Miss Madeline... :).

Thursday, 25th January 2007

Why is it that some weeks feel so busy, yet when you look back at them, you realise you've barely done or achieved anything? It's been that way for the last few weeks - just pottering around the house, visiting friends & relatives and entertaining Maddy.

I honestly can't think of anything much to say, except how entertaining and funny Miss Madeline is becoming. At just 1 year of age, she's become fiercely independant and knows exactly what she likes and dislikes. Here are but a few of her feelings:

LOVES/LIKES

* Food. Quite honestly, if it's food she'll generally eat it. Nothing makes this bubby happier than smearing spaghetti or baked beans all over herself and through her hair. She actually screamed at Mummy the other day - apparently I wasn't feeding her the chicken out of my sushi roll fast enough. She can also demolish a corn on the cob faster than you'd believe.



* Her doll house. Packaged for 2 year olds, I bought it regardless and it's been a godsend. Maddy could spend hours playing house with the Daddy, Mummy and baby although she gets very upset if Mummy puts one of the dolls on the toilet!

* Being chased. She just doesn't get that Daddy & Mummy get carpet burn racing around the floor after her. It's seriously one of the funniest things ever when she is getting chased - the squeals....

* Kisses. She'll deal them out left, right and center if she's in the mood. It's actually hilarious to watch strangers' reactions when faced with a baby smacking her lips together at them loudly. :)

* Her Daddy, Grandma Chris and Aunty Leah. Seriously, her favourite three people in the world. There are sometimes when she makes me feel like just the milk bar.



DISLIKES

* Being washed. Her no.1 pet hate. She'll happily splash around in the bath with her bath friends & bubbles, but god help you if you try to wipe her face after smearing herself top to toe with pasta sauce.

* Sleeping in. (Much to Mummy's chagrin) She'll come back to bed with us at 5am when she wakes up, provided there is a feed as part of the deal. Quit the feed at any poitn and expect her to lie beside us? It's on for young & old.

* Banana. Don't get me wrong, she loves the taste and devours the 'Creamy Banana Porridge' in a jar like it's going out of fashion. Just don't give her the real stuff - she'll eat it but you'll regret it later. The nappies are a sight to behold and pretty much entitled to be labelled as toxic waste. Then of course there is the constant burping, wind and bloated tummy that makes us look like we starve Maddy.

* Headbands, hair clips, elastics, hats. You name it, if Mummy thinks it's cute or pretty then it's generally pulled out of the hair or off the head in record time. That's if you can get it on her head in the first place. She doesn't seem to mind the hair clips (barrettes) too much, until of course I noticed her in the car with one in her mouth munching away.

* Being helped with things she wants to do herself. As mentioned earlier, Madeline knows what she likes and what she wants. She's easily bored and frustrated unless the object is something interesting and difficult. Then suddenly she has all of the time in the world to work on it.



Sooo...Maddy is currently turning the family room into a natural disaster zone so I'm signing off once I find some photos to go with the above post. :)

Take care everyone and hopefully I'll have something interesting to write soon.

Becka

Christmas 2006 comes and goes....

Saturday, 6th January 2007

Wow...I can't believe I'm posting again and it's already a few days into the new year! The Petersen family certainly have had a very busy last month & a half.

Christmas was a wonderful time for us, albeit busy and kind of stressful. On Sunday, 24th December we celebrated Madeline's 1st birthday and marked the day with a party! Thank goodness I have no plans to do another party until she is say...5!, as I really didn't remember from growing up how much organisation, money and energy went into organising a party. We had nearly 50 people over, mostly friends and family (including many that came across from New Zealand for Christmas and were also able to share in Maddy's birthday).

It was a beautiful sunny day, John fired the bbq up (and had an 'argument' with my father about who's fault it was that some rissoles got charred! *L*) and Maddy took to opening presents like a pro. By the third present that Daddy helped her open, she'd figured out it was pull off the car first, then rip open the paper. Talk about spoiled...she got clothes, toys and loads of books which she loves. Our loungeroom and her bedroom look like a Toys'r'us!



Her cake was beautiful...and we themed the invitations, gift bags & birthday cake with 'Winnie-the-Pooh' design. She stuck her fingers straight in the cake as soon as the candles were blown out, but wasn't in the slightest bit interested in eating it.



Monday morning dawned Christmas Day and we had a lovely morning opening presents with Maddy and just relaxing around the house. We headed off to Bec's sister's place at about 10am, who was hosting Christmas Lunch. Although we were still really tired from the day before, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. It was early to bed that night, as we were off to Bec's Dad's for his traditional Christmas celebration on Boxing Day. Although it was raining on Boxing Day, we still had a fantastic time. It was a typical Boxing Day lunch at the Dengate's which involved the Boxing Day test match (cricket) and ALOT of rum'n'coke. *L*

We had a few days off, then headed to Toowoomba to meet up with our sister-in-law, Lorraine, and family for her birthday. Although we only managed to catch up in the madness of post-Christmas shopping, for a few hours; it was still a lovely chance for our kids (the cousins) to see each other.



The 30th & the 31st of December were spent up at the Woodford Folk Festival. Bec has danced at the festival for 7 of the past 8 years. Only having left the hospital with a newborn Maddy was the only reason why she didn't dance at the end of 2005. We braved the camp site for the night of the 30th, WITH Maddy. *L* It wasn't as bad as we thought and our little one appears to be quite the flower power child! :) Although sunburnt, tired and a little sore from camping out; we travelled back late on New Year's Eve home after Bec's 2nd performance. (Both performances had to be modified as Davydd - friend and uber-champion dancer - rolled his ankle. It has since turned out that he actually broke his foot and he is encased in plaster for the next six weeks!)

The 2nd of January was our niece, Chloe's, 4th birthday. We popped by in the evening to share some cake and check out the goodies she'd received. Maddy was thrilled as usual to see her cousin - they are particularly close. With John back at work on the 4th, we've had a fairly quiet past few days. Not surprisingly as we've all come down with gastro in a reasonably mild form thankfully. Maddy's a bit off her food soon but has been enjoying plates of fruit, much to my relief. Yesterday (the 5th - also my half-sister Jessica's birthday!), Maddy decided that she'd had enough of Mummy spoon feeding her, and wants to feed herself. My 'little' baby is growing up!




Anyway, that's about all that's been happening. Only 6 weeks to go until I see Westlife in concert which I'm thrilled about. Organised my flight to Sydney for the 27th February today. Really wish I could afford to go to the other three shows of the Australian tour - Adelaide, Perth & Melbourne - but sadly, the hip pocket only stretches so far.

Will post more soon! :)

Bec, John & Maddy XXX

'Tis the holiday season! :)

Thursday, 21st December, 2006

I don't have an awful lot to say since my last entry, it's just been a continuous few weeks of birthdays (Davydd's & Leah's on the 5th, mine on the 6th, my nephew Hunter's on the 8th, Mum's on the 20th) and this weekend is going to be HUGE! *L* Madeline will be celebrating her 1st birthday on Sunday (24th!) and then we will have two more days of parties & celebrating for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

We've also managed to squeeze in Chloe's (Maddy's cousin) dance photoshoot, dress rehearsal & concert), Christmas parties for BellyBelly QLD girls and for our dancing class.

Maddy was a brave little girl this morning, dealing very well with three immunisation needles for her 12 month check-up. She had one in each arm (HIB & MMR I think, and the Meningococcal C was in the thigh - although chances are I've got them round the wrong way) and she only cried with the one in her thigh which drew a bit of blood in the process. Aside from that ordeal, Maddy is thriving - she's now 77cms tall which is in the top 80th percentile for little girls her age (in other words, she's taller than all but 20% of the girls her age), and she's put on about 300grams in the fortnight which takes her to a nice little tally of 8.650kgs. (Ok, she's in the bottom 20th percentile for weight but as the child health nurse says - 'well, somebody has to be petite on the scale'). Regardless, she's streets ahead in her development and has added 'cheese' to her vocabulary this week. *L*

I've got to fly as little Madam is crying her cot and determined not to sleep - the MCHN said a side effect can be longer sleeps - obviously Maddy didn't get that flyer! John finishes up work tomorrow for almost a fortnight tomorrow which will be lovely - the longest holiday he's had in about 5 years!

Soooo....from the Petersen family to all of you - thank you for your love, support and friendship in this past year. It's had it's challenges but overall 2006 has been a pretty exciting year for us. 2007 promises to bring big changes (relocation to NSW) and loads more exciting events! :)

With love,

Becka, John & Maddy XXX

P.S - I'll leave you with some photos of the last month!


The BellyBelly QLD girls get together for a Christmas party, 2006.


Chloe makes a beautiful zebra. Jazz photoshoot, December 2006.


Madeline loves the garden and looks like an angel baby, December 2006


Maddy shows off her Christmas 2006 spirit, December 21st 2006


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And the lads are back in Oz... :)

Tuesday, 21st November, 2006



Yes, this is pretty much going to be an entire post dedicated to my favourite singers...Westlife... (just in case you're living under a rock or hadn't read my previous posts - therefore you should be grateful you're not one of my best friends or husband who have heard about them ad nauseum for around 8 years).

So basically, we've had 7 years of nothing for Australia. Yup, just buying CDs & singles and hoping that just maybe one of the Aussie TV music shows might grace us with a film clip or two. Last March the Westlife guys finally made good on their promise to come visit Australia again (last time they were here was 1999 and it wasn't really advertised), when they arrived on our shores for a short promo trip. Maddy & I flew to Sydney as I honestly believed it might be the only time we ever saw them here.

Then an Australian tour was promised as a result of the feedback. Excited beyond words. So I bought my ticket and looked forward to the Brisbane concert this past September. But it didn't happen. *rolls eyes* Less than a month out it was announced the tour was postponed because they were running behind in recording their latest album which was due out in October. Initially the fans were dissappointed, but accepted the explanation. That was of course until we heard an interview done two weeks prior to the Aussie tour kick-off in which the lads said they'd already finished recording. Then they added an Asian tour a week before the Aussie tour was supposed to have happened. Not impressed Jan. We all put two and two together and it spelled - not enough ticket sales, not enough balls to admit the truth.

Mich & I get comfortable at the Queen Street Mall - Tues, 21 Nov 2006

Two weeks ago we got wind of another promotional tour for their new album. We all waited anxiously for word on where they were to visit within our fair country. This time us Brisbanites got the best deal - a showcase & CD signing; the only other city they were visiting was to be Sydney. (Again there were whispers for the reason behind the Brisbane choice - apparently Brisvegas was lagging behind the other states in sales of the new album, but also concert ticket sales)

The sun comes up on Tuesday, 21st November, 2006 and the Queen St Mall is descended upon by Westlife fans. A LONG wait but fortunately a good view of the lads; and instead of 2 songs originally promised - we got 4! :) They sounded awesome, was wonderful to hear them live to dispell any inklings people might have had that they couldn't sing live. The lads started with 'World of Our Own', continued with two songs off their new album, 'The Rose' and 'Easy', and finished with 'You Raise Me Up'. They were obviously hot (well over 30 degrees in Brisbane and they'd just come from winter in Ireland) and probably shattered from only having arrived in Australia the day before. Regardless, they were just beautiful. They signed their albums and smiled for photos for the fans. Maddy got some special waves from both Shane & Mark and then we hung around waiting to collect our 3 metre long banner which Marli & I had spent the entire day before creating. The SonyBMG rep for Queensland was pretty impressed with it and tried to organise a photo of us official board members with the lads & our banner; but couldn't get it approved by security. We did manage to get on stage after the guys left and get a photo with our banner in front of the big advertisement board for their new 'Love Album'. :)

Always a sweetheart, Shane Filan smiles for Maddy and I during the CD signing.

Claire with her insider information knew they were headed over to the QPAC theatre for a sound-check prior to the Ashes concert they were performing in that evening. We hightailed it over there and snooped around a little. Claire headed off to check the basement carpark and then went home. I purchased a ticket to the Ashes concert and just as we were leaving (and handing over the banner in the care of Mich & Charlie who were going to see the lads in Sydney), someone squealed and there were the lads strolling along the carpark in front of us. Mich called the lads over and they posed with us for some photos. Sadly I missed out on one with my favourite, Shane; but snared one with Nicky who was a sweet, sweet man. :) We wished them luck and then rushed home to get ready for the Ashes to Ashes concert that evening. They were suprisingly well received for their performance of the Lionel Ritchie classic 'Easy' by a sell-out crowd of normally yobbo Ozzie & Pommy cricket fans.

A terrible shot of me, but Nicky Byrne looks as lovely as ever.


Looking forward to both the Sydney & Brisbane concerts next February which we're hoping still goes ahead!

Christmas Season is on its way! :)

November 4th, 2006



YAYYYY, not long now until December and before we know it, it will be Mummy's birthday, then Maddy's birthday and then Christmas! *LOL* Already the shops around here are in full swing with the spirit of Christmas - I'm sure it won't be very long before Santa arrives in the shopping centres. Only a few weeks ago I was looking at our childhood photos and found one with my brother & I with Santa. I must have been just on one year old and I was screaming hysterically on Santa's knee. *L* Guess I won't be getting any Santa photos with Maddy for a few years!

Last weekend was Sean & Donna's wedding. Set at the beautiful Sirromet winery at Mt Cotton; their ceremony was held on the edge of the lake in late afternoon. It was a beautiful ceremony with sentimental vows and a few tears. If only it hadn't been so muggy which brought out enough flies for the whole of Australia, it would have been spectacular. I know, I'm a whinge but I HATE flies with a passion.

Unfortunately we had to leave the reception early as John was suffering from a virus similiar to Maddy and felt really ill. Fortunately I hadn't had anything to drink so I was able to drive us home, even if I did have to drive barefoot with only my left foot still wearing a high heel. hehehe

Maddy's illness meanwhile involved high fevers for about five days before it finally broke. I had the fright of my life when we got home from the wedding and I discovered her temperature was 40 degrees! Thank goodness for a father-in-law being a GP, because it kept me sane that he was around. We just kept up the tepid baths, light clothing, loads of booby feeds and panadol. We had one day of feeling better before our little girl broke out in a rash all over her body. The poor parents-in-law got a panicked phone call from me, but we discovered she had the infant roseola virus which is a rubella looking rash after several days of high fevers. Please excuse my attempt at spellling the virus, but I'm way too lazy and tired to look up the correct spelling! *LOL* It took three days but the rash has finally gone and we have our all-night sleeping princess back again! :)

John flies to Sydney for a training session & Christmas party later this month, by which point Phil will be working in Papua New Guinea and the parents-in-law in the Solomon Islands. So basically, I'm on my own for several days but I guess I'll cope. At least now I have my license so I can get where I need to.

Hmmm....nothing much else to write home about. I just want to send a big hug to my 'big sis' in Canada, Courtney; who's had a difficult time of it lately. Hon, just want to say again that I'm thinking of you, Ryan & Kian and please remember I'm always here for you no matter what time of the day. We might have a few thousand miles between us, but I'm only a phone call, email or message away.

Much love,

Becka

A tragic loss... :(

With the Angels - Elizabeth Claro

No sooner did I hit 'post' then I remembered one of the main reasons that I wanted to post on my blog. The end of last week, the members of the Irish dancing community in Australia woke up to the tragic news that we'd lost one of its own. The newly crowned 2006 Australian National Irish dancing champion for the junior ladies 17 years division, Elizabeth 'Lily' Claro, died on the eve of the NSW HSC exams. (For those of you that aren't Australian, these are the annual year 12 exams for the state of NSW, a very stressful and nerve wracking time for final year high school students).


I didn't know Lily personally, but I have been rocked to the core by the loss of such a young, short life. Lily celebrated her 18th birthday just a week after she won her 5th national title. To the outside world that didn't know her, Elizabeth appeared to have everything just right. She was amazingly talented, bright, loved by everybody that met her; yet for whatever reasons that only those who were close to her could possibly know or begin to fathom, she took her own life. It brought to light the incredible pressure the young people are put under these days to succeed and to reach their own high expectations. I hope that if anyone reads this, that is either a young person struggling with the pressures of end-of-year exams, or parents/friends/siblings of teenagers....please don't feel alone. Seek help and support from those around you or professionals.

Elizabeth's passing made front page across the newspapers in Australia; in addition to the nightly news. I hope that in addition to the memory of this amazing young woman who had so much talent she wanted to share with the world; that the loss of Lily can help save at least one other young person from taking their own life. In her memory I'd like to share with you all a link to one of her final dancing performances.

Elizabeth Claro - 2006 National Champion during the 'Dance of Champions'

A quick persual of the international message boards dedicated to Irish dancing gives you only an inkling of how many people Lily touched in her short life. Hundreds of posts are pasted there recalling everyones fondest memories of her; and the general concensus is that Lily is now at peace and dancing with the angels. Our thoughts go out to her family & the Halloran dance school who have lost one of their daughters. Lastly, I hope that Milton Baar does not mind me using some of his photos from his website to allow everyone to see the beautiful soul that has been lost unto this world.


Elizabeth Claro (1988-2006) - RIP

A busy time...

Well, by the end of this entry I will have managed 2 posts in a month. Could be a lot better, and I really will try to be more frequent in my updates. So what has been happening?

With Sean & Donna's wedding (one of John's best friends from high school) this coming Saturday; Donna held her hens party at the Doomben races during Ladies Day two weeks ago. A little dubious at first with the challenge of attending with Maddy in tow (John was at Sean's bucks party at the same time), I ended up enjoying myself more than I could have imagined. I didn't win a cent but it was all for good fun. Maddy as usual charmed the socks off everyone at the event, and our biggest problem all day was feeding her in my race day outfit. For my close friend Maree, it meant dragging her to the ladies' room every couple of hours and getting her to undo the zip on my dress for me! *LOL*

I forgot to mention in my last couple of posts, that whilst I enjoyed myself at the Gold Coast visiting SeaWorld; and attending the Australia trials for the World Gymnastics Championships; by far the biggest disappointment for me in a long time was discovering very last minute that Westlife were postponing their Australian tour. We now have dates for February 2007, and I'm pretty pesimistic that we're ever going to see them; even if I have managed to secure a ticket to the Sydney show as well as the Brisbane one. Not that getting into the Brisbane show will be easy given that John decided to 'spring clean' and accidently threw out my Westlife ticket! Not to fear, I can have it replaced according to Ticketek but it's a pain in the butt to sort out regardless.

One of these days I will work out how to add little videos so I can show you some snippets of our SeaWorld visit. Maddy wasn't overly interested in the animals at this point, but she did seem to like the dolphins and the fairy penguins. The best part of the day for our little girl was probably just getting to spend time with her family...as you can tell by the photo, Maddy is just adored by her 3 1/2 year old cousin Chloe. As time goes on they're becoming very close; Maddy just loves squealing as she chases Chloe around the house. The photo was actually taken on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra where the gym titles were held. We stayed in a lovely resort (which just so happened to be the official competitors resort so it was hilarious whenever the lifts open and the Australian head coach, Peggy Liddick, would step out) and then a friend, CJ, kindly put us up for the 2nd night.

The competition itself was a real 'splat fest'. Between four of us, we managed to film most of the competition, but with three separate age groups/levels running at the same time across 8 apparatus it was tough. By far the class of the competition was Dasha Joura, a 16 year old from Western Australia. Her floor routine to a tango from 'Mr & Mrs Smith' went down a treat with everyone, she has so much spark and character. My personal favourite, Hollie Dykes, had quite a few falls and watered down routines. Regardless, what she did, she did beautifully and she definately continues the artistry which is quite lacking in international elite gymnastics these days. (Last week was the World Championships in Denmark, and Dasha & Hollie both placed in the top 8 in the all-around event. Dasha finished in 5th place quite controversally, many avid fans felt she should have at least been in 3rd place.) Anyway, I'm blathered on enough about the gymnastics. I'm just so pleased I've gotten to see two live gymnastics events in the past 18 months; and even prouder that I could drive myself to the latest event so I wouldn't miss it.

This week has been a bit of a struggle. Madeline had been going so well with her night sleeps; even if it meant that for now she had abandoned any sense of rest in the daytime. That I could handle when rewarded with 9 hours straight sleep at night. A few days ago, Maddy came down with a cold and has been running mid-to-high fevers on and off. As a result, I think I had 5 hours sleep from Monday night through to Thursday morning. Our poor little chicken is off colour and could barely raise a smile for me when I insisted on taking photos of her yesterday. She is certainly talking up a storm, and can move around the house at an alarming pace. Maddy has also developed a taste for foods of all kinds of naughtiness. Cinnamon donuts (she actually cries when they run out!), french fries, Italian ciok, corn chips, chocolate custard. Perhaps I'm a naughty Mummy for letting her try, but she does enjoy having a taste at what Mummy and Daddy are enjoying. By far her favourite treat however, is Sesame chicken sushi. She doesn't eat the seaweed of course, but she adores the chicken. I cannot believe how much this child can swallow.

I almost forgot to mention that last week I was able to catch up with my friends Juliette; and Leanne & her son Drew from BellyBelly. Leanne and I both had our babies at the end of the year...well actually, Drew was due on Christmas Day but didn't arrive until the first week of 2006. It was lovely catching up with Leanne, and we're hoping to make it a more frequent feature of our weeks. Drew is just gorgeous...in fact I don't think the photo does the little man any justice. He is going to be such a little heartbreaker when he gets older. He's also very laid back and easygoing; as well as apparently being a fantastic little sleeper since he was born. It's been a long time since I've seen Juliette, but i'm hoping she will be able to come down from Kingaroy again soon so we can catch up properly. I'd also love to see her daughter Hannah again!

On a final note, John passed his probationary period at work with flying colours. So basically, the move to Sydney looks all set, but probably not until February 2007. They still have a lot of work to do on the Qld Newspapers project, and I do know John'll be flying to Sydney in late November for their work Christmas function. He's hoping I'll be able to come along...guess it'll depend on how generous his work are feeling! *L* I'd better fly as it's so long past my bedtime, but I'm sure I'll think of more that I wanted to post.

Long time no post huh?

Sunday, 1st October 2006

With the dawning of the new month, and realising it's been SOOO long since we posted; I thought it was about time to let you know what Miss Madeline has been up to! :)


As you can see from the photo to the side, Maddy has been sporting her swimmers around the place. We had a 'girls' weekend away in early September when we stayed at the Nara Resort on the Gold Coast and then met up with Daddy at Sea World. We all had a fabulous time, got some great video footage of all of the animals and Maddy even went on some of the kiddy rides with Mummy.

Now a happy little GIRL (where has my little baby gone?) of 9 months, Maddy is proudly sporting 4 teeth and has decided now is the time to finally allow her poor sleep deprived parents some much needed sleep. After a week of being unsettled cutting her 4th tooth, Madeline has for the first time ever, been sleeping through the night. *Daddy and Mummy do the happy dance!*


Not happy with merely crawling (and bloody fast too!), Miss M has been RUNNING along the carpet pushing her trike in front of herself. She confidently steps between objects provided she has a hand on each, closes the sliding doors behind us too! *L* She's still loving her tinned/bottled foods as long as they don't include vegies or meat (who'd want them when they can eat Creamy Banana Porridge or Creamy Oats with Fig & Sultana?), but has decided she also likes bread, Mummy's homemade spag bog, cheese sticks, yoghurt & mashed potato.

Since she started talking, it's gotten rather difficult keeping her quiet actually! *LOL* In particular, first thing in the morning is chat time with Daddy & Mummy in bed. Maddy loves to lie back, poke open Daddy's eyes and have a little natter. Her vocabulary has extended to Mumma, Dadda, Bubba, Grandma, Nanna, Papa, Hello and Bye; the latter two including exhuberant waves.


On the home front; we don't have an awful amount happening at the moment. We're just cruising along, waiting to hear whether we're moving to Sydney in the near future. John has his appraisal in the next two weeks, so hopefully we'll know what's happening round about then. I (Bec) FINALLY (yes, I hear those sighs and can imagine the rolled eyes too! hehe) got my license a month back, so we've been galivating around the city and up to Caloundra for the Australian trials for the World Gymnastics Championships in Denmark at the end of October.


Time to go to bed and enjoy the fact that our princess is in bed; and get a relatively early night. Sorry again for being so slack in keeping this blog up to date, will try and do better I promise! :)

Love,

Bec, John & Maddy