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Showing posts from 2011

Visitor season

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Summer is here and visitor-season has started. First we welcomed Torsti and Linnea ( Susan & Annika’s  mum) coming all the way from Sweden to say hello to Ella and Nora. Since Morfar is still in the middle of building the new guest-room, they resolved in renting a mobile home which was parked outside our house for a week.  They are off to see the Great Ocean Road now, celebrating Linnea’s 60 th  birthday, but will be back with us for New Year. Then there was a blitz visit of Mirjam, who was on her way migrating back from New Zealand to Holland. It had been four years since we last met in Auckland, but as with really good friends it felt like it was only last week. We went to see the Kangaroos at Cleland and the koala’s at Morialta, and of course paid plenty of attention to our little girls. Good luck with your travels Mirjam! And then of course there was the visit of Santa on Christmas Eve. While the Christmas tree was already overloaded with presents, he made his ent

So many Santa's

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Santa comes in many forms and shapes here in Aussie. There was one in Childcare, making his entrance in a fire truck with sirens and all. Then there was one called Tomten at the annual Swedish Christmas & Lucia event. And then there was this odd one that sounded a lot like daddy at the Dutchies celebration, called Sinterklaas . And we’re still expecting one on Xmas eve that might sound like Morfar! One thing they all have in common: presents! They are coming in by the lot, and our girls are loving it. Another common thing is that no matter how many kids around, Nora is always the first one to walk up to Santa to check out the deal. ‘What’s up Santa?!?’

Madhouse

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It’s a madhouse here at the moment, everything happening at once. After the arrival of Ella also our fifth family member has arrived: Morfar (Swedish grandpa)! Everyone excited of course. For his third stay in three years he came with a mission: apart from his grandpa duties he will be turning the carport into a fourth bedroom. It’s a huge reconstruction project but if anyone can do it, Morfar can! In his first two weeks he not only took down the complete wall stone by stone (you can imagine the noise and the dust), but he also fixed a dozen things around the house and very important: put up a swing-set for the kids. Yes, Morfar is on fire! Besides this Ella got her Swedish citizenship at the consulate (grattis!), Nora went to her first real Christmas pageant in Stirling, and we’re preparing for the festive season (Sinterklaas and Xmas) with a range of guests we’ll be welcoming in the next month. And then of course little Ella is keeping us busy. It seems as if Mum finally

First Smile

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She’s quick to catch up, our little Ella. Already figured out that you can get a lot more done if you give your parents a smile! One month young, and the first smile has already been caught on camera! By the way: Ella must think she landed in a crazy family. Why? See here .

Jinxed

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Did we say ‘easy’? Really? Oh dear, we must have jinxed it. Not a day after our last post little Ella decided to teach us a lesson. She gave us two weeks with long hours of keeping her parents up and trying anything to calm her down. Like her sister when she was a baby, rather than falling asleep Ella prefers to let us know loud and clearly how tired and upset she is. “Am I making my point?!?” We now believe that the girls already made a pact. Nora will do anything to keep Ella awake, and Ella on her turn will pass on the favour to us. Yoho, isn’t it great to have kids?!?  ;-)

Two weeks

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My name is Ella and I am almost two weeks old. So far life has been great: sleeping as much as I want, screaming when I’m hungry and getting lots and lots of attention from my sister. Apart from a few midnight episodes I have been pretty soft on my parents. They seem to think that I’m a relaxed and happy baby. Already we’ve been making trips to the city and the hills. Mum is ever so excited that this time around breastfeeding works fine. No bottles so far, which saves them a great deal of hassle. So all good down here. My strategy: let my parent believe that I’m an easy baby. I’ll make them pay for it one day ;-) Many thanks everyone for the congratulations, presents and well wishes. Hope to see you all in person one day, but I understand that my parents have made this quite hard for all of you guys overseas. Apologies for that. I must have rather difficult parents ...

Mum's birthday

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After a day-of-birth last Thursday, it was time for a birthday today. With Ella just three days old, Mum’s birthday started off in the hospital. Bubs got her final tests done, and all looked good. That was a great birthday present in itself. Daddy’s and Nora’s day started with putting up balloons and baking a birthday cake. Then it was off to Mt Barker to pick up the ladies, and bring them to a decorated home for a big welcome party. Happy birthday Mummy! And welcome home Ella! Ella seems to be a happy baby. She drinks well and looks relaxed and chubby. She’s a hungry girl, but once fed she settles easily. And she loved her first bath so much that she fell asleep! See video below.

Sisters

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What an excitement. After spending a day and night with Tristan and Miles (Amanda & Stephen’s kids) Nora was picked up by daddy and they drove to the Mt Barker hospital. See how Nora greets Mummy and meets her newborn sister for the very first time….

Ella

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Finally, after such a long wait, there she is: another little girl. And what a surprise she has for us: dark hair and dark eyes! The longer we look at her, the less sure we are of the exact colour of her eyes. Is it brown, dark blue or even dark green? Her birth was in many ways similar to Nora’s one. This time it took 12 hours (who says the second one is easier?!?) The baby was almost two weeks late and had to be induced.  We did so early in the morning in the small countryside hospital of Mt Barker.  After a couple of hours the contractions really took off, and Mikaela got her epidural. Then things slowed down again, and it was not until nightfall when showtime started. A couple of tough and stressful hours followed of hard labour and a stubborn baby that just would not come down.  Assisted by some of the best midwifes in the business, Mikaela pushed herself beyond all limits. She was the hero of the day. She finished it almost completely on her own, but just needed some

Still waiting

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 ... while you're waiting, just have a look at our family pictures from 2011 so far ...

What's that Mummy?

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Well, whatever it is, it's coming really soon now !!!

Jump Jump

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Look what we put put up in the garden for Nora ?!? She can jump on it herself, or let daddy do the jumping !!! Thank you Morfar for this wonderful present !!!

Spring

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Just a few of weeks ago we were whinging about cold winter nights. But sure enough, we're at the end of August and Spring is already here! This week we are well into the 20°C. Let's hope the weather gods stay on course and grant us a couple of nice weeks before the latest Bijlsma arrives. Just 6 weeks to go now ....

Lilla Spöket Nora

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HELP, Ghosts in the house !!! There's a small one and a big one. Everyone: Run for your life !!!!

Best friends

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Here’s Nora with some of her best friends. First there’s Tristan. Nora and ‘Trissie’ play all the time like two cheeky boys, loud and enthusiastic, always up for some mischief. Watch out for anything that’s precious to you when those two are around! The other ‘friends’ are of course Dora the explorer, and her companion Boots. Want to come in the tent and have a play?