Dad's Day

Father's Day happens on a different day here in Australia than it does in America - Mother's Day is the same. So to celebrate Brett's first Father's Day he got breakfast in bed (a Big Breakfast) and we went to the beach with his Grandma, brother and brother's partner. We had a great day in the sun and even went for a bit of a dive but the water was extremely choppy and I didn't take my wetsuit - big mistake - because after only a short amount of time in the water I got too cold and needed to get out of the water. The current was too strong to let us get out of the water where we had come in so we ended up letting the current push us into a sandy beach much farther down than we where we started, which meant we had a bit of a walk over many rocks to get back to where Brett's Grandma, Nela (Darren's partner) and Chucky were.

Photo taken at Baby Sensory 

After our beach outing we went to Brett's Uncle and Aunt's house for a bbq. We got to catch up and discuss plans for our commune. 

Cousin AJ and Chucky at the lake

Chucky and I have been home from America for 2 weeks now and we're finally starting to settle into a routine again. She's got a bit of a cold right now but it doesn't seem to be affecting her too badly. We're all doing well besides Charlie's little cold. 

First tooth! 

She loves her strawberries! 

xo

American Family

This post is really just about posting photos of Chucky with family here in America. Enjoy!

Chucky and Nana

Chucky with Mom and Dad

Chucky with Grandpa Clark

Chucky loved Grandpa Clark's hot tub! 

With Uncle Bryan

These next photos are from before we came to America, we spent the day at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. 

Paddy-Go-Easy Pass

Most of you know that our little family is visiting America right now (Washington state). We're visiting my family and friends and getting my partner visa granted - which happened yesterday!! Yey! - We've had a great time so far, Brett has to leave Friday to head home for work, we've been extremely busy but managed to get a hike in yesterday. I've really been wanting to take Brett on some hikes around the mountains here because the landscape is so different from Queensland but I guess I'm not in hiking shape anymore because holy cow it was a rough day. We did Paddy-Go-Easy Pass just outside of Cle Elum. We're still not quite sure how we made it to the top because as we came down the mountain it seemed an incredible feat.

Our day started out a little more slowly than we'd hoped, we didn't leave the house until almost 9 and I was hoping to be at the trail head around 9 but meh, life happens. We finally got to the trail head at noon after a grueling drive on a terrible road - about 11 miles in one hour - the hike started off well enough, hiking through the trees and small amounts of mud but about 40 minutes in we were all feeling pretty tired. (The hike is 3.5 miles up while gaining 2700 feet in elevation) We decided to keep going because we figured we had to be about half way up and didn't want to turn back then. Well, it turns out that we were only about a quarter of the way up at that point because we FINALLY reached the summit at 3 pm which means it took us 3 hours to reach the summit. Towards the end of the hike I nearly threw in the towel because I'd been to the top before and I was really struggling with Chucky on my back but Brett pushed me on and we did reach the top. At the top is a beautiful alpine lake called Sprite Lake, we only stayed at the lake's edge for about 40 minutes because the mosquitoes were so terrible (this morning Chuck has 9 bites on her head, one of which is right under her eye, poor thing). We then made the decent which seemed to take forever, 2 hours in reality. After getting off the terrible dirt road and onto I-90 we ran into road work and were stopped for nearly an hour while they did blasting. Even though our adventure totaled about 13 hours and we're completely exhausted today we had a good day in the mountains. Today we're relaxing because we'll be spending Brett's last day here in Seattle tomorrow.

some views from the hike

taking a break

at Sprite Lake

Beautiful Sprite Lake

Snow at the summit 

Hike down

on I-90 waiting in traffic

Chucky's been good, growing like a pretty little weed. She's recently been making a cute new face and just yesterday - on her 7 month birth anniversary - she started clapping like crazy. She's moving around a lot but not quite crawling yet.

Brett and I have been enjoying our time here and are looking forward to rest today.

Baby Led Weaning

She loves her pets! 

Above: Tesla and Chuck

Below: Mishka and Chuck 

We've recently starting trying to feed Chucky solid food the conventional way - mashed up and on a spoon - and she's not having it. She turns away and refuses to let us feed her so we're trying something alternative and it's working wonderfully. It's called Baby Led Weaning, basically it's just sharing the food that you're eating with your baby. It's very simple and she loves it! I've just been cutting things up to make them stick-like and baby size and she grabs them and puts them in her mouth to try out the texture and taste. It's a lot less work for us - unless you count the cleaning up part - and she's actually enjoying it.

She's had toast with peanut butter and vegemite - both of which she loved - banana, fake chicken strips, vegan banana pancakes, broccoli, apple, carrot, pb & j, mashed potato and recently strawberry which we think is her favorite and also probably the messiest. It's a lot of fun to watch her work out how to put the food in her mouth and she seems to really enjoy exploring new tastes and textures.

Here are a few photos of her enjoying some new foods.

vegan banana pancakes

strawberry 

very messy strawberry....

We miss all of you Americans!

Mama and Chucky in an outfit I made :) 

Dad, Mishka and Chucky

Mother Blessing Quilt

I’ve FINALLY finished Chuck’s quilt from the Mother’s Blessing! It’s taken me MUCH longer that I thought it would because well…I have an infant to take care of and nothing gets done quickly. I love how the quilt has turned out even though I will do things differently when I make another quilt (whenever that may be) Chucky really seems to love the finished product. When she has her tummy and no-nappy time she plays with the strings and looks at all the different squares. Thank you to all who brought a square!

the squares sewn together

Finished product!

We’re all doing quite well. The weather hasn’t been ideal, a lot of rain lately, but when it is nice we make sure to get out into the sun and soak up some of that much needed vitamin D.

Chucky is nearly crawling and has been recently saying “mama,” we’re not quite sure if it’s on purpose yet but last night when Brett and I went to a Cirque Du Soliel show (which was amazing!) she was fussy when Whitney tried putting her down for the night and kept saying “mama” when she was crying. I’m so glad I didn’t know because I’m sure I would have left the show immediately to come home. I can’t believe how much she’s growing and changing lately. She has so much personality for a 6 month old. She’s usually very independent but has been quite the Mama’s girl lately (which I don't mind at all)

We haven’t been up to anything new lately; I’ve been sewing a lot and Brett is currently working on an exciting side project. J

xo

Agave Nectar

For years I was under the impression that agave nectar was a natural and healthy alternative to other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup and because I don’t really enjoy maple syrup I used this sweetener often in oatmeal and baked goods. Just recently has it come to my attention that this “natural” sweetener might not be so healthy or natural.

I’ve been doing a bit of research into natural sweeteners because Brett and I have recently stopped eating processed sugar. We still eat fruit, maple syrup and honey and we were going to start eating agave nectar until I found several articles that may have changed my mind. Unfortunately, though, I had already bought -a very expensive- bottle before I read the articles and we may eat this bottle in great moderation instead of just throwing it out. I also found some interesting information about coconut sugar and decided to pick some up at the local organic foods store. I used it in beer biscuits last night and was very pleased with the result. I don’t think we’ll really use coconut sugar much because we’re actually doing very well with this no-sugar diet but it’s nice to have on hand - just in case.

Last week was actually quite relaxing. Chucky and I went to our first movie; we saw Snow White and the Huntsman, there are tons of cinemas in Brisbane that host Babes in Arms showings where you can bring your baby and not worry about them crying or making noise. I think she enjoyed the movie and being with her new friend Darcy and she even slept for a good portion of the movie so I could enjoy it too.

Soaking up some vitamin D 

Chuck cool

Hat, shoes and card that Nana sent from America :) 

She is growing so quickly. In just the last two days she’s seemed to mature so much. She’s trying to stand on her own and she has many new facial expressions. We’ve signed up for another quarter of Baby Sensory and we may start going to baby yoga.

Dancing with Dad

Happy baby

Mom and baby

I’ve been sort of working on a small business idea but am unsure about the details of it yet. Brett is still enjoying work and is working on a new project at home. All in all, we’re well.