Moms visit

We were very happy to have my mom come and spend two weeks with us. It had its ups and downs with the kids, but that's to be expected.

Thea usually sleeps in the spare room, so we had her in with Finn and Elle and it made bedtime horrendous! Finally after the first 5 nights Conor decided to put her to bed in the spare room and then transfer her when mom went to bed and it was a game changer! Mornings still weren't the best, but at least we weren't dealing with awful bedtimes on top of it. 

Playing games with Grandma

All in the car (Conor driving) to the Phillip Island

Finn enjoying the hotel beds

Mom flew in on a Sunday morning. The timing was great that Oliver has his feed so I could go pick her up by myself. Last time she was here I was on bedrest so Conor did the airport pickups and drop offs. It was so nice to see her!

We had a couple casual days at home with her and then packed up for a two nights stay on Phillip Island, about 1hr45mins away. We timed it so that Oliver, who's not the biggest fan of the car, would nap. He slept nearly the whole way which was great, because before we'd even been driving an hour Elle was asking if we were there yet! The kids LOVED the hotel. Unfortunately it was a couple cold days, but that didn't stop the kids from jumping into the unheated outdoor pool! 

Lounging by the pool watching the kids

Grandma didn't want to brave the cold pool either

The first night were we there we headed to the Penguin Parade - at dusk you can go and see the little penguins come up from the ocean. They have raised boardwalks built up so the penguins can just come up and walk under you to their shelter. It was cold and windy and the kids were pretty grumpy! haha.  But by the time we walked back up to leave, there were tons of them walking along beside us behind a little fence - so cute!

Silly girls at the buffet breakfast

The nobbys

Tickling Grandma with feathers they found

Because it was so late when we got home, Thea had actually fallen asleep on the way back to the hotel and kept sleeping while Conor changed her into PJs but was very upset to find him brushing her teeth haha.  Anyways, they all went right to sleep very easily and Finn slept until 8 the next morning!  The place we stayed at was great.  It was a 3 room bungalow, so we had a nice kitchen and living area and enough rooms just as we do at home.  The next day we headed to a fun little place call "a maze'n things".  The first part is just walking through mazes and seeing different optical illusions.  The first room is one where you're walking uphill, but because of the propertions of the tables and such, you FEEL like you'll just be walking on flat ground.  Finn did NOT like it.  He got a tummy ache from it and had to sit down for awhile afterwards (and too be honest, I felt a bit nauseous for about an hour afterwards! haha).  They also had mini-golf outside so we did that afterwards.  The kids do NOT get the concept of minigolf - but it was okay, we just let them do what they wanted pretty much.

Nice day to walk into the city and go to the market

Outside the zoo

On the safari truck waiting to go

After that we went back to the bungalow and I got lunch stuff from the grocery store and afterwards just rested.  I had a nap with Oliver and the kids played at the playground there.  Then we drove out just past where the penguin parade is to "the nobbies" - BEAUTIFUL!  Again it was very windy, but so pretty, and we saw a wallaby right beside our path!

The next day we headed back home and thankfully the car ride wasn't too bad. The kids fighting in the back woke up Oliver a lot earlier than I wanted him to wake, but we all survived!

Unfortunately the second week mom was here got worse and worse as far as the kids behaviour - mainly Elle and then Thea was really clingy and didn't want Grandma cuddling her or helping her, so that wasn't helping issues.

A baby rhino blocked our path for awhile, so we got to watch these rhinos

Hippos up close

We did do a bit though.  We went to the market one day with Conor (parked at his office and took the tram to the market) to Healesville Open Range zoo, and then to a bit park not too far from the house - otherwise just hung out at the house.

Playground on moms second to last day

Kids saying goodbye to grandma before I took her to the airport to go to New Zealand to see her brother Harry and his wife Mary.

Come again soon mom!

Oliver - Five Months Old

This has been a big month for Oliver!

Rolling ever 3 seconds made this picture difficult to take!

While my mom was visiting he rolled over back to tummy for the first time!  I actually didn't even get to see it because I ducked out to the shops and left the kids with mom, but she was happy to see the whole thing!  Within another 2 days he pretty much had it mastered. 

Always with the hand(s) in the mouth

And THEN I noticed him kind of creeping FORWARD on his tummy. He was already good at spinning around when he was on his back or his tummy, but he started kind of "worming" forward - he'd tuck in his knees, stick his bum up in the air, and the plant his feet and kick so that his body would go forward. This is just so cute and amazing to me. I thought Thea did things early, but at about this age she was doing the usual backwards stuff, where they push up on their arms and end up scooting backwards under furniture. 

Reading with Thea

He's still breastfeeding like a champ but is much more distractable now, so I try to time feeds for when I can sneak into my room alone. We'll be holding off solids until 6 months like we did with the others. 

Poolside

Not enjoying the wind on Phillip Island

Naps he's a bit frustrating as he will almost always be awake 45 minutes after he falls asleep. So he still needs 4 naps in a day. Would LOVE if he would start napping longer, but as you can see by the next picture, he wakes up very happy and smiley, so he's obviously getting what he needs. Nights are still great - going down like a dream and usually waking for just one feed. It would be nice if he would sleep through the night, but none of the other kids did, so I don't expect him to. I can handle one night feed.

So smiley after naps, even if they are only 45 minutes, much to his mother's dismay

On the safari truck at the zoo

Baby Conor - hair like father, like son!

Inching forward - I had him in the middle of the blankie

For his 5 month birthday he had a whopping 2.5 hour nap!!

Settling into life with 4

*started this awhile ago and never posted

I'm starting to somewhat feel like I can handle this new life with 4 kids! haha.

Getting out is not quite so daunting anymore.  We've managed to get to homeschool group, the museum, Scienceworks AND the zoo in the last few weeks.  Not to mention a few grocery shopping trips ON MY OWN with all 4 kids.

Usually getting the kids out and to where ever we're going is good, and doing what we're doing is good... but then getting them back to the car and driving home without any tears (from them OR me!) is the difficult part! haha

watching the elephants get washed

Mini-golf as a family

Museum (thea was hiding in the stroller)

Scienceworks