Happy Little Girl

Here are some of the latest photos of our beautiful girl. She is growing like a mushroom, still sleeping well, and feeding is fine as long as there's nothing else of interest going on (including Dad talking in the same room).

About 10 weeks

Cuddles with Aunty Lisa at Easter

Some lovely smiles while I was making my breakfast the other day. It could have been my singing but it's more likely to be the fan, which is the best mobile money can buy!

13 weeks

She's getting very strong with her tummy time.

we went to the local park on Friday which was nice for about 10 minutes, then it started to pour! Just as well as the mozzies were more annoying than torrential rain.

A Sunny Autumn Day

Jess and I thought we'd make the most of this beautiful Autumn weather and spend some time in the park. A picnic blanket under a big shady tree next to the lake at Civic Park was a wonderful place to spend a sunny afternoon.

I know she isn't smiling but she did have a lovely time kicking her legs in the fresh air.



But too much fresh air is very tiring!

Dad even made a visit after school. Jess was very happy to see him!

More of a good thing (Jess)

Jess has been up to all sort of things during the past few weeks. We took a drive to Eynesbury to visit Nanny and Poppy on the long weekend. The weather was cool, so it was the perfect opportunity to pull out an old outfit - very old in fact. This one was mine when I was a baby!


It came in handy when we had an alfresco breakfast. Jess was warm and toasty in her outfit, blanket and sitting under the heater.



We met Nanny for lunch at Hersonswood the following weekend and had a lovely time. Jess enjoyed gazing up at the giant old fig tree overhead and Mum and I had a beautiful Italian lunch.

The bouncer has been extremely handy. Jess sits in it for every meal and sometimes the occasional snooze.

There is no better way to spend those long afternoons than snoozing with Dad!



And of course, there is lots of time spent with just to two of us. Lots of time for cuddles and gazing at each other!

Sleepy times

As should be the case with babies, Jess takes her sleeping very seriously. Although she doesn't sleep quite as much during the day as her mum would like, her is very good at sleeping at night. She does, however, get some decent day sleeps in, and here are some best positions she has found herself in.

And then there were three

On the 19th of January, a third person joined our little family. Jessica Olive Adkins was born at 3:49am in Warragul. We spent two nights in the hospital getting to know Jess before heading home and settling down to being a new family unit.

The happy family with Jess less than an hour old

tiny bubba being weighed. The scales read 3685g

Cuddles with Dad the next day, about 12 hours old

Jess' first bath, gazing at her Dad

Roland figured the best way to make sure he knew how the car seat worked was to test it on someone a bit tougher than a new born. Puffin was the obvious choice.

Garden Works Begin!

After all my talk of creating a wonderful garden after moving in to our house, it has taken just over nine months for works to start. Dad spent a day with me over Easter measuring and designing a retaining wall for the back boundary. This was the vital first step as the wall will allow a fence to go up, which will define the space for garden beds. So with the design done and materials ordered, a weekend was designated for work to start. Dad and I started on Saturday and Lloyd joined the team Sunday.
Before:




The first little job was to remove the tree stump that was right on the boundary. I only broke one maddock in the process but it came out fairly easily.

It was a cool start Saturday morning.

Digging the post holes didn't go quick as well as I had hoped due to the fill that was used on the block. Our little post hole digger we hired didn't do a great job, so Neil was kind enough to lend a hand with the tractor. However, this wasn't a success either, it just made massive holes. Fortunately, the fill stopped about 10 metres down the boundary, then the little digger worked a treat!

Dad and I spent all of Saturday digging holes, then putting up the posts. We nearly made it half way.


Sunday morning saw a lot of progress, as Lloyd with his experience and confidence started constructing the wall. Dad and I kept going with the posts, with the assistance of a keen pint-sized helper.

The cold didn't deter Abi, she just rugged up got to work!


Roland only popped his head out on the rare occasion to take a break from his school work. And when he did, you could be sure he wouldn't move a step without his Black Shadow stuck to his side.

The finished product. The wall was completed in the weekend. The post still need a bit of work to get them ready for the fence, but it was a great start. I've already ordered the fruit trees that will call the boundary home by Spring!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

We have been looking forward to this moment for three years - our first Christmas in our very own home! Although we didn't actually spend Christmas at our home, we had lots of fun putting our first tree and decorating it with the decorations we bought two years ago.
This year worked very well with time spent with both families. Christmas Eve was spent with the Adkins' and Christmas afternoon we arrived at the Pikes.


Even more fun then the tree was making a present for our parents. After a full day of baking, Roland and I had our own houses to assemble and decorate for our respective families. We shared creative ideas and had a lovely afternoon together. The best feature was definitely Roland's snowman!




Both houses were well received but the most excited person was undoubtedly Angus. I don't know how many times I heard him say, "I like that one!", "I really like it Aunty Kellie!" or "You made it all by yourself?!" He was very cute. All the kids were very excited when it came time to break it up and eat it!


As is always the case with Pike family gatherings, there were dogs everywhere, but none more excited by our presence than Scally. All her Christmases come at once when Roland is around and Sarah put this little sign on her back when she was lying under the tree. It says, 'Roland, Love Santa'. Emily knows how much Roland likes walking the dog. She told me that I should get a dog for Uncle Roland then he can take it for walks and I could have a rest. That way, I can watch what I want on TV and I don't have to watch the cricket with Roland. Child logic is a beautiful thing!

The kids loved the giant ball from the Donaldson's, especially when it was deflating!

By the 27th, everyone else had left Enysbury. Dad took us to Werribee Gorge for a lovely little walk. The rocky cliffs were very interesting, showing a number of anticlines and synclines.