Ending our Australia Adventure

We’ve been back in the US now for 4 months and things have been so busy that I haven’t had time to wrap up the DandLdownunder blog… It’s hard to believe our Aussie adventure has come to an end.  I have much to close the loop on – let’s see if I can make it a quick and dirty summary…

David’s contract came to an end rather abruptly but it came as a relief to both of us.  We were emotionally ready to be back in the US so it all ended as it should.  Our flight departed (first class, no less!) on March 18^th.  Before the big move, we had much to celebrate with the wonderful friends we made in AU!

My mother’s group was kind enough to throw me a great going away lunch, complete with Aussie-inspired gifts.  I can’t wait until we get our own house so we can proudly hang our AU flag and drink beers from yellow and green cozies J I miss my mother’s group terribly – I’m so grateful that I had (and still have) such a great group of women to lean on during the first months of Sydney’s life.  Becoming a mother is so magical and difficult all at the same time.  I really don’t know how anyone does it without a strong support system.  Thank you, Yummy Mummies for being there when I needed you.

In standard Aussie tradition, we threw ourselves a going away BBQ at the beach, complete with Sydney’s first ocean swim experience!  Well, I wouldn’t really call it a swim per-se, but more of a foot-dunk but we can officially say her first time was (appropriately) in the ocean off Shelley Beach in Manly.  She’s a swimmer in the making!

We enjoyed our first sailing adventure as a family with our friends Kimmie and Tim, and their two daughters.   The sail around Sydney Harbour was beautiful but let’s just say I wasn’t exactly as relaxed as I would have liked to have been.  Having a 4 month old on a sail boat was a little more nerve-racking than I expected.  I’m so glad we did it, though.  David even had the chance to take the helm for a bit!  

David got his Summer 6K and Summer 10K badges with Bold & the Beautiful.  Ocean swimming and David really get along.  If we could live on the ocean again, I think David would be in heaven. :)  This picture of David and Sydney is with Jules, the head of B&B.  What a sweetheart!   

After selling almost every piece of furniture in our apartment (thank you, Gumtree.com!) we moved out of our place and into Laura and Scott’s across the street for a week.  They were traveling through NZ and kindly offered their adorable apartment so we didn’t have to rent a place for our last days in town.  It worked out great for all of us!  Thank you SO MUCH to L&S (and Noah too, of course) for sharing your space with us for a bit!  We miss you tons!

Our last hurrah was with Jo, Pete and little Samuel as we ventured to Barossa Valley for a last wine-tasting adventure.  After a successful first flight for both babies, the 6 of us had a ball visiting all of our favorites – Rusden, Rockford, Torbreck, Greenock Creek, Kalleske – the kids both did great while their parents drank too much wine (with a DD of course!)  Somehow David got out of having to drive at all so the responsibility was left up to Pete, Jo and me.  Don’t worry, I got him back when we went to Napa over the 4^th of July. ;) I think we might make it a habit to do wine trips with the Schofields.  We had a blast together as always! 

Our flight home to the US went far smoother than expected.  Let me just say if you’re going to travel 24 hours with a 5 month old, the only way to do it is in first class.  We had multiple people ask us if Sydney made a peep the entire flight!  She slept well in the lay flat seat next to me (she couldn’t fit with David!) and I was able to feed her with no problem.  We opted to delay the introduction of solids until after we returned to the US to simplify the trip home and I’m so glad we did that.  We even had a celebrity sighting during our travels – Evander Holyfield was on our flight from LAX to ATL!  David took a picture of Sydney and me with him in the airport.  What a nice guy he was!

We’ve been home now for 4 months and it almost feels like our experience in Australia was a dream.  I am so grateful to have had the experience.  What a special time for David and me.  We started our marriage with an amazing adventure and through the ups and downs of the past 3 years we are all the better for it.  To top off the experience of a lifetime with the birth of our daughter couldn’t have been more perfect.  Sydney won’t have memories of AU until we bring her back there when she’s older, but her roots started there and her path will definitely take her back there someday.  Who knows, maybe the ocean will call to us and we’ll find ourselves living down under once again… 

On to our next adventure!!

~LAA :)

Sleeping Through the Night No More...

I think I jinxed us by saying Sydney was starting to sleep through the night.  It was clearly a tease...  Note to self, don't mention baby daughter's sleeping patterns to anyone in the future... ;)

Happy Birthday Linds

Sydney at play :)

I guess I'm old now.  I'm officially 35! I had a great birthday week - I ran playgroup on Tuesday which was a lot of fun, and then we had a fun birthday BBQ with Laura, Scott and Noah.  Laura and I share the same birthday so it seemed fitting to spend the day together!  While we were there, Sydney got to play in the Jumparoo - check out the pics.  She's not too sure about it yet, but in the 45 minutes she was in it (yes, it kept her attention for 45 minutes!!) she was starting to move around on her own by the end.  What a fun development to watch :)

She's so little in the big door frame!

Sydney is starting to figure out the Jumparoo

Even the Jumparoo can't distract from putting her hand in her mouth

Wednesday we went out to a nice birthday dinner at Jelly Fish (while Sydney slept in the pram) and I enjoyed a pedicure mid week as an extra special treat :) 

Saturday we took the ferry into the city to hit the Rocks Markets and the NSW Wine Festival in Hyde Park.  It was a beautiful day and lots of fun was had by all!  We only found one wine at the festival that we thought was worth buying but that's ok because we're running out of room for wine to bring back with us anyway ;) 

Another busy week ahead.  Hard to believe we only have 3 weeks left...

~LAA :)

Mom, I'm getting kind of tired...

We use David's reg set for her to stand on in the exersaucer

Tummy time at Yummy Mummies workout - Syd, Tom, Lachie

Sydney Loves the Exersaucer!

So many toys, so little time!

We got an exersaucer for our little Sydney Bug this week.  She LOVES it!  Check out how smiley she is!  She’s standing on David’s regulator set so her feet will touch the ground and she can spin herself around :)

The Australian Open for Surfing is in Manly this week.  The Beach is SO busy!  We didn’t see much of the actual competition - just experienced the influx of people in town!  The weather has been beautiful finally which is a nice change of pace from all the rain we’ve been getting.

Check out the stage for the Australian Open

At 4 months old, Sydney is just starting to sit up on her own.  She fell over right after this picture was taken :)

Sitting up!

I was lucky enough to enjoy a GNO with a few of my fellow Manly Yummy Mummies this week.  We went to Harlem in Manly.  What a great night!  Thank you Daddy for taking care of our little girl while I was out :)

~LAA :)

Manly Yummy Mummies - GNO!

Sydney is 4 Months Old!

I can't believe how time flies.  Sydney is already 4 months old!  She is pushing up and has rolled over a few times on her own but I wouldn't say it's a consistent thing yet and it doesn't appear to be deliberate ;)  I'm biased for sure, but I think she gets cuter every day :)

Sydney loves sucking on Mommy's fingers

I cut off her "rat tail" this week.  For some reason her hair grew faster in the middle than on the sides...  No rat tails in the Adams family, thank you very much!  heehee.

Daddy took Sydney to Playgroup this week because I had a dentist appointment.  He got rave reviews from the other mothers in my mothers group.  I'm so proud of him for being brave enough to attend as the only father :)  Nice work, babe!

Daddy and Sydney Bug

Mommy and Sydney Bug

4 months old!  I love tummy time!

Playing the piano is fun!

Sydney loves Sophie the giraffe :)

We've been busy selling things and getting things organized for the big move.  My there's lots to do!  The sun is out and we're off to a birthday gathering for my friend Sheridan this afternoon.  Bring on the bubbles!

~LAA :)

Australia Day 2012

Lachlan, Sydney and Noah

We celebrated Australia Day in Manly this year with a bunch of Americans (and a couple token Aussies!)  It was a great day of BBQ, wine and beer with a great view of Shelley Beach.  The kids played together - Sydney was surrounded by boys (only just the beginning, I’m sure!)  We had a ball and definitely felt a bit dusty the next day.  Thanks Jess, Michael, Laura and Scott for great food and great company!

We took the leap and broke Sydney of the swaddle this week.  She slept in a sleep sack for the first time and it went great!  We also introduced Lamby for the first time (comfort toy - small blanket on the bottom with a plush lamb head on the top).  She absolutely loves it!  I’ll have to take a picture of her wrapping her arms around Lamby one of these days.  It will melt your heart :)

Now that her hands are free to sleep (and suck) we’ve discovered Sydney is a left handed thumb sucker!  There’s a part of me that wants to discourage her from sucking her thumb because I know it will be a hard habit to break when she gets older, but between that and the paci, I think it’s the lesser of two evils.  Besides, how on earth are we going to stop her from sucking her thumb if that’s what she does naturally?  So, let the thumb sucking begin!

I was lucky enough to enjoy my Christmas present this week- David watched Sydney, armed with some expressed milk in the fridge and I got to spend a couple hours at the spa enjoying an AMAZING massage and facial.  It was wonderful!  What a nice break for a bit.

I hope the sun comes out this week - it feels like it’s been raining for ages!

~LAA :) 

Sleeping Through the Night

Watching the Broncos play football!

Sydney and Noah are good friends already

It’s the elusive dream that all parents covet - getting their babies to sleep through the night.  This week (gasp!) we enjoyed three nights with little Miss Sydney Bug sleeping until at least 5:30am.  What a difference it makes for us to actually get 6+ hours of sleep in a row!  I had forgotten what that felt like.  I think it’s been a good 6 months since that’s happened for me.  Come on Sydney Girl - keep up the good work!

I enjoyed my first GNO this week.  Daddy used some milk from the freezer to do the dreamfeed and I indulged in a few glasses of wine/bubbly with some of the women from my Mothers Group.  It felt great to get dressed up and go out on the down for a night!  Even if it was just around the corner in Manly.

We kept up our Yummy Mummies exercise group - I’ve actually started to see some great success already with all this exercise!  I have a bit of a way to go yet, though... Here’s a pic of our babies lounging in the shade while their Mommies worked their tails off :)

Noah, Sydney, Cassie and Lachlan

David swam another 10K yesterday morning.  This time it was in the harbour side.  Sydney and I walked up to Q Station beach to meet him half way.  It was quite a hike up the hills and on the way back the skies opened up and poured down on us, but it was worth it.  I’m so proud of David for doing such a large swimming challenge.  It’s like running a marathon but for swimming since it takes close to 4 hours to complete it!  Nice work babe.  I’m so proud of you!

Sydney asleep in her stroller in the rain

David on the home stretch

He did it!

~LAA :)

Mornings in Manly

Boy, Sydney lives a tough life snoozing in the morning summer sun on Manly Beach.  :)

~LAA :)

Typical morning on Manly Beach

Sydney is 3 Months Old!

My Goodness a lot happens to a 3 month old in only one week!  Sydney turned 3 months old this week!  Here are some pictures of her to commemorate the occasion. :)

Sydney is learning to push up!

We spent a lot of time practicing rolling over with Mommy and Daddy’s help.  She rolled over a few times on her own, but I think we’re a couple weeks off of it being a regular occurrence.  We also worked a lot on swiping at toys.  Sydney found both Leo the Lion and Ellie the Elephant on her play mat and seemed to be very proud of herself for doing so :) Daddy has been trying to teach her how to wave.  Her hand eye coordination is improving every day.  I bet we’ll see that first real wave in no time :)

One morning this week I had to put her in the carrier to finish my hair and makeup.  Lying on the play mat in the bathroom just wasn’t fun enough any longer ;).  Sydney was fascinated by the hair dryer and especially the flat iron - she was pushing herself away from my chest so she could get a better look while I did my hair.  I explained to her she’ll understand one day that as a woman if you have straight hair you’re going to want to make it curly and if you have curly hair you’re going to want to make it straight... oh the plight of women!  Such a tough life we live.

First day in the big girl stroller seat

I’ve started working out with the Manly Yummy Mummies (that’s what we call our mothers group) a couple days a week.  I pop Sydney in the stroller (she’s now graduated from the bassinet to the big girl chair!) and run my way over to where we’re going to do our exercises as a group.  It’s a lot of fun and very motivating to have others to work out with.  The best part isn’t even the success I’ve seen after only a week and a half of training, it’s that it’s FREE for all of us!  What a great bonus! :)

Sydney is starting to learn her name - she smiled a few times this week when we called her by name.  What an amazing thing to watch your child learn!
~LAA :)

Sydney loves Sophie the Giraffe

3 Months old playing the piano

First week in the big girl stroller seat! 

 

She's holding her own paci!

Sydney’s First 12 Weeks

Sydney loves making music!

Wow, so many things happen in the first three months of a little girl’s life.  She’s learned to smile (a lot!), stick out her tongue, coo and laugh, roll to her side, suck her fists (and most other things that she can get into her mouth)!  She’s started swiping at toys and actually grabbing them sometimes.  She’s got a comfort toy called “Lamby” that she adores and we’ve introduced her to a toy piano that you attach to the inside of the crib.  She kicks it to press the soft keys and it makes animal sounds and plays music.  She LOVES it! 

I’ve been so busy for the past three months that I’ve been terrible about blogging but one of my goals in 2012 is to keep up with my blogs on a weekly basis so I’ll do my best to keep everyone up to date on her development in a more real-time format :)  In the meantime, here are some great shots of her over the past 6 weeks.

~LAA :)

Sleeping in the over-the-shoulder-baby-holder

Sleeping in Daddy's arms

Tummy time!

Look how strong I am!

Starting to roll over...

Sydney loves to stick out her tongue :)

David Swam a 10K!

Check out that stroke!

Yes, that’s right.  My crazy husband actually swam a 10K!  It took 3.5 hours!  He went with a few folks from the Bold & the Beautiful and they swam from Manly to Queenscliff, to Freshwater, to Curl Curl, back to Shelley Beach and finally ending up back at Manly beach.  Sydney and I walked down to welcome him home and congratulate him on such an accomplishment.  I got some great shots of him swimming! :)

~LAA :)

Getting back in at Shelley for the home stretch

The lead group!

It all started at the Manly Life Saving Club