Southbank

We took a trip to Southbanks new water park on Sunday. I thought it would be a great way for Cohen to burn off some energy and have  some family time before Chad goes back to work. Cohen absolutely LOVED it! His two feet where rarely touching the ground at the one time as he jumped around with excitement from water feature to water feature....

A moment of calm as he stood in the middle of one of the water fountains. 

Snack time and a chance to watch the city cats go by.

...we will definitely be making a repeat visit before the weather gets too cold.

jx

The Bump

A beautiful friend of mine from KaleidoscopePhotography Australia offered to document the bump before it popped...these were the results.

My belly button jus seamed to grow and grow, it was its own entity... 

The view from up top!

Little ray of sunshine

Our growing family.

Thank you so much Laurel for offering your time....i hope you are happy with the results.

Please check back soon to see what happens when we welcome #2!

jx

Lately

Just a few pics from our days of late...lots of home time preparing for #2 and getting as much 'Mummy & Cohen time' before he has to share....although he'll always be - 'mum's boy!'

Discovering something he'd lost under the table.

Mr. Big!

jx

Play dough

We had our first play dough making attempt the other day. Firstly i was quite surprised at just how much salt you actually add to the recipe. As a lover of all things salty - olives, anchovies, salt & vinegar chips....I shouldn't be surprised really as i remember eating my fair share of home-made play dough in my early years...maybe this is were i got the taste from!? Any who, this is the recipe i used;

Step 1Ingredients

Basic ingredient ratios:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)

food colouring (as much as desired)

Step 2Mix and heat

Mix all of the ingredients together, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, as shown below, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like play dough.

Step 3Knead & color

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or silicone mat, and knead vigorously until it becomes silky-smooth. Divide the dough into balls for coloring.

Make a divot in the center of the ball, and drop some food colouring in. Fold the dough over, working the food color through the body of the playdough, trying to keep the raw dye away from your hands and the counter. You could use gloves or plastic wrap at this stage to keep your hands clean- only the concentrated dye will color your skin, so as soon as it's worked in bare hands are fine.

Work the dye through, adding more as necessary to achieve your chosen colour.

So much fun watching him build and play!

Looks like Mr. Crocodile was a little curious as to what the salty dough tasted like too...

I would say our first attempt was a success. It made a really good quality dough and Cohen just loves building little landscapes for his animals to live in. I just have to watch him as he too seams to be curious as to what this salty dough tastes like. I have found him running to a corner of the house or behind the couch to sample our green and yellow creation.

jx

Summer wedding

Close friends of ours were married on Friday 2nd at a lovely (and very hot) Gold Coast ceremony. We decided to try our luck and take Cohen to the reception since it was out doors and he would be easily distracted if he became restless. We were given a small tube of bubbles to blow when the bride and groom were announced and Cohen loved trying to blow his own bubbles. To our surprise he actually got a few out, and was darn cute with his many attempts.

Blowing bubbles like a pro...

Waiting for the bride to arrive

My boys!

After the ceremony Cohen headed to a night with 'Nanny & Poppy', and mum & dad had a child free night which was bliss. A rare opportunity to actually sit down and have a full conversation with people without having to keep one eye on a small child and race off mid sentence to stop him climbing something he shouldn't. It was a beautiful day, and we are so happy for the newly weds. The pressure is now on to have some bambino's of there own so Cohen has some more friends to play with - hehe!

jx