Bacon is meat candy

Happy 30th Brad! Stacy gave brad the ultimate gift - BACON! i secretly enjoyed our bacon mornings just as much as Brad. I made the ultimate in chocolate cake (real dark belgium chocolate melted required in obscene amounts) for the day of Brads birthday, while on the weekend we had a few of Brad's friends over and had a local joint cater ribs and all the southern fixin's. We had enough food to feed an army - we ate it for 3 days straight!
Birthday boy.

more cake? Jackson can speak clearly when he wants too - he learn't to say "Happy Birthday" and that went along with "CAKE!" so pretty much whenever he sees cake he rambled off "Happybirthdaycakecakecakedaddy"
on my way to playgroup - we didn't last long - Jackson had the mother of all tantrums and we left within 15 minutes. little shit. as you can see I try to shower and present myself nice at playgroup - no baggy shirts and p.j bottoms allowed. on this day - for no particular reason I put on a brooch that has been in my mothers family for a fair few generations and tend to think of my Nanna Doss when I wear it. My Nanna Doss passed away a few days after, peacefully into the arms of heaven. My mum is down in Melbourne with family, I havn't had a chance to speak to her yet - but know she would have been grateful to see her mum peaceful and at rest.

At 19 months old - Jackson is in the 95th percentile for height - and 80th for weight - a good combo aparently. He wears a 71/2 wide shoe. If the doc could have understood Jackson (aparently he has an accent) he would have been impressed with his vocabulary - and although the kid counts obsessivly he has a great sence of humor - he does a crazy half bent knee walk that makes me crack up every time. He has taken to mimiking animals a lot - and says thank you in a cute high piched Aussie accent that makes people stop and smile. He does not like me to hold his hand in public - or in the water after he has gotten used to it after a minute. At the beach older children who can talk in proper sentences (around aged 2 & 1/2) keep comming up to him expecting him to talk back, but the most he says is "you boy" or "nice baby" - I then have to let the other parent know - hey he's just 19 months!

Canoeing in MA

Taunton River

it was nap time - and although J refused to lie down - he still slept - right on the wooden bar.
Brad enjoying the quiet.

Our bright weekend was a little sad, my mother is down in Melbourne after the death of my Uncle Peter, who was married to my late Aunt Carmel. Also my Grandmother, Doss, is not doing well and it seems she is in a coma. Also my cousin, who I truthfully don't know, but know of through my mother relaying funny stories and tidbits over many years, is dying of cancer. The memory I have of Matthew is a strapping tanned tall boy (he is not tall - he is short) but to a young 7 year old everyone is tall - who is running to his moterbike, as I race behind him trying to catch up as i DESPERATELY want to ride too. It was a trip out to his parents, my aunty Eve and Uncle Leo. These days Matthew has his own family, a beautiful wife and two infant children. May your prayers be with them all as they enjoy in the wonderment of last memories made together.

Kit Kat

yesterday i went shopping - on my own. Every mother knows how rare this opportunity comes along and I wanted to make the most of it. I was gone 6 hours! Of course it is Brads 30th this week and I was on the search for and ideal gift from Jackson. The best part of my entire outing was sitting at Borders, eating a giant chocolate brownie drizzled in chocolate sauce with a latte on the side.... with NO ONE to beg me for "more more more". I also did grocery shopping at 3 different stores to get all the specials and things I needed. I still can't eat meat unless it is happy - well previously happy until it was slaughtered.

It is SO F$*$#&($ hot at the moment. Plus it rained today just to make it even more frigging pleasant.

I was feeling skinny earlier today - so had a kit kat for lunch - the best 200 calories you can ever eat! now i feel fat. I have such a hard life.

Dinner was trout with almonds and rice with dill. It was especially delicious even though in the heat no one really feels like eating. we do not have air conditioning - some one told us that this far north you don't need it as summer is so short - THEY WERE WRONG!

Being Silly

I ordered a new battery for our camcorder so we should start to have video again!!

randomness

Well hello there everyone. we have been out of touch for a while - but back on track now. 1st we were in AR for 10 days for 4th of July - i have no pictures as I didn't bring along my camera for the trip assuming Joy would take hundreds of photos - wrong. we barely took out the camera once - too busy enjoying ourselves with lots of doing, seeing and learning. Jackson is now going strong with his numbers and counts everything - usually just to around 7 or so, but can count to 10. While in AR i managed to eat my way around town, gaining 3 pounds more than i would have liked - its the all you can eat buffet's that get me every time! Who can resist 10 desserts??!!

After AR we came back to settle into to our routine - which means bed time routine mainly. J still opts to come into our bed in early morning. He went in a toddler bed too soon, but we can't backtrack now, so are leaving things the way they are. Bed at 8:30 - into ours at 5ish - sleep again till 7. Not the greatest for those who never want to see their child in their bed, and it was not something we thought would happen for us - but turns out our little boy needs us close a bit more than he used too. We actually don't mind waking up to his cuddles and kisses, and we never have to get him from his bed - he just walks into our room and jumps up to snuggle between us.

Brad has been working long hours and it is starting to show, but we are putting in place some things to help him wind down - no they are not all sex related - we are going canoeing tomorrow. He is so dedicated and loves his work - so its not hard to understand why he wants to make a great go of it with his company. I am hopeful his dedication will pay off - literally.

For those of you who don't already know - my two sister in laws keep blogs too, so we can all share with grandparents, friends and each other photos and tid bits of our lives. Harris party of six - is my sister in law in AR, we spent 4th of july together so am hopeful she has photos to share. The Harris Chronicles is my sister in law in Germany - who started the trend by creating her blog soon after the birth of her first baby Ashlyn who is now just on 3. I just wanted to say I think it is wonderful how we can all connect in this way - be a part of each others lives even if it is just a glimpse. So basically i am starting to embrace - well love - technology. me - the person who waited until 2006 to get a phone - and then never answered it. Yes I now am falling in love with technology. I still think there is a time and place for it - but now that Brad just gave me an iphone I can see how addictive it can be. (He got a great deal from a friend who no longer wanted their iphone - i know! didn't want an iphone!) I now listen to books on tape while i cross stitch, (i am still working on the **&%%^* enchanted alphabet! it has been 3 years now) and check my messages and e-mail much more than I used too. plus i can hear it rining so i actually answer it!



Jackson has technology down - he loves any type of gaget inluding his dads headset.

In other random news both Jackson and I were unwell this week with vomiting, while Brad had a strange turn with his blood pressure - so we are all heading to the docs for check ups this month. I also wish toddlers would come with a pre spew warning. Brad woke up to vomit in his armpit - while I was convinced I could still smell vomit on our bed hours later - and ended up getting new sheets and pillows that same day.