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

New kid on the block

My third pregnancy has come to an end and it culminated in the birth of a little baby boy. On Wednesday 29 October 2014, we welcomed little Zachary Winston Ming at 03:54am. 

Even though I enjoyed being pregnant and feeling bub move around in my tummy, for the last few weeks I was very uncomfortable and it felt like bub was re-arranging my internal organs to make more space for itself. So when I lost my mucous plug on Tuesday morning, I was both relieved as it meant bub would not be overdue like big brother Justin but I was also a bit stressed as my mom hadn't yet arrived and Ava and Justin were at home with me and Justin needed to be dropped off at daycare, Row was on his way to an appointment out west and BG, Louise, Barry and Candice were all at work. I remember with Justin it took quite a while for labour to kick in after losing my mucous plug (like 12hrs) but with Ava it happened quite quickly (like 2hrs) so I decided to call Row and give him a heads up and also called BG to ask him to be ready to hot-foot it over to my place should we need him. Row jumped off the bus, made a u-turn and came home....and we waited and waited and waited. Not even a contraction, or even a Braxton Hicks contraction...the whole day! That night I said to Row we shall just carry on with life as normal on Wednesday should nothing happen during the night. Well....at 12:30am my waters broke so I woke Row up then I called my mid-wife and then I called BG. While waiting for BG to arrive, I didn't have intense contractions and they weren't close together, maybe 5-7mins apart. Again, I was like oh darnit, have I woken everyone up for nothing. Bg made it in record time so I called the mid-wife again to let her know we were leaving for the hospital and she did say that if I wasn't in labour they would send me home which was fair enough. Thankfully, we went to hospital when we did as the contractions intensified and after 2hrs, I had a normal, natural labour and we had a beautiful baby boy. The labour was short and without complications and I was able to have some skin-to-skin contact with little Zach. Row and I lay eyes on him and we both fell in love with this new little being. But then my placenta wouldn't separate so I was rushed to theatre to have it manually removed. I don't remember much but I do remember the anaesthetist telling me they would have to put me under and then when I came to, I was in the recovery ward and they told me I had lost 3,8l of blood and needed a blood transfusion. My vitals were strong and I was awake albeit tired but strong enough to breastfeed my little boy. 

Thankfully I only had to spend 2 nights in the hospital. Both Zach and I were discharged on Friday afternoon much to Justin and Ava's delight. They are both the loving, doting big brother and sister and love their new little brother dearly. I have recovered nicely and my iron levels are good. My mom arrived on Saturday afternoon and I am so thankful that she was able to make the trip down under as she has made our lives so much easier with all her help. 

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi

We've been living in Australia for 4.5 years, we've welcomed a second addition to our family and now awaiting our third addition, made some good friends, done a bit of local travel and definitely planted roots in our new adopted home country. It's taken us much longer than 4.5 years, more like 11 years because that's how long ago we left South Africa, but we finally have something to show for it. On Thursday night, we were officially sworn in as citizens of Australia. We sang the national anthem, received our certificates and also a plant as a gift from the local council.

It's been a long journey, often times bumpy and making us question our decision to leave family and friends but it is a huge relief to finally be granted citizenship and that little passport that will give us more freedom to travel. 

It's official.....we are Australians and Sydney is home!

Ava turns 2!

Two weeks ago, our baby girl turned 2 years!!! I can't believe how quickly these last two years have gone. Some days it feels like Ava is still our baby and other days I can't believe she's such a big girl. She really is the darling of the family with everyone fawning over her and spoiling her. She's definitely the princess of the Mingdom and has her daddy, big brother and even her Kau-Kau wrapped around her little finger. When we took her on holiday to South Africa, a lot of people commented on what a big personality she has for such a little girl and she really does. She already has a sense of humour, she loves being silly and she's very animated. She's also quite bossy and strong willed and loves telling her brother what to do and what not to do. Ava has brought so much joy and love to our family and our home and made our lives that much brighter, we are truly blessed to have this little monkey in our family.  

This year, Row and I decided not to throw a big party for Ava (much to her uncle's chagrin). Instead we had a very low key celebration and only had the family and a few friends over for afternoon tea and dinner. Ava woke up bright and early and the two kids came galloping to our room and all snuggled into bed with Row and I. We then sang 'Happy birthday' to Ava with a toy cake and candles and then gave her her present....an awesome micro-mini scooter! Then it was the usual Saturday morning rush with soccer for Justin and swimming for both kids and then back home to prepare for afternoon tea and dinner. 

Then on Sunday, Bg and Louise invited us over for lunch to celebrate Ava's birthday. What we didn't know was that they had organised a small surprise party for Ava because they thought we weren't planning on celebrating Ava's birthday. What a lovely surprise!!!!! Ava really is loved and spoilt by her aunt and uncle. They did such a terrific job with the decorations and food that I've now told them that we won't be celebrating our kids' birthdays anymore and it will be up to them to organise the parties hehehehe Thank you so much Bg and Louise for organising the little soiree for Ava, we truly appreciate your love for Ava and the time, energy and effort you made for her 2nd birthday!

Mandarin Picking

My kids have a huge appetite for mandarins so after hearing about a place not too far from Sydney, we decided to venture out to Laughtondale for a morning of mandarin picking. We met up with the Songs on a cold Sunday morning at Ford Farms to pick mandarins to our stomach's content. It was slow going at first as we seemed to have gone mid-season but we eventually wandered far into the orchards to find heaps of mandarins. Justin had fun picking the fruit from the trees and filling up his bucket while Ava and Jake were quite content to sample the goods as we walked and picked our way through the orchard. $2 per kg is not too bad considering they sell it at the supermarkets for $3,98/kg. I think we bought about 7kgs at the first orchard. We decided to check out the other farm down the road but had lost the excitement (i.e. kids were getting hungry (???? really, after eating mandarins the whole morning??? and also getting tired) we only filled two buckets 3/4 of the way only to be told that they charge $15 per bucket...that would explain why the other people were building pyramids of mandarins in their buckets. Anyways, we convinced the owners to charge us $14 for both buckets. We made a quick stop for a pub lunch in Wiseman's Ferry and then we were homeward bound with a whole heap of mandarins that sadly lasted us only a week. 

Justin working hard to fill up his bucket

Ava  in charge of quality control

Check our harvest

Jake also sampling the goods

Mandarin-vision!

Exploring the sights and tastes of Sydney

A few weeks ago we finally made plans with friends to go to Cabramatta, a suburb west of Sydney with a strong Vietnamese population. The plan was to meet in the afternoon and just wander around and look at the shops before having an early dinner. The group expanded to 8 adults, 1 child, 4 toddlers and 1 baby. Our friend, Linda, took us on an eating expedition of Vietnamese cuisine and drinks. We started off the with pork or chicken rolls which are fresh Vietnamese rolls filled with either roast chicken or pork meat, pate and your choice of fresh vegetables such as carrots and coriander. From there we moved onto drinks with choices being an avocado shake, soursop or a crushed ice with 8 different fruit fillers and syrup. The next stop was the dessert shop which sold desserts very similar to Chinese desserts such as red bean. Walking around the main shopping district of Cabramatta brought back memories of the fresh markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the smells are the same, the floors are wet from the ice or fresh fish tanks....ahhhhhh, not sure if I really miss that! After our food tour, we still had space for an early dinner where Linda and Claire proceeded to order for us...fresh spring rolls, prawn crackers with mince topping, pho, Vietnamese salad, fried rice....the food was so good and it would've probably been a really good meal out if the toddlers weren't over-tired, hungry and cranky. But the outing was fun and the company was good and the food was delicious.

Climbing the Cabramatta turtle

Enjoying an avocado shake

Hanging out with her buddy Sebby

The kids took over our drinks

Sebby, Taylor and Ava sharing a soursop drink

The Vivid Light Festival ran for two weeks and just finished on Monday. We have been trying to go for the last four years and every year Row tells me how awesome the lights are because he worked in the city or in North Sydney and crossed the Harbour Bridge to come home. This year we decided to make the effort to go in case baby no.3 prevents us from going next year. A plus was the weather was really warm for the first weekend of Vivid so we took advantage and bussed it into the city to meet Linda, Albert and Sebby and braved the crowds. We started off with a quick dinner in Martin's Place and then enjoyed the light displays starting in Martin Place and then walking down to Circular Quay to see the lights on the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sydney Opera House and ending off at Customs House. The kids were really good, it had been a long day, and there was so much for them to do that they enjoyed the lights and didn't feel tired until we got on the bus to come home. 

The growing tree

A cube in the shape of a face and you could have someone's face projected off it

A light structure built like a dome

An interactive light playground where the kids could run on the circles and they would light up 

Museum of Contemporary Art

Sydney Opera House

Customs House