Away in a Manger

Dear All,

The last blog update of 2006 finds us in very good spirits and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ma and Pa Cursley and James tomorrow evening. They have been in Perth and are coming to Adelaide via Uluru. It will be very very hot at the rock at this time of year so just one night there for them. We are very excited about introducing them to their grandaughter and niece. Amelia has been told that they are coming and promptly fell asleep...

Last night we took Amelia to her first Carols by Candlelight and she must have enjoyed it as she slept through most of it!! She just woke up for her food which was fair enough as Iain and I had been enjoying our picnic and then it was her turn to chow down in the open air!!

We took her to the local Stirling one. The one in the City is fantastic but you have to get there about 7 or 8 hours beforehand to get a good position and in this kind of heat it's hard enough when it's just you but with a nearly 4 week old, not sensible at all. So along we went to the local one which was very good. They did a live nativity enactment with animals from a local farm barn and lots of school kids as well as a choir of people who have fled the Sudan and now live here in SA as refugees. Their music is very different indeed.

Nat and some of her husband, Al's relatives from Lincolnshire joined us, they have 4 lovely boys from 5 to 11 and they had a good time. Here are some photos from our Carolling adventure.

3 weeks in...

Hi everyone. So we are now 3 weeks in and we think we're doing ok as parents!! Amelia is thriving after a shaky start - she was knackered after all the effort to get out and was very quiet and sleepy for the first few days. Then we had troubles with breastfeeding. She's now a formula baby and now putting on weight and getting stronger every day so we're very pleased. The midwives have been fantastic and 2 of them, Sharon and Kate have been visiting in turns about every 4 days which has been a tremendous support. We have had plenty of questions for them!

Here is Amelia having her first bath at home. She loves the water and as soon as she's put in her eyes go wide and she makes faces that suggest she's very happy. As soon as she's old enough to come with us to the swimming pool we'll be taking her.

We took advantage of a beautiful day outdoors while Nicole was staying with us recently to get some shots in the garden. Unfortunately Amelia was having a bit of a moment and grizzling a bit. Here are the best ones where she's looking reasonably ok!! The last photo is of Nicole with her gorgeous 8 month old little boy Charlie. It was so wonderful to have her stay the week after Amelia was born. It was like being fast tracked into being a mum. She had so many great hints and tips that she's learnt over the last 8 months that I feel like I learnt many months worth of experience in 3 days. We went out together, the first times I took Amelia out without Iain, and was able to get to grips with the pram and nappy changing etc with lots of help and support from someone who knows what they're doing!

Now that Amelia is being bottle fed it means Dad can take over some of the feeds. Handy for some of the middle of the night ones. Although all that will change when Iain goes back to work, he will need his sleep...

After weeks of getting around to it, we finally spent a lovely evening this week putting up our Christmas tree while playing Amelia some carols. We also read the Christmas story to her so she knows now what Christmas is all about! Iain's sister Lindsey sent us a baby bjorn and here is Iain with Amelia (can you see the baby hiding in the photo?!) Amelia loves the baby bjorn, she falls asleep in it very quickly and looks very contented.

Just so our other 'baby' doesn't get left out, here's Jemina joining the family photo.

Iain had his mates down last weekend from Sydney and Melbourne. Iain had got tickets for the first day of the Ashes at Adelaide Oval. They had a great time, a lot of alcohol was consumed and a good time was had by all. Below is Kevin looking very cool with Amelia on his lap.

We are a family!

Dear All,

I am so proud and incredibly delighted to be writing this blog announcing the creation of Family Patrick! Amelia Rose Patrick is now home and here are some of the photos from the last 2 days. First of all a photo of the Roses that are blooming at the front of our house, a beautiful view to welcome her to her new home.


Eskimo kisses for dad and daughter

First and only photo so far of the three of us. We'll be getting more of the family unit over the next week or so when we have people around to take them. This one we were still in the hospital and I'm wearing no make up and trackies, hence the need to take more pics :-)

We arrived home late last night (22nd November) and were all very weary, here are phgotos of Iain and I as we arrive in through the front door.

Mum, Dad and James sent a lovely bouquet of flowers...

Amelia has been napping on the sofa this evening, still recovering from her really intense entry into this world!

This was taken earlier at the hospital - we were both so tired and I took the opportunity while waiting for the doctor to have snooze in the reclining chair.

But when Amelia was pronounced fit and healthy we were very happy and went shopping for PINK clothes - I think I was more excited about that than she was, she's been ok with green so far :-)