can be converted and used as a double burner gas stove. It is sooo very cool... and I am so excited because we can now have bbqs (which we really enjoyed doing while we were in Noosa) and also now I can make pho (beef noodle soup) and ruoc (cotton wool pork) and do all my frying and stuff outside. Can you tell I am excited? Tonight I made thit nuong (bbq char grilled pork skewers) which we had with rice and salad... it was delicious. I'm going to have leftovers tomorrow with bun (rice vermicelli) for lunch.

Here are some shots of my new (practical) toy (I also love how it matches my *red* KitchenAid) -

















Here's Phan cooking me Mother's Day dinner... (Although I did have to do all the prep... but I'm not complaining!) :)

















I was spoilt this year... ;)

On a separate note... I'd like to send extra special mother's day wishes to Phan's mum - thanks for everything you do for us, from the cooking and cleaning when we come to stay and visit, to all the webcam phone calls we regularly have... we appreciate all you do and we love you heaps! And special heavenly mother's day wishes to my own Mum - I still miss you everyday and now that I am a mum too, it makes me even more aware of just how special you were and still are to me.

Saturday, May 10

Who Needs A Tutu?

Who needs a tutu?

I bought some tulle on Friday with intentions of making a costume dressup tutu for Beth to play in (and maybe for Mummy to take some cute photos?)... I took it out this morning to try and measure it against Beth and figure out how I'm going to execute this. As I tried to hold it up... Beth thought it was hilarious to make off and run around with the tulle... jump on it... roll around in it... get under it... wrap herself in it... And all other manner of ridiculous things. It was all very funny... and I'm now beginning to wonder if I should just bypass the whole tutu making project and just let her play with the tulle as a singular piece of fabric since it provides so much amusement as it is...

ps - Blog header change because I didn't really like the last one and I wanted a new one with an "autumn" feel since we are well and truly into autumn now. Song change because the Sarah McLachlan song kept making Bao cry!

The wheels on the bus go round and round...

The wheels on the bus go round and round...
And here we have "Bus Driver Beth"... having some fun on the big bus. She loves driving... must get it from her daddy... She could sit there for ages and drive... Notice it also has a gear-stick?! How cool is that? They really know how to build great playgrounds here in Brisbane!























Chasing Birds...

I have mentioned before that Beth has a thing for chasing and running after birds... normally those little sparrow birds or peewee birds, although she has often tried to run after big scary black crows and I have had to stop her.

Yesterday, Beth and I went to the "bus park" (we call it the "bus park" because it's the park with a big bus to climb in and drive... photos of the bus later)... and whilst she was busy climbing the playground equipment, she spotted a big "exotic" bird... I don't know what these birds are called... but I've seen quite a few these birds around the Brisbane metro... Anyway... Beth started excitedly pointing and talking from up on a platform she had climbed up onto ... and next thing you know... she's climbed down and she's off and chasing the poor bird... Obviously, big birds don't scare her one bit. Lucky it was quick and she never caught up with it...

Thursday, May 8

Thoughtful...

Thoughtful
Still playing around with my pp and trying to get a vintage-type look on the photos....

Wednesday, May 7

I'm Not Impressed Mummy...

Not again Mum...
She has PKS (Photographer Kid Syndrome) perfected to an art. She refuses to look at the camera... Most of the time she pretends I'm not there and busies herself with something more interesting... like picking up bits of grass or dirt... (of course grass is more interesting than mummy and the camera). Or she runs away from me and I end up sprinting after her only to have her switch directions when I catch up with her and have the camera posed. If you could only see how many photos I have of her back! So when I asked her to "Look at mummy!"... this is the charming glance I got.

Playing in Golden Fields...

Playing in Fields
Well actually... not quite a field.. rather an oval that is wilting and dying from lack of water.... but you can't tell can you? :) Took this photo today when Beth and I went to the park this afternoon. I tried some different post-processing on the photo tonight. Have no idea what I'm doing, but I think I'm happy with the effect and proud of myself 'cos I did all the tweaking manually by hand without the aid of actions.

Today has been a activity filled day at home mostly... this morning we had to wake poor Beth so we could take Phan to work (7:20am... she is sleeping in now that it is no longer holidays!) And then came home, had breakfast (apple, cinnamon porridge which is really enjoyed) and did some laundry... while I was hanging out the laundry Beth found a bamboo stick (a really long one... about 3 times her height) and started wielding it around and whacking the leaves on the trees in the backyard! After that we did some arty-crafty stuff... did some gluing of coloured paper onto paper plates... and this was followed by some lunch and then a nap. She had a nice long 2 hour nap and when she woke up she had a little snack of fruit and then we made scones together (that was interesting fun! Very messy... and Beth quite likes the taste of raw scone dough!). So we had a yummy afternoon tea together... and then we wandered out to the park, where she ran around the oval like mad woman for ages... and then played on the playground. She knows how to climb up onto the equipment to get to the slippery dip all by herself now... little monkey! Then back home again so I could make dinner. Phan worked late until 6:45pm, so we had to go pick him up and Beth was sooo excited to see him (she didn't see Phan last night because he had a dinner to go to and this morning she was too sleepy to get excited about seeing him)... she was very smiley and glad to see him... I think she stayed up an extra half an hour tonight just so she could spend time with him (and also so she could make him read "Monday the Bullfrog" (a book shaped like a frog that she is totally obsessed with at the moment... I must have read it 10 times to her today!)

Finding Beauty...

























One of the things I have discovered about being a mother is the ability to find amazing beauty and joy in the most unexpected things. Like seeing Beth first thing in the morning, with her crazy bedhair and thinking she is the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. Or looking at her scribbly drawings and thinking they are wonderful masterpieces. Or looking at this bunch of leaves.

The day before we came back to Adelaide, Phan, Beth and I went to the park. Beth wasn't interested in playing on the playground on this particular day... she just wanted to potter around on the grass... and then she discovered fallen leaves on the ground ... She walked around and picked them up one at a time and brought them to me. Yes - the leaves were dried, dead and a bit ugly... but she found such joy in giving me each one of these leaves, that I just couldn't bear to just throw them away after all the effort she gone through to collect and give them to me. So I took them home with me and took a photo of them before I scattered them in the garden. So to the average person, this is a collection of ordinary, ugly leaves. But to me they represent my baby girl growing up. And demonstrates the unconditional love I have for her that puts a rosy tint on these leaves and makes me treasure them as a precious gift that a daughter gave her mother.

Tuesday, May 6

Vocabulary and other funny little things...

This is what Beth can say at the moment (it's not a very big list, but we're working on it) -

Mum (often said in fast succession when she is complaining about something or wants my attention, so it sounds like "Mumumumumumumaaaaaaa")
Daddy (sounds so cute when she says this ... sounds like "Dadeeeeeeeee")
Ta Tooo (Thank You)
Plee (Please - I think she said this, this morning)
Sit (often said whilst standing in the bath)
Up
Down
Upstair (she learnt this one today!)
Aaah (Vietnamese way of giving respect)
No Deal (courtesy of Phan... she actually does the arm crossing movement to match and says it frequently while watching the tv show "Deal No Deal"!)

She nods her head when she wants stuff and shakes it when she doesn't (and pushes you away too, just in case you didn't understand she doesn't want it!)

She makes a lot of noise for such a little person and knows how to point when she wants something and chats away incessantly... so I'm hoping more words start coming now.

She reached a mini nougat bar that was sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter the other day and brought it down and gave it to Phan to open for her! She is sooo cheeky!

When something is finished, she puts her hands to the side as if to say "All done/All finished"

Yesterday she learnt how to catch a ball... Phan and Beth were throwing/catching the ball for half an hour yesterday... so much that she worked up a sweat!

It amazes me how she has learnt to communicate more in a way that I can understand... (Although I still often get the "Ahhhhh!" with a sound of indignation/consternation when she wants get my attention...)

Noosa - Day 3

The last of the Noosa entries... just thought I should write a little bit about our last day in Noosa to kind of explain some of the photos in the slideshow...

We got to sleep in again on our last day in Noosa... Beth slept in until 7:30am again... her timing was perfect... made us really feel like we were on holiday. After a quick bite of breakfast, we decided we would wander down to Noosa National Park, which was only a 5 minute walk from where we were staying. There is a boardwalk (which was a bit bumpy for poor Beth and her stroller, although she didn't seem to mind at all) which goes most of the way to the national park... When we got to the national park, we picked up a pamphlet and for some bizarre reason, we thought walk the 30-45 minute trail... which turned out to on a rough trail, bumpy and a bit scary because it was all dark because of the tall trees. After about 5 mins, we decided to turn around... and then we discovered there was a coastal walk that was suitable for strollers and wheelchairs... so took that walk... it was a beautiful walk... the beautiful ocean views on one side and gorgeous green national park greenery on the other side... It was a bit hilly in parts (and boy do you get a good workout pushing a stroller uphill!) but it was worth the walk for the stunning scenery! We probably walked for about 1/2 an hour before heading back. Once we got back it was time for some water fun... more pool time... lunch, nap and then beach time! (The photos in the slideshow pretty much tell the story here). When we got back from the beach, we had another little dip in the pool and then we just chilled out and had dinner. Dinner that night was lamb chops and sausages... and we had a kookaburra come and visit and eye off our food. We tried to give him some bread.... but he just looked at it as if to say "Nope... that doesn't interest me." When our food cooked, we gave him a bit of sausage which he picked up and banged about first (to make sure it was dead I guess) before eating it. Then we tried to fool him with another piece of bread, but another kookaburra swooped and stole the bread! It was pretty cool getting up close with the wildlife like that.
After dinner, Phan had a cornetto, which Beth accosted (again see slideshow for details) and refused to let Phan eat any of it... it was hilarious how much she loved that cornetto! And that was pretty much the end of our holiday. The next morning, Beth got up really early (6am!) and was sooo tired, but didn't want to go back to sleep. We left to head home at 9am and Beth crashed and fell asleep within 10 minutes of us leaving and slept pretty much all the way home.

So there it is - our holiday in a nutshell... Noosa is a great place to visit, I'd highly recommend it!

Our Noosa Holiday...

I finally did it... went thought all 400+ photos and processed the ones that I thought told the story of our holiday.... Enjoy!


Monday, May 5

Thankful for our tomorrows...


I have just been reading Sheye's website (http://sheyerosemeyer.blogspot.com) and her latest post had me with tears in my eyes... so poetic... and so heartbreaking... and it made me pause and realise -

That my baby girl is growing up. Fast. And as much as that sometimes makes me sad, I am glad. Because it means that she is getting the opportunity to go from baby to girl... The opportunity to grow up and experience the wonders of life. And I am thankful for that. .

So Elizabeth, my beautiful girl... I love you so much...
Keep on growing and learning everyday. Chase those bubbles with childish innocence... and may those carefree moments stay with you always...

Saturday, May 3

The Swim Ring...


We bought this swim ring on the second day, when Beth started to try to assert her independence and wanted to swim by herself. It has an inbuilt lycra top (rashie) built into the ring, which zips up at the back... so it is impossible for her to fall out of the ring. She didn't like it putting it on the first time (thought it was really weird), but once she figured out that it kept her a float, she loved it and now she recognises and knows it's time to swim when she sees it. We had to search several shops to find this ring, but it was the best money ($35) we have spent... she just loves swimming by herself so much... and seeing the pure joy on her face when she swims is just so worth it!

We actually went swimming at the Hibiscus Sports Complex at Upper Mt Gravatt this afternoon (Saturday) when Beth woke up from her nap. It's only about 20-25 minutes away and they have a heated indoor pool... so we all had a good swim for about 30-35 minutes... it was great fun! Beth just paddled around and even floated on her back (she loves lying on her back ... it's like she's completely chilling out). She giggled and laughed when I swam and popped up from underneath the water and she loved trying to swim to us and trying to swim away from us. We might start making this a regular weekend thing we do together...

Friday, May 2

Our Noosa Trip - Day 2

Beth slept through the night and we all got to sleep in until 7:30am! That is generally unheard of... so you can only imagine how happy and relaxed Phan and I were that we finally got to sleep in... and whilst we were on holidays too! The timing was perfect!

We gave Beth breakfast and then decided to go for a morning walk down to Hasting Street to browse and see what was around and to find ourselves a bite of breakfast. Hastings Street is very commercialised... lots of shops... and surprisingly some fashion places I wouldn't have expected to find in Noosa, such as Mimco, Witchery and Rodd & Gunn (plus heaps more that I can't remember!). There were a lot of roadworks and maintenance going on and around Hastings Street... but I figure they are doing that now in the off season so that the place looks it's best during the peak season. We walked the entire of Hastings Street and then found a quiet-ish place in a food court to have some breakfast. I had eggs benedict (which I haven't had in oh so long!), Phan had a croissant and Beth got a babycino. Beth also drank my entire orange juice (I think I got one sip!)... we have to start ordering a separate drink for her from now on.

Here's a shot of Beth enjoying her babycino...

























After our relaxed breakfast, Phan grabbed a newspaper and Beth and I browsed this kids hairdresser's shop . They had a bubble machine at the front which was blowing out a gazillion bubbles and it drew Beth's attention like a magnet. We ended up buying one for her... she thinks it is one of the coolest things ever.

We wandered back to the apartment and then got ready to have a our first swim of the day in the pool. Lots of fun... although Beth started to try and push us away when we held her... she wanted to swim by herself... even though there was no way that was going to happen! After the swim, we had lunch and Beth had her nap... and when she woke up, we went and visited the Australian Nougat Factory... the place is nothing too exciting to look at and making nougat looks like possibly one of the most boring things to do... but the nougat is *TO DIE FOR*! It's not the chewy kind that gets stuck in your teeth, but a soft almost marshmallowy texture... it is amazing... and it has heaps of macadamia nuts in it... I bought 3 bars and a big packet of little ones... and then on the way home on Wednesday, we drove past and stopped in and I bought more! I couldn't help myself. Beth also loves it... when she hears the rustling of the packet, she comes looking for nougat! After our little gourmet food visit, we dropped into Noosa Village shopping centre and grabbed some steaks to bbq for dinner. Back to the apartment and we decided to go for a swim in the pool again (just to avoid the messiness of the sand)... and then after the swim and shower we headed down to do a silhouette photo shoot on the beach, before coming back for dinner.

Our Noosa Trip - Day 1

Here is the first of my catchup entries re: Noosa.

We all woke up at 7am... It took us an hour to have breakfast, and get ourselves ready and load up the car with *A LOT* of stuff. I don't know what we ended up taking, but the boot of the car was full as well as the backseats!

We left at about 8:40am... stopped off to pump up the tyres and fill up on petrol and by 9am we were on our way up to the Sunshine Coast. Beth was whinging for most of the trip... she just wasn't very happy about being in the car for such a long time and even food didn't cheer her up... although for the last 30 mins, we bribed her with pizza shapes (which she loooves) so that could get some peace and quiet and negotiate the streets of Noosa.

We finally found our apartments (after the GPS sat nav kept making us take strange turns!) We stayed at The Cove Noosa which is a 4 star self contained apartment complex... It was lovely... We had a 2 bedroom apartment, there was a little garden courtyard at the back, balcony with a bbq at the front... plus it was furnished quite well with widescreen tv, stereo, dvd player, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer... We had gotten a pretty good room rate on the internet and also because it is the start of the off season. That said, I think the location of the apartments is worth the extra $$$ because it was only a 2 minute walk from our room to Little Cove Beach and about a 5 minute boardwalk down to Main Beach and Hastings Street, which is the main shopping and cafe strip. So it was close enough to all the facilities to be very convenient without actually being in the hub of all the noise and busy-ness of Hastings Street. Beth was happy at being able to be free of her carseat... so we decided to give her a light lunch and then we went for a dip in the pool. She looooved it... although the water was a bit chilly for Phan and my liking... Beth just splashed around and swam about... and drank a lot of pool water! After about 15-20 minutes, Beth was shivering albeit resisting our efforts to take her out of the pool (she could have stayed there all day!) But we managed to get our way, bundled her up and took her back to our apartment and put her under a warm shower to warm her up. After warming her up, she had a second little snack and then by about 12:30pm we put her down for her nap.

Phan and I just chilled and relaxed... watching TV... reading some of the promotional Noosa stuff we had collected... and then waited for Beth to wake up. Waiting... waiting... waiting... It was a loong wait... esp since we had no food or snacks and only had a minimal lunch and we were looking forward to going out and getting some foodo supplies... 2 and a half hours later at 3pm, Beth decides to wake up! The swim obviously took it out of her! Since we had a bbq at our disposal, we decided to pop out to the Coles at the local shopping centre (Noosa Junction) and grab some simple things to bbq up for dinner... We got sausages, beef patties, corn on the cob (yummy on the bbq!) and potatoes and some vegetables... easy to prepare for dinner. Got back to the apartment, I prepped the vegies up so they would be easy to do at dinner time and then we all headed down for some playtime on the beach. Little Cove Beach is a beautiful quiet little beach... and Beth just made a beeline straight for the waves as soon as her little feet touched the sand. She sat and just loved having the waves come up and wash over her. It was a bit windy... so she only lasted a little while (10-15 minutes) before she got cold and then we had the same battle of convincing her to leave the water... Raced up to give Beth a looong warm shower (we have discovered she loooves showers... she loves having the water run over her head and into her face... she even tries to drink it by opening her mouth... a very funny sight!) Whilst I was giving Beth a shower (no easy feat I might add... she had an amazing amount of sand in her bathers and in her nappy... it was quite a task to clean it all off her!), Phan got the bbq going and started dinner up and then when we came up, I just did the vegies and dinner was ready. Beth was ravenous... eating a bit of leftover pasta from lunchtime, then she had bbq potatoes (but would only eat them if they were dipped in tomato sauce... she's a true blue Aussie!)... then had 1/2 a sausage... some vegetables... lots of corn... she eats so much! Phan and I just enjoyed having some proper red meat for the first time in a while (we had been having a lot of leftover bbq chicken from his birthday when we were in Adelaide and were all chickened out!). Beth was tired and wanted to sleep by 7:30pm... And then Phan and I just chilled out before going to bed early... we felt sooo old, but we were worn out from all the pool and beach activity!

Little Cove Beach @ Noosa Heads



















So I'm no Mitch when it comes to landscape photography... but here's my (lame) sunset shot taken under pressure (I only had a minute to take a photo 'cos I had to catchup with Phan who was carrying Beth away from the beach (who was carrying on and kicking and crying)

Thursday, May 1

Heading for the Surf...

I'm still a bit tired and recovering from the holiday in Noosa... so just a quick photo tonight...