Some Holiday Pics......

Em & Daddy at the beach.

Em & Mummy at the beach.

Daddy & the kids at the beach.

The Crosby boys and the Lynch boys.

Catching up on some reading....

This really is a good read, I just can't seem to put it down....

Very thought provoking indeed.....

SCORE!! Riley just loved bowling with his Uncle Dave & Aunty Mandy.

Em's Christening.

A couple of black & whites courtesy of Aunty Little Bec.

Riley & Alex clowing around on Christmas Day.

Emily & Uncle Boof catching up on some sleep on Boxing Day........

The Holiday is over!

Riley and Ethan re-united for a play date at our house.

Riley and Ethan joined by Ethan's older sister Cailyn.

Riley and Ellie (old kindy friends) re-unite over a milkshake at a play date at Lollipops in Brisbane.

Riley and Ellie at Garden City after having their faces painted at the shop 'n' drop.

Well the holiday is well and truly over now. We have been home for just over one week now and we have been without electricity for every single day since. Mostly the power goes out once or twice a day for two hours at a time but on Wednesday it was out for a total of 7hrs and 50minutes and they say that this is not a 3rd world coutnry. The reason is something they call "loadshedding" it is what happens when there is not enough electricity to meet demand and so the power company, Eskom, has to cut a certain amount of power to certain areas. They try to rotate around all the suburbs but it is hard not to feel like the only one affected when it is your time. They even cut power to their own office building last week. So this is the reason why I have not been able to update the blog until now, it's kinda hard to do with no power....... So our holiday was fun and it was really great to see everyone again and it was much harder to leave this time but at least we know that we will be back in just a few short months for Brookie's wedding which makes things easier. Riley was a bit torn when we got home as he really misses everyone from home (especially his cousin Alex) but he also missed a lot of his friends from here too. I think it will be really great for the kids when we return to have so much extended family around. I am looking forward to them growing up with their cousins too, as much as Riley and Alex fight we know that they love each other just as much and I think that when they are not both living in the same house in each other's personal space they will get along famously. Chloe was fascinated with Emily and I think the fascination was mutual, I am looking forward to seeing how they relate in April when we are back becasue Emily will be much older and more aware of the people around her.

16 Weeks Today!!

Em has turned into quite the thumb sucker since she started teething, yes she is really teething, I even took her to our GP to be sure it wasn't an ear infection or anything and she confirmed that it is teething.

Whilst we were on holidays Emily grew so much and became so much stronger, she now really enjoys sitting up whenever she can so this little seat (called a Bumbo) is really good for her now. It is a loaner from my friend Carolyn. I wasn't sure I would use it at first but now I am glad that I have it. She still gets plenty of mat time and tummy time as well.

This is Emily with Mousey (one of Em's Christmas presents from Uncle Dave & Aunty Mandy) he has turned into her toy of choice these days, I personally think that it is becasue the tip of his nose resembles a nipple and she loves to suck and chew on it.

Well I guess it's true what they say about time flying when you're having fun. Emily is now 16 weeks old and a great ball of fun too. Over the last week she has really started to find her voice and is not afriad to use it. She chats away to her toys and her playmat and enjoys having nice chats with us as well. She travelled really well on the way back from Australia too and just as she did on the way over at Christmas time she took 4 days to get her body clock back on track and is now once again sleeping through the night; she actually slept 13hrs straight with no stirring during the night last night. On Jan 12 (Uncle Dave's Birthday) Emily rolled for the 1st time and has done so a few times since then also. Riley also travelled really well on the way home and managed to have a couple of good sleeps. We arrived home (to our house) at around 6pm on Wednesday night and Riley was up at 3am Thursday morning; at around 7:15am he asked me if he could please go to school. So after much discussion I allowed him to go to school, I told his teacher that he would be really tired and that she was to call me when he started to fade. I didn't get any calls and when I came to collec him at lunch time he was still going strong. Rliey has fitted straight in nicely to his new class and really likes his new teacher, Samia. He even has a grilfriend already (not surprising at all considering he is obessessed with girls), her name is Kelly and she was one of his girlfreinds last year too, Kelly and Riley also share a birthday which is nice so they are exactly the same age. This year Riley is continuing with his computer class at school as he really seems to enjoy what he is learning there and he has also started Speech and Drama classes which I really think should be a good outlet for his imagination. He is also going to continue with his horseriding lessons this year as well which he is looking forward to starting this week. My friend Carolyn is trying to organise violin lessons for the boys also but i am not sure, I really think that he would enjoy music lessons but just not necessarily violin.