Haircuts, daddy's boots and flower girl dresses.

Just a few quick photos to add to the blog. Last week I was sick of Maeghan's hair always getting in her eyes that I took her for a hair cut. The other motivation was that she she will no longer sit still long enough for me to pull it back.

The end result is this.... I think it looks pretty cute, though it took me a few days to get used to it.




















The following photos are just a few cute ones of Maeghan playing with Derrick's boots. The funny thing about these boots it that when I found her playing with them, Derrick had left them lined up against the wall at the back door. Maeghan was originally standing in them, facing the wall, unable to move because they were so heavy.

This photo was taken just after we opened the package from Jenny. She absolutely LOVED the dress and cried when I took it off her. It's a little bit big at the moment, but we'll make sure it fits perfectly by the time the wedding comes around. The dress is gorgeous and I can't wait to see all the girls together in their dresses.

And finally... just a quick photo of us taken from Michelle's 30th birthday party.

St Paddy's Day 2009

Once again, to celebrate St Paddy's day we caught the train into the city to watch the parade, followed by a picnic in Hyde Park with the thousands of other Irish ex-pats from around Sydney. The parade itself was much the same as last year and Maeghan had more fun running up and down the sidewalk than actually watching the parade. My favourite again was the big Irish wolfhounds. Derrick's favourite was the Guinness beer that he got to enjoy at the end of the parade.

After the parade has finish, everyone congregates up in Hyde park where they have Irish bands and dancers, amongst various other forms of entertainment. The place gets mobbed with people representing all areas of Ireland and most people proudly show their county jersey. We met a few of Derrick's friends for a quick catch-up, though I spent most of the time chasing Maeghan around.



Maeghan had a ball. She developed her own version of Irish dancing and didn't seem at all interested in dancing for the camera. I tried to get a little bit of footage, but she wasn't really cooperating for me. The dance is more of a stomp, stomp, shake, shake type of style really. It was a long day, but good fun and we had one very tired little girl by the end of it.



PS. Happy Birthday Peter.

Shoes, bags and attitude.

There are new obsessions in our household at the moment. Shoes, bags, babies, jewellery... and I'm not talking about me (or Derrick, maybe Derrick, but not when I'm around). It must be genetic programming because I'm sure I'm not that bad. Surely she's not role modelling off me!!!


The play routine these days usually involve lots of drawing, walking around in anyone else's shoes besides her own, pushing the little pram around the house and stomping like a dinosaur. Oh yeah - and she loves checking herself out in the mirror. Maeghan is really into her action songs at the moment as well and I usually have to repeat them over and over again. The really great thing about this is that they get stuck in my head ALL DAY. Funny thing is, Derrick was saying he did a 10km run the other day with 'I'm a little tea pot' going over and over in his head throughout the entire run. We're all suffering at the moment.





This photo is a few weeks old, but it was taken on the ferry to Darling Harbour with Pat and Stephen when they were in Sydney for a quick visit.

Perfecting the art of play...

With so many long hot days we've had lots of time to play outside in the evenings. Here is a collection of some photos taken during the summer.

The first set of photos were taken after a box for the new pool filter turned into a temporary cubby house. You know what they say about kids & boxes, they rather the box than the object that came in them. Well as you can see, this box was big enough for even Derrick to climb in - just!

The dogs are a regular feature in our outdoor activities. Just so everyone knows who they are - this is a photo of Gemma.

and this is Podger.

The mini has been out of action for a few months now, so it hasn't been out of the garage for a while, but every now and then it comes out so we can get to things in the back of the garage. This was one of those times and Maeghan seems have great fun playing in her big 'toy' car.

Derrick - On a break from working on the paving around the pool.

We've just had the Australia Day long weekend and after all the work that's been done on the house up at Umina, we were back up there for a few days break. The weather was sweltering. I think it was up in the 40's on the saturday, but thankfully a cool change came through on sunday and the temperatures dropped nearly 20 degrees overnight.

The water has been beautifully warm and we managed a trip to the beach each day for a quick swim and a play in the sand. Umina beach is one of a few beaches in the area that allow dogs to play off-leash & the dog's obsolutely love it.

Susanne and her crew came up for a day or say and in a rare moment, Maeghan and Isaac are actually playing happily side by side. They are getting better, but sharing is not one of those skills that comes easily at this age.

Happy Summer Days

We've been back at work for a week or so, which is rather depressing but with the count down on till our trip back to Ireland at least we have something to look foward to. Only 6 months to go. The weather has been blistering hot this week and due to get hotter. The forecast for thursday going to be close to 40.

Our Christmas holidays were spent up the coast at Umina. There is nothing like a lazy week doing nothing but lying on the couch watching the cricket or reading a book. At least once a day we'd drag ourselves into the heat for a swim down at the beach. Maeghan loved the water. The beach is perfect for kids. It's very flat and shallow so really safe to paddle around and play.

I'm so paranoid about getting sunburnt, Maeghan was fully covered up and given no chance of getting a tan. We're still undecided about who's skin tone she has inherited. Despite all of my efforts, she does look like she has a bit of colour and has also developed two freckles! I've tried to wash them off in the bath, but no luck. Here is a collective photo of our family of feet. I'll let you decide who's skin tone she has so far.

The poor dogs never get much peace and quiet when there are kids around. Maeghan has decided that she likes to take the dogs for a walk, so the dogs are often being dragged around the back yard by their lead. Isaac is constantly pushing the boundaries of Podger's tolerance. The poor dog is forever watching his back against Isaacs obsession with picking him up by his tale.

She's such a funny little thing now. A real little personality. Last week she decided to pack her bags and leave home. She went around the house with a bag slung over the shoulder. Picking and choosing which toys were worthwhile packing. Then with a grin and a wave she headed to the door. Just like a real little grown-up heading out for work.

Christmas 08

Christmas morning started for us this year with a respectable 8am wake-up. Maeghan is obviously a bit too young to get too excited about the arrival of Santa and the best Christmas present she could give us was a small lie-in. Problem was, my parents were doing the rounds around the grandkids houses so that they could see the kids open their pressies, were were actually woken by them at 7.45am.

I suppose she must have been good this year because Santa certainly came. There were books, jigsaws and table & chair sets, there were Thomas trains and sand & water tables and not to mention the Christmas stocking full of bits and pieces.

We had to turn our spare room into a toy room just to cope with the overload. Time to start planning that house extension, Maeghan is taking over the space we have.

After breakfast we all gathered over at my parents house for the usual Christmas lunch. Seemed that Santa ran out of space under our tree because he also left a load of present over there as well. Bikes and dolls and more toys!!! If Maeghan was a little bit more interested in the present than ripping the paper off it would have made all those hours shopping worth it. Next time, I'll just wrap a load of empty cardboard boxes and let her go for it.

We of course had the customary baked ham, roast pork and roast chicken and vegies. Since turkey is not a regular tradition in my family, Derrick decided to roast his own turkey for us to enjoy on Boxing day (St Stephan's Day). Kept us going on turkey sandwiches for a week.

Thanks to everyone that sent cards and pressies over to us, Maeghan will have plenty of clothes to wear back to Ireland next July.

Pre-Christmas Update

Yeah - I know, it's been a while since I've added anything new to the blog. Mostly it's been the busy routine of work, house stuff, Christmas parties etc etc... It was only when a friend asked for a recent photo of Maeghan that I realised it had been a few weeks since I had even had the camera out.

So.. I've made a special effort this month to take a few photos and put together a blog entry.

This month has seen the emergence of an even cheekier little girl. She's really comprehending what we are saying to her... and really deliberating NOT doing what we ask her!! One of her latest tricks is to stand at the Christmas tree until I notice her... wait till I tell her 'no touching'... and then grab a decoration and make a run for it! Squealing the whole time.

We also have a little princess on our hands. Talk about girly girl... headbands, hair clips, brushing her hair, pretending to put creams on her face... and oh my goodness... her obsession with shoes!!! If she's not bringing you her shoes to put on her, she's carrying around someone else's. This morning she was getting so cranky when she was putting her foot into one of Derrick's shoes and trying to walk, it kept falling off. Sometimes I'm sure I see elements of Derrick's short fuse coming through.

She's really started to get into the Wiggles. I assume that they've infiltrated Ireland as well. She pulls out her little lounge and sits down, mesmerised by the TV. Not sure if this is a good thing, but it does give me the 20 minutes I need to get dinner started. Thanks to the influence of Isaac, she also loves Thomas the Tank Engine and shrieks with excitement when she sees it on TV. The two of them fight constantly over the little trains. At this stage Isaac is a bit bigger so he usually wins, but Maeghan is getting quite tough so give her a bit of time & I'm sure she'll be giving it back to him as well.

It's a tough life Maeghan has. Chilling out, kicking back in the deck chairs. It's one of her favourite spots. Must take after her father. A little bit too young to chill out with a beer in hand as well.

Derrick has been busy around the house. The pool filter blew it a few weeks ago, so the pool has turned a lovely shade of dark green. In the process of digging out the old filter to install the new one, he's come across a red belly black snake in the backyard. Not known to be an aggressive snake, but still, I wouldn't want to step on one. I don't think it would tickle.

The mini has also been blowing serious puff's of black smoke out the exhaust and back firing all over the shop. As a result, Derrick has been on peddle power for the last month. I suppose amongst all of the other jobs around the house, it might get looked at over the Christmas break. He did try to work on it for a few evenings, but when the noise of it woke up the baby next door, there was no choice but to leave it till there is time on weekend.