Fun and games

Hello, everyone! It's Mum here. It's my first post on the blog and I find it very exciting! I have a little quiz for you- look at the picture to the right... whom is whom?? At least one is Carly and one is Kate. They look a bit similar, don't they? I think they're both beautiful...but then again, I am their mum!

We've certainly been busy around here lately. Days just seem to fly by, running around and taking care of two kiddos. There is always something to do...never a dull moment! Kate is growing more day by day, getting better head control, finding a bit more of a routine and smiling to charm us. She makes lots of eye contact, watches Carly run around and has started to coo a little bit as well. She loves music and smiles when we sing to her. And just yesterday I caught her smiling at the tv when Carly was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Carly's favorite from an early age). She's not 'low maintenance' with a bit of colic and acid reflux but she has them to a lesser degree than Carly did when she was that age. Thank goodness!

Carly is growing and learning so quickly. She does the alphabet song almost in it's entirety...that LMNOP part gets a bit muddled up, but who really needs those letters anyway?! She loves Kate and gives her kisses and cuddles to the point that Kate gets a bit annoyed after a while! Carly sings a lot with or without the music and is always saying something that makes me laugh. She's testing all the boundaries and sometimes rebelling against the potty training thing but generally does pretty well. She's 2 though...that's what 2 is for, right?

One thing I have found difficult at times is not being able to give either one of the girls undivided attention very often. Several weeks ago, our friend Bec came over and looked after Kate for a couple of hours so Carly and I could go have a moment! We went to the Reptile Centre and Carly had a GREAT time! We saw lots of snakes and lizards. Of course, Carly's favorites were the ones that moved plus the sea snake and the turtle. She sat very patiently through a little talk about snakes and lizards before we got to pet a few of the lizards. By far the highlight of the trip was seeing the crocodile and watching him eat. They only feed the croc every week or so and in winter only every six weeks, so it was great that we just happened to be there at the time and day they were doing it.

Carly and I had already seen everything in the centre and were about to leave when they told us they were going to feed the croc. We went outside and a few people had already stacked up, so I put Carly on my shoulders so she could see. On the menu for the day: rabbit. Carly immediately sees it and says 'RABBIT'! It was at that point I briefly thought...is this a good idea? Will she freak out and have nightmares forever from watching this croc eat the little rabbit? I thought...na, she'll be ok. Thank goodness I was right! The guy did his talk about crocs eating and then threw the rabbit to the croc. The silence of the moment after was broken by my beautiful little girl laughing hysterically, saying 'crocodile eating!' Apparently it struck her as insanely funny...go figure. We watched him finish off the rabbit before he was fed a kangaroo tail. As the croc went crunch crunch on the tail, Carly once again laughed through it. I'm pretty sure a few people thought her reaction was a bit surprising! We went down alongside the tank, where the croc swam by and gave us some good views of his teeth, before we headed for the car. As we walked through the parking lot Carly said, "Ha ha ha. Crocodile eating. Silly crocodile. Ha ha ha." More of this followed later in the day and she was very proud of her little stretchy blue crocodile, our souvenir from the reptile centre. It was definitely a fun outing and I'm looking forward to next Monday when we get to go do another Mum/Carly outing. Thanks, Bec!

Daniel and Carly went to a fundraiser for a church camp a few weeks ago. It was a 'bush dance' complete with live band, dancing, limbo and a barbecue. Kate and I were going to go but she was having a rough night and I decided to spare everyone's ears. Carly had a great time running around with friends, singing and dancing and she looked so cute too! I've also included some Kindergym pics. We go to kindergym every Tuesday morning for about an hour. The kids play then do a 'warm up' of singing with some motions, play a bit more then do a 'cool down' with some more music. Several of her little friends go along too, so it's a great time for her to run around, play with friends, climb and totally wear herself out.

We are trying to enjoy lots of time with Carly's kiddo friends and all of our friends since we are moving in about 8 weeks! It's all going to happen so fast and we will be back in the USA before we know it. We head out of Alice May 26, do a bit of visiting with family then head to Texas to get ourselves sorted before Daniel starts his new job with Apex Capital Corp on June 15. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers over this crazy next few months! For now, enjoy our pics!
-Mum