Kiama Getaway

The last 6 weeks has brought about many changes and they just seem to keep happening. First, we welcomed a new addition to the family and then Row passed his final actuarial exam making him a qualified actuary. Row also finished off at MLC which meant Justin had his last day at his daycare because it was the corporate daycare ( Row and I were very sad about this as Justin loves his daycare, loves his teachers and made a really good friend called Hugo). More changes happening - Row starts his new job on Monday and we're waiting for confirmation from Justin's new daycare regarding start dates. So, to catch our breath and spend some quality family time before the madness begins, we decided to go to Kiama for the week. 

This last minute booking sent us into a flat spin, packing for a newborn, a little boy and two adults. Shew, lucky mom and dad agreed to go away with us because the amount of stuff we took with filled up two car boots. Leaving home was quite stressful, trying to pack, wash dirty dishes and time Ava's feed. We finally hit the road at about 11am and planned to stop in the Royal National Park for lunch. Lunch was supposed to be a nice little picnic in the RNP but due to lack of planning, we had to settle for buying pies and chips at a little cafe. Ava slept through the whole of lunch and didn't manage to wake up for a feed before we resumed our drive. Luckily, the soothing motion of the car kept her asleep for the hour long car ride to Kiama. 

This time we rented a smaller house called Beachbumz near to the beach. It was a nice size house beautifully decorated. Mom and dad slept in the main room and the four of us slept in the second bedroom; Justin on the top bunk, Row and I on the bottom double bed and Ava in a camp cot...what can I say, we're a tight-knit close family ;)

I wouldn't necessarily describe the holiday as relaxing...I wouldn't even call it a holiday but it was nice to get out of Sydney for a bit. We explored the town's shops, took Justin to the playground and beach, took a scenic drive along the coast and explored a nearby town called Bowral and did a coastal walk.

Now to get ready for the changes and the challenges that it will bring us.....

Chilling on the sundeck

The coastal walk

Our gorgeous crazy son

Our home for the week

Ava's 1 month old!

Friends who have had their second child warned me that time seems to go by even faster with the second child...I'm still stunned at how quickly it really does. I can still remember very clearly, every detail of the night before Ava was born, when my labour started leading up to the birth of our beautiful angel. And now she's one month old!!!!

As per Chinese tradition, we held a moon yuet for Ava to celebrate her being one month. Part of the festivities include dyeing eggs red and eating it with pickled ginger. We chose a Chinese restaurant in North Sydney and asked mom and dad to help choose the menu. We dyed the eggs red and packaged them in little boxes decorated with pretty ribbon to give to our guests. 

The food was delicious and the company was great. Ava was a star, fussing a little before passing out and sleeping through most of her moon yuet. Most of the guests got to carry her while she just slept. 

Dyeing the eggs

Pretty packaging

Justin enjoying a red egg

The guest of honour

Welcome to the Mingdom!

After waiting 39 weeks and 4 days, our little baby girl decided to make her grand entrance into the world and join the Mingdom! Ava Grace Ming was born on Thursday 12 July 2012 at 6:18am. Our precious bundle of joy weighed in at 3,38kg and is 49cm long. It was love at first at sight for mom and dad!

Big brother Justin has taken to his new role with great gusto! He is as in love with her as we are and showers her with kisses and cuddles. He is so proud of his new baby sister and also very protective of her. 

Ava's grandparents, Popo and Kung-Kung, are also in Sydney to greet the new addition to the family and are also in love with her, as are her Kau-Kau and Kau-Mo. 

Ava Grace Ming born on 12 July 2012

Proud Popo and Kung-Kung

Justin enjoying his new role as big brother

Justin and Ava with Kau-Kau

Ava with Kau-Mo 

The Mings as a family of 4

Little Miss Ava

Our family of 3 has grown to 4 and we are so thankful to be blessed by 2 healthy, beautiful children.

Surprise baby shower!

A month ago I was surprised with a baby shower organised by my future sister-in-law, Louise, good friend, Lisa and cousin-in-law, Candice. Row was obviously in on the surprise and did an excellent job keeping me in the dark. 

After our weekend away to Kiama, Row said we should go away again before baby girl Ming's arrival. I looked at him as if he was mad because who wants to travel a month before your due date. So he suggested we go out on a romantic meal, just the two of us and he organised for BG to babysit Justin. In the weeks leading up to the surprise baby shower, Row kept asking me what kind of double stroller I would like and kept nagging me to go check the Phil & Ted stroller as we already had the rocker part of the stroller. After finding out that the model we have was discontinued, Row then started hounding me to look at other strollers and to decide. Now...this being the second baby, I was in no great rush about getting baby things, there was plenty of time plus, if baby girl Ming has the same timing as her brother, we would have loads of extra time cos he was 9 days overdue. Eventually, Row asked if we really really really need a double stroller and I said ah, maybe not. Then he started hounding me about choosing a baby car seat which I thought was a bit odd as we had already decided that we would rent a baby capsule for the first 6 months (I even got a good rate at the baby expo) and then buy a car seat that the baby could use from 6 months old to 7 years old. I dragged my feet on that and eventually, Row did all the research, gave me my options and I just said yay or nay. 

A few days before the shower, Row said I had to dress up and I was like my maternity clothes are very minimal, can't I just wear jeans?!?!?!? And he was like no, we're going to a fancy place so I need to dress up. Then he tells me we're going for high tea (which I love) so I said that's fine but then he said it's at 11am and I thought that was an odd time for high tea but didn't say anything. 

On the day of the shower, we were running late and normally Row is always on at me to be punctual (I guess that's where my kids get their sense of time from *how ironic*) but that day he was relaxed and chilled. We swung by BG to drop Justin off and Louise wasn't home, apparently she was working!!!!! Our high tea was at the Vaucluse Tea Rooms, very nice venue in a beautiful park. The jig was up when I saw my friend's car and another friend running across the parking lot. Apparently, all my friends were going to chip in and buy the stroller but I couldn't decide and that's why they decided to get us the car seat. 

It was a lovely surprise though and I really enjoyed my surprise baby shower. The company was excellent, the food was delicious and it was a lovely morning-afternoon spent with good friends who spoilt me and baby. Thank you to all those who organised and who shared in the celebration of the pending arrival of baby. 

All dressed in pink except mama-to-be

The big present!

We got very spoilt!

Birthday weekend in Kiama

To celebrate mine and Bg's birthdays, we decided to go away for the weekend with some friends/ family. Row booked this awesome house in Kiama, 90 mins south of Sydney, so not too far away but far enough to feel like we were away on holiday. We left on Friday afternoon and took a leisurely drive down south and arrived at 5pm. There were 4 couples and each couple had their own room with double bed but there were only 2 bathrooms. The kitchen was awesome and well stocked which was good because we planned to do a lot of cooking over the weekend. On the menu for Friday night was seafood paella and spinach and ricotta cannelloni cooked by our resident chefs, Row and Louise. The food was delicious and the company was excellent. 

With Justin around, there's no chance to sleep in so we (Row and I) were up bright and early on Saturday morning. On the breakfast menu was cheese, ham and tomato croissants with a choice of tea, milo or hot chocolate. The others gradually joined us and we were finally all ready to leave the house by 11am to explore Kiama. The first stop was the local market which didn't take too long to peruse but it was by the waterfront so Justin got to ride his scooter along the water. The path finally ended by the blowhole of Kiama. This blowhole is basically a hole in some volcanic rock and when enough pressure has built up, it will spray through the hole. We got to see it in action but not at it's best. But it was beautiful day, sun was shining and it wasn't too cold so we just sat around the blowhole chatting and enjoying the nice weather. Then we were off to find some lunch in the local town. After lunch, the energetic people went for a run, Justin and I had a lovely long afternoon nap and the others decided to drive further out to explore. On the menu for dinner was a braai (BBQ), green salad and potato bake with pavlova for dessert. We all ate ourselves silly and ended the night with a round of Cranium. 

For Sunday breakfast, we had a huge fry up...eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns and toast. Our resident breakfast chef, Vernon, made some delicious omelets too. It was another beautiful day but because we were checking out that afternoon, we decided to stay at the house and just eat. After breakfast, while lounging around and chatting, we decided to have to tea and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam..so yummy! This was in lieu of lunch and then it was time to pack up and leave. 

Row, Justin and I took a slow drive back to Sydney and decided to stop in the National Park so Justin could stretch his legs. We'll definitely have to go back to that national park and explore a bit. Justin had a good time feeding the ducks, wrestling with his daddy and running circles around mommy. 

Thanks to Row for organising this amazing weekend getaway. Thanks to BG, Louise, Candice, Barry, Vernon and Bonita for your good company and amazing cooking. Thanks to Justin for just being with us. BG and I had a good birthday weekend getaway.

Family photo 

Kiama blowhole

Bg's birthday breakfast omelet

Feeding the ducks at the national park

Wrestling with dad

More wrestling

Running rings around mommy

Second pregnancy third trimester

In some respects this pregnancy seems to have flown by, in other respects, it feels like I've been pregnant for a long time. Officially though, I am now 31 weeks and 5 days. Thankfully this pregnancy has been an easy one although when I was pregnant with Justin, it wasn't very different. But it sure is harder on the body when you're carrying a baby and chasing after a very active little boy. So I have had a few more back and hip pains but nothing some stretches don't ease. The last two or weeks or so, sleep has become an issue as I can't find a comfy position to lie in. Some nights when I am quite tired, I'll fall asleep easily but will wake up to change position and then have difficulty falling asleep again. We've been quite lax this time around in terms of getting ready for baby even though there's a heap of things I should be doing like clearing out the one chest of drawers for baby, washing the clothes, re-arranging Justin's room to fit the cot in (although that will be more Row's job than mine!), buying nappies and wet wipes, etc etc.....yikes, maybe I should stop blogging and get my butt into gear!

After our trip to South Africa and having a(n unsuccessful) scan to check the sex of the baby, I came back to Sydney and the midwife agreed to refer me for another scan. This time I prepped baby by eating chocolate before our scan and baby was lying in a better position. The ultrasound technician sounded pretty confident that it's a little girl! Row's happy, he gets his princess....Justin's happy cos he gets his baby sister and I'm just happy that baby's healthy and yes, that I get a girl too. Baby Girl Ming is growing on track to be as big her brother was, a whopping 3.5kg which is just the average size in Australia! Eeeek, hope I can go natural again.

Baby Girl Ming is super active, seems to be more active than Justin was which has me worried. I'll definitely need to get into shape and build up my fitness level to keep up with these two. She hates it when I sleep on my side...maybe I'm squashing her so she'll kick and punch and squirm and somersault until I lie on my back, elevated of course...then all is calm again. 

Due date is still a 2 months away but will keep you posted. 

30 weeks and 1 day

A whole weekend of non-stop celebrations

Justin celebrated his 3rd birthday on Sunday so we had a little party for him on Saturday. Justin loves Toy Story so we decided that would be the theme this year. I put together an invitation showing his favourite characters, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and Bullseye and Justin loved it. We organised a little picnic in the park that has a playground and a children's cycle track and lots of trees to climb. The party was scheduled for 10:30am but because it's a public park, Row didn't want to take chances and lose out on a table so we set up camp at 9:30am. Even though the sun was shining, it was windy and chilly and we were worried about the cold but as the morning progressed, it thankfully got warmer. 

Justin was so excited about his birthday party and was truly in his element especially when his friends showed up. They were climbing trees, riding their scooters and playing on the playground. For snacks we had hot dogs, mini cheese sausages, bacon and cheese muffins, lamingtons, sandwiches (made with love from Kau-Kau and Kau-moo), pasta salad and chocolate crispies. I made mini cupcakes with edible Toy Story images for the birthday boy and his mates and there was a delicious milk tart (courtesy of aunty Claire). The kids ended off the party by feeding bread to the ducks. 

The weather was good, the kids had fun and the adults had a relaxing time in the sun. Thank you to all our friends who helped celebrate Justin's 3rd birthday and a big thank you to all our family and friends from afar who sent their wishes. This birthday boy really had fun!

The celebrations didn't stop there. Justin's grandparents were together on Saturday night so when we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning, we had a quick Skype session so that they could sing happy birthday to him. Lucky Justin got to have a giant chocolate cupcake before breakfast! 

Justin's actual birthday was the same day as Mother's Day so Row cooked us a delicious breakfast of sausages, scrambled eggs and toast...yummy! I got spoilt by my little boy with the cutest framed photo and a handmade card plus some new mugs and a beautiful card. I truly am blessed to have Justin as my son! 

To end off the celebrations, Row treated us to a dinner of ribs at Hurricanes. What an awesome day! I got to spend the whole day with my boys, got some lovely presents and didn't have to worry about cooking and washing dishes. Thank you Row and Justin for a wonderful Mother's Day. 

Enjoying his ribs!

At Hurricanes with Kau-Kau

Ice cream and hot chocolate sauce with a sparkler

Mommy also got an ice cream and hot chocolate sauce