Happy Birthday Liam!

Liam turned three months old on Wednesday 25th October. I have taken a "series of candid portraits" of our little boy at home on his special day.

The milestone caused me to pause for a moment and reflect on the past few months ... it's quite amazing how much all of our lives have changed! One minute I was a young, carefree, independent career-woman, who ducked into Cue on her lunch break to snap up the latest pair of $150 business pants and indulged in pedicures / manicures and even haircuts (!) in her spare time ... now I'm a frazzled mummy who eagerly awaits the next K-Mart and Target brochures to snap up a bargain ... highlights of my day include (but are not limited to): actually getting 5 minutes to have a shower, or sit down to eat my lunch, or go to the loo in peace. Yes, it's remarkable how things change ... my poor old GHD is going rusty from lack of use.

On the up side, being a mother - whilst challenging at times, has been more than I ever dreamed it could be. Every time Liam gives me one of his cheeky smiles my heart just melts, and the sleepless nights fade into insignificance.

A quick update on the mums and bubs cardio class - yes, I did make it, and I enjoyed it ... Liam on the other hand, found the whole thing quite bewildering, and when some of the other babies started screaming, he decided he didn't want to miss out on the action and gave me his best. So while I exercised my muscles he exercised his lungs! A good workout was had by all. I will be back next week...

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A Visit to GGrandma Mavis in Rocky

We had a whirlwind weekend! Zane's mum came down to stay with us on Friday night and went home on Saturday. Then on Sunday we flew up to Rockhampton to see Zane's Grandma Mavis (Liam's Great-Grandma!). I think she is 87 years old. Mavis was very excited to see us. She has lived in Thackeray Street for over 60 years ... her family originally owned three blocks, and a block each was given to Roy (Zane's Grandad) and his two brothers. The other two blocks are no longer in the family but Mavis's place is still going strong.

Liam had a great day and was surprisingly easy to travel with. He fell asleep on the plane on take-off and landing and was completely oblivious to it all.

Zane worked from home on Monday and Brent came over for dinner. So it has been a Knight weekend!

Yesterday we had morning tea with the Mum's group at Toombul. Liam had a little accident in the lift on the way out of the shopping centre, which resulted in a very unhappy, screaming baby, a complete outfit change and a few spot cleans for the bugaboo! I won't go into the details, to protect Liam's dignity, but let me tell you it wasn't pretty...

Today we are hoping to make it to the Mums and Bubs cardio class.

PS - I have also included a picture of Zane and Liam playing on the front porch near the bamboo bushes - Liam was fascinated with it all and had a great time out there!

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Liam 12 weeks old.

On Sunday, after our obligatory weekend trip to Bunnings, we visited the Masons. Rick had some bricks delivered to make retaining walls for the front and side gardens, so Zane was given a pair of garden gloves and set to work moving and placing bricks ... what fun! Of course, someone had to look after the baby ... so unfortunately I couldn't help.... what a shame. Above is a picture of Liam in his sunhat, being the Site Manager. A few cold beers were had by all after the work was done, then it was off home to watch Bobby being evicted from Idol. How sad!

Here is a picture of Liam typing in today's blog - isn't he clever! He's very advanced for his age.

Above is a picture of Sophie, Toby and Liam. Note Sophie's top right big tooth - it is SO close to falling out. She is hoping for $5 from the tooth fairy... the prices have certainly gone up since I was a kid.

After new parents group today, I put Liam on the scales. He weighed in at a very healthy 7kg. What a chubba!

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Lunch at Anzac Square & Four Generations of the Knights/Nicholsons

On Friday Liam and I met Kylie for a visit to Airs & Graces to try on wedding dresses, then had lunch in the park with Kerryn, Mark, Karen, Geri and Lisa. Liam had a great day and had lots of cuddles with everyone. After lunch we went up to MacGillivrays and I said hi to my old workmates. It was a bit strange wheeling Liam through the corridors of my old work place!

On Saturday, Zane, Liam and I went up to Tewantin to visit Great-Grandma May, Grandma Ann and Ian (Pop). Above is a picture of four generations of the Nicholson/Knight family.

After lunch we drove home via the Ettamogah Pub and purchased a steak & bacon pie for dinner from the legendary Sunrise Bakery. If you haven't experienced a pie from there, I highly recommend you try one! We also bought some strawberries from the strawberry fields on the other side of the Bruce Highway - absolutely delicious, also highly recommended.

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A Visit from Aunty Chae

After a quiet day at home yesterday, we had a visit from Jacki and Chae. Liam had big cuddles and he was so comfy in Chae's arms that he fell asleep! After their visit we went to watch Chae's swimming lesson. She is a very good swimmer and Liam was most impressed.

Above are pictures of Liam in his Kermit suit (kindly given to us by Kerrie and Rick - used to be Toby's), and Chae with Liam.

I am VERY excited this morning because last night, Liam slept through without waking up from 11pm to 5.30am. How good is that! What a clever boy.

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Liam 11 weeks old

I can't believe my little boy is 11 weeks old already ... he is growing up so fast.

On Sunday, Liam and I went to a tea tasting party at Rachel M's house. It was great fun. Lots of girls, lots of tea and nibblies followed up with the obligatory champers and chardy. Liam charmed the ladies and I didn't see much of him while he did the rounds with everyone! It was great - he loved all the attention.

Today I had New Parent's Group again. Next Monday I am going to a Mums and Bubs cardio class - apparently I will be using Liam as my weights! Sounds like fun and I am looking forward to it.

Above are a couple of pics taken today.

Deb and Dec's Wedding

On Friday our friends Deborah and Declan got married! Deb looked absolutely beautiful as you will see from the picture above.

The wedding was at the Botanical Gardens in the city. We had a fabulous time and I drank a lot more champers than I intended to. Oh horror of horrors, my shoe broke on the way to the ladies and I had to phone Zane from the safety of a locked cubicle to come and rescue me ... a quick word with the manager of the venue, a reel of black masking tape, and all was restored to normal.

Kerrie kindly volunteered for babysitting duties. Liam was a very good boy for his Aunty Kerrie (or so she tells me, anyway). I was a good girl and only called once to check how things were going. Luckily (for me but not for Kerrie) he woke up and requested a feed at midnight, just before we got home ... so I got to sleep until the next feed at 4am! I have discovered that having a 10 week old and a hangover is not cool. A Hungry Jacks Bacon Deluxe does go some way to easing the pain though. Will have to seriously think about the ramifications before indulging again...

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Fun in the Park

Liam and I decided to enjoy the beautiful spring weather today and went to Kalinga Park for a picnic lunch with Kerrie, Sophie, Toby, Jenni and Keira.

Sophie and Toby played on the huge playground there. Keira had a bit of a cold but she was a real trouper. Liam just sat in his pram watching the goings on with interest.

Above are pictures of Liam (10 weeks 3 days) and Keira (9 months), and Kerrie, Sophie and Toby with Liam.

After a hard day at the "office" we packed our things up and went home. Liam and I went for a walk along the Kedron Brook to enjoy the evening breezes and bumped into Colin Stewart from Tait. Colin lives just down the road from us and was riding his bike home from work. We had a good chat.

This evening Zane's brother Brent popped in for a quick visit and gave Liam some of his dinner.

We are going to a wedding tomorrow - Deb and Deklan - Kerrie has kindly volunteered her babysitting services. I must go and get my beauty sleep for the big day ahead.

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Making new friends

Liam and I went to a New Parents Group at Nundah today. The other mums were really nice. Liam was an angel baby and slept through the whole thing. The other mums were very envious. I reminded them that their babies probably sleep a bit longer at night than my little rascal!

Above are pictures of Liam in his PJ's, preparing for another exciting day, and in his new overalls, ready to head off to New Parents Group.

Zane's mum is staying with us for the week, last night tonight so we're having a nice family dinner to send her off.

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Liam 10 weeks old

Liam and I are having a lovely day today. As it's Monday it's cleaning day. Dad has gone to the dentist. Good luck!

Tomorrow we are going to our first New Parents Group. Liam is looking forward to making some new friends.