Friday, April 27, 2007

News

Mitch is getting better and better at standing. He can't quite stand up by himself, but almost. Once he's up though he's getting better at standing up for longer like in this photo

He got some very cute pyjamas for his birthday which fit okay on the top, but they're a bit long in the leg.


We had some left over bubbles from Mitch's party so we had a bit of a play on the deck.





Meeks goes back to work next Wednesday which is going to be a tough day for all of us. I have the rest of this week and up until Wednesday next week off work so we can have a bit of family time together before Meeks goes back to work.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Mitch's 1st Birthday Party

We were blessed with wonderful weather for Mitch's 1st Birthday Party today. A blue sky, the park next door, family, and good friends made for a wonderful day.

Cupcakes (made by Meeks)

The Rocket Cake (made by Meeks)

Friends and Family



The Birthday Boy


The Rocket Takes Off

Friday, April 20, 2007

Some birthday pictures

Mitchy had a bit of a sleep in (any time after 7am is a sleep in!) and then opened his present.

Then he proceeded to push it around with a big smile on his face.


Later on in the day we went to our favourite park at Waroongah and had a bit of a play


Thursday, April 19, 2007

Happy Birthday Mitchy!

This time a year ago Mitch had just been born. Meeks was still groggy and feeling sick after the anaesthetic and would be sore for the next few days. Mitch was a beautiful, chunky little boy with big cheeks and dark hair. He was born a month early so was always sleepy and had trouble feeding. In short he was an amazing blessing from God.

The past year has been wonderful seeing him grow, watching as he learned to interact with the world and seeing his personality develop. The next year is going to be just as wonderful I'm sure, as he reaches so many more milestones.

Don't worry there will be pictures coming as soon as I get around to it!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Needles

Mitch had his 1 year immunisation needles this morning, poor little boy. He had three needles for various things including meningococcal which is a new one. It's nice to know that he wont ever get at least that strain of it now. He had two needles in one leg and one in the other. He was very brave and only cried a little bit while he was actually being injected. By the time we had left the doctor's office he had stopped crying, what a good boy! Hopefully, his legs wont hurt to much tomorrow on his birthday. I have the day off and it it's fine we're going to go to our favourite park.

The doctor also confirmed that he appears to have a skin allergy to vegemite which is not very Australian, but of all the things to be allergic to, vegemite is probably fairly easy to avoid. You don't accidentally put vegemite in something. Also, all that happens is that he gets a skin rash, so it wont mean racing off to the hospital or Epipens or anything like that.

In other news yesterday he drank his water through a straw for the first time yesterday. Funny how the most menial of tasks can be seen as a milestone!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Swing fun

I've always wanted to take some pictures of Mitchy on his swing but have lacked the technology to capture those action shots satisfactorily. He loves being on his swing out on the back deck. The ability to increase the ISO and therefore being able to increase the shutter speed means you can take great action shots. For those who care these were taken at 400 ASA and a shutter speed of 1/750 sec, for everyone else here are a couple of photos!



And finally, one other cute one. How could you refuse anything to this little one?

Another busy weekend

I got a chance to play with the new toy over the weekend and take a few pictures of Mitch. It's hard to believe he's almost a one year old. This time last year Meeks was in hospital with high blood pressure, obstetric cholestasis and with her diabetes almost uncontrollable. Back then we certainly didn't know what joy the next year would bring us.

Anyway, here's a few photos taken using the new camera. They are taken on the play gym in the park next door in some afternoon sunlight.






Also Auntie Krissy and Glen came and had breakfast with us on Sunday before Glen returns to the UK. Auntie Krissy will be going to live with Glen in the UK in June so Mitch will miss her.



I'm enjoying playing with the new camera. I have a long way to go in understanding all it's capabilities, but it will be fun to find out. It's Mitch's 1st birthday on Thursday and I have the day off work so hopefully it will be a lovely day and we have lots of fun. Meeks and I went shopping yesterday and bought him his birthday present. Hopefully he likes it! His party is next Saturday. We hope it will be a nice day so we can have it in the park next door. At the moment they are forecasting rain, but 7 day weather forecasts aren't known for their accuracy! Anyway, it will be a chance to get lots of nice photos and have some fun.

Friday, April 13, 2007

New toy

Due to a price reduction ($100 off at Ted's Cameras) and a few other factors we were finally able to get the new camera we were hoping for. It is a Pentax K100D. Here is a link for a review. It's a 6 megapixel Digital SLR (DSLR). 6 megapixel doesn't sound like a lot, but when it's paired with a DSLR the jump in quality from even a 10Mp point and shoot is quite noticeable. 6Mp is enough for A3 sized shots, providing the camera is good enough.

Now the only excuse we have for bad photos is the photographer. There is a bit of a learning curve for getting the most out of it although it does have a very basic automatic everything mode. After that there are a number of picture specific automatic modes (like portrait, landscape, macro, etc) and then you get into the more manual modes. I think initially we care more about the picture quality. It's a pain to take a beautiful picture of Mitch and then realise there is heaps of noise and it's out of focus etc. We'll learn to use and appreciate the more manual modes as we become more familiar with the camera.

The timing is great because it's Mitch's 1st birthday next week!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Family Lunch

We've had a very busy weekend visiting Horizon's with the Smart's and having family lunches. We had a lunch today today with Meeks' family and took a few cute photos of Mitch with the his Nana and Poppy and Auntie Krissy.
First with Nana


And with Poppy



And Auntie Krissy and Glen


An just one more because he's such a cutie:

Monday, April 02, 2007

Family BBQ

Mitch finally got to meet his Uncle Jamie last night and he got to play with his cousin Lilly again. We had a bit of a family BBQ on Sunday night because Jamie and Phaik are back from the UK. It was a lovely dinner prepared by Mike and Mandy.

What a cutie!

First Hair Cut

Mitch's hair was getting a bit long and he was beginning to look like a bit of a bogan (apologies to any legitimate bogans reading this blog - it is a term of affection. If you're unfamiliar what a bogan is, check out here or here). Admittedly he was a very cute bogan, but his hair was beginning to look suspiciously like a mullet. Anyway, we decided it was time for a hair cut. Here is the pre-hair cut look (Mitch is modelling his very cute Red Baron sleep-suit). As you can see, the hair is growing over the ears and though you can't see the back, it is quite bushy.


So we went over to the Blairs for dinner and the wonderful Shazzy whipped out the clippers. He wasn't very sure about it at first ...

... but was a very good boy and didn't cry or wriggle or squirm. He had a number 8 on the back and a number 12 on the top. Once Shazzy had done most of the work, Daddy had a go ...


Many thanks to Shaz, she did a great job and our little bogan has been turned back into a little boy! I can highly recommend Hair by Shaz for little ones :)

PS: Mitch had a bit of an allergic reaction to something earlier in the day and he had a bit of irritation and swelling around his lips. That's why he looks a bit like he has had collagen injections in his lips in the photos.