First half of 2015 is a blur

I can't believe how quickly the year is going by. The last post I did was Justin's first day of big school...it is now nearly the end of term 3. Justin is still loving school and doing so well, Row and I could not be prouder. We've had two positive parent teacher meetings and a perfect report card. Justin's reading, writing and maths is coming along in leaps and bounds. He participated in their school athletics carnival and is so looking forward to their swimming carnival. Justin is quite social butterfly and loves telling us what's going on at school, who sits on which table and who had to move tables, who sits next to who, who was the leader, who was chosen for instruction play....but ask him what he did at school that day and he shrugs his shoulders and says, I forgot! He's made a group of really good friends although he plays with everyone; that's one of the comments the teachers have repeated and it makes us so proud, they say Justin gets along with everyone and has the ability to work with very shy and quiet children and include them but also works well with the noisier, more boisterous children. 

Ava turned 3 in July...I can't believe how quickly she's grown. She is quite the chatterbox so between her and Justin there is a constant buzz and a battle for who can be heard. She is such a good big sister to Zach and a really good little sister to Justin, she really looks after both her brothers. She will not tolerate any nonsense and is definitely not a pushover. She is still the princess in our family, everyone still dotes on her but she can run around wild, jump off things, climb up things and keep up with her big brother, she's a girly tomboy ;) 

Cute little Zach has his own personality, he seems much more relaxed and calm than his older siblings although he's also been fighting to be heard. Our little munchkin is so loved and doted on, he's quite spoilt in that sense. Zach is 10 months old and is crawling around, cruising along the furniture and up to mischief emptying my cupboards, pulling the shoes off the shoe rack and just exploring. He loves bath time and has quite a ferocious appetite. Zach loves his dummy just like Justin did! This little man started daycare and is loving it, he loves interacting with the other children and has formed such good bonds with his carers. 

Row and I are feel like we're constantly on the hamster wheel especially since I started working 2 months ago. It's go go go...swimming, tennis, soccer, birthday parties, work, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, clean up.....but we try remember to take time out and enjoy life with our three munchkins. 

Hopefully I'll get to post more often...

Justin turned 6

Mandarin picking

Ava turned 3

Being a cheeky monkey

Justin and his best friend at the school picnic

Testing out the legs

Really?!?! Another photo?!?!?!

Ava's tattoo

Big School

Justin started kindergarten at the end of January and he was so excited. The first day of big school was anticipated with lots of questions and excitement about wearing a uniform and carrying a school bag and taking lunch to school. 

On the morning of this momentous occasion, Justin ate breakfast with no reference to time, in other words, eating slowly and taking his time. Once breakfast was out the way, he went to change into his uniform and got ready for his big day. He seemed excited and yet as the morning progressed, he seemed to grow more anxious especially about being late. Finally ready, school bag on the back, hat on his head, photos out the way, Row, Zach and I walked Justin to school. I think we were all nervous but excited. We took Justin to his class, we were introduced to his teachers, shown where he would be sitting, more photos and then it was time to say good bye. Surprisingly there were no tears from neither Justin nor I. I guess for myself, it was just such a proud moment for me that I just felt so happy for my boy, seeing how he's grown and become independent, that it wasn't necessary to shed any tears (even if they were happy tears). The day seemed to whizz by and before I knew it, it was time to collect Justin from school. His smile was enough to assure me that he had had a fantastic  first day, enjoyed the whole experience, liked his teachers and met some new kids and met up with old friends. 

One month in and I'm happy to say that Justin is still enjoying school. He's made friends with a group of boys, there seem to be about 4 of them in their little gang. The cool game to play at break time seems to be hand ball. He's especially excited about sports day because they are doing karate this term and after every sports day, he shows me the new karate moves he learnt. He started getting homework this week and it was painful, not sure who found it more painful though, but I'm sure as he gets use to this foreign concept and we work out a routine and method, it will get easier. 

Catch up on 2014

Having a newborn in the house again has been fun but you definitely have to plan better and prioritise things so unfortunately the blog has been low on the list. So this is a recap of the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The arrival of Por Por

My mom arrived from SA a few days after Zach was born and we are so thankful that she's here to help out. The kids are loving having her here and she's enjoying the interaction with them. Soon after she arrived, we celebrated her birthday, the first one that the kids have celebrated with her.

Por Por's birthday

Visitors to Sydney

Then my cousin and her boyfriend are currently traveling around the world and had a pitstop on Sydney. It's been 2.5 years since I last saw my cousin and the first time we met her boyfriend. Again, the kids loved having these visitors as it meant more play mates, desserts after dinner and late nights.

Heng and Thomas meeting Zach

Heng and Thomas entertaining Justin and Ava

Just chilling at the beach one Friday evening

Zach's Moon Yuet

Zach turned one month old at the end of October but instead of having a moon yuet for him, we invited the family out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. On the menu...lots of seafood...yummm

Proud Por Por

Kau Kau and Kau Mo snuggling the newest addition

Getting ready for Christmas

Justin and Ava had their end of year concert and it was so cute seeing the kids singing and dancing. Ava was very shy (which is very unusual hahahaha) and Justin was concentrating really hard on his dance moves and the words to the songs. Our little big boy also graduated from pre-school...the first of many graduations we hope. Even though it's only pre-school, we were all so proud of him and made it such a big deal....next stop...kindergarten or BIG school! Yikes...

In the main shopping strip in the city, there was a massive Christmas tree made of Lego. Seeing as Justin loves his Lego, we thought it would be nice to take them. It was pretty spectacular but we didn't see the light show at this tree as it was late afternoon. We then meandered over to Martin Place to see their annual light show and Christmas tree but it wasn't as impressive as the previous year because we missed the light show. 

However, we made a separate and special trip into the city to see the lights at St Mary's Cathedral and that was pretty spectacular. The theme this year was the '12 Days of Christmas'. 

On another Sunday we braved the crowds and went to Carols at Coogee. We only went at 6pm but most of the people seemed to have been there the whole day. Luckily we found a spot close enough to the stage with no drunk people around us. I'm glad we went so late because the concert was only starting at 8pm but at 6pm it was still hot and not a single cloud in the sky so at least we weren't unbearably hot for a long period of time....2hrs was enough! We decided not to pack a picnic but instead bought take away burgers from Moo Burgers which I had been craving even while I was pregnant with Zach so that really hit the spot. We all enjoyed the carols concert and the fireworks show at the end was quite a sight.

Justin and Ava made and decorated the 'smallest gingerbread house' (Justin's exact words!!!)

End of year concert

End of year concert

Our graduate

So proud of Justin

Martin Place Christmas Tree

The light show at St Mary's Cathedral

Happy birthday Row!

With all the excitement of a new baby, I had to make sure we didn't forget about Row's birthday. It wasn't a grand celebration but Row was able to celebrate with his awesome wife ;) his 3 little blessings, his in-laws and his cousins. We had ribs, chips, salad and garlic bread for dinner and a lemon meringue for dessert.

Happy birthday my dear husband, we hope this next year brings all that your heart desires. We are thankful for all that you do for us and love you so very much. 

Getting to know each other

We have been very fortunate in that Justin and Ava have adapted to having a sibling around. They are both so very loving and affectionate towards little Zach and haven't shown any jealousy. Here are some photos of them getting to know each other. 

Meeting little Zach for the very first time