It's bath time for Emily.  She loved it too.

Oh boy, does she look like Oliver!  It is quite scary just how much a like the two of them are.

Ooooh, look at these two cuties.  Oliver was so excited about his new sister and wanted to hold her - for all of about 5 seconds!!  LOL.  Look at that big smile on his face.  Bless him.

She is here!

Emily Rose Swain made her appearance at 8:07am weighing 7lb 50z or 3.315kg and measuring 51cm long.

Emily was in a bit of a hurry to come out after her eviction notice, so 30 minutes after breaking my water, she was here!

Here are the 3 of us afterwards.  Unfortunatley, Rob missed the birth!  He arrived about 5 minutes too late.

Time For A Swim

My two boys love to swim - can you tell???? LOL

Oliver has to wear his goggles now but when he was at swimming lessons, we couldn't get him to wear them at all! How times have changed.


Breath Rob!

With his goggles on, he can see underwater - that is what we have been telling him for so long and now he gets it! LOL. Bless him.

Look at me Mummy.

Pregnant

Well, it certainly seems to be a big week in the Swain's lives!!

• Oliver starts pre-school
• Move house
• Fall pregnant!

How about that! I first thought the test was negative and put it aside in a plastic bag. Naturally, I was disappointed. Later on I went back into the bathroom and thought, I'll just check once more and to my surprise, there were two lines! Woo hoo. I think I will do another test tomorrow and if it is still positive, then I'll tell my parents.

Moving

Today we moved into our own place. No more staying with my parents. Not that it was bad but when you've been living away from your family for soooo long, it is hard to live with them again.

First Day at Pre-School

Hold onto your hats, as this is Oliver's first day at pre-school!!!! Where has the past 4 years gone? He is so excited about going but I'm sure that will change soon enough.

Here's my big boy with his bag on his back - it is nearly the size of Oliver! LOL.

I thought we might struggle with getting him to wear a hat but he seems pretty happy with it on.

A proud mum with her boy!

A proud dad with his boy!

And here he is at school. Can you tell he likes having his photo taken? LOL. His teacher's are Miss Amanda and Miss Brooke.

Christmas Day

Here we are opening up our present on Christmas Morning. Michael and Laura stayed overnight to watch Oliver as this was our first Christmas together. Well, all of us in the same country as the same time! LOL. You can see the mass of discarded paper on the floor and Oliver went around handing out everyone's present to them - he also helped open the presents!

Dad got a golf putting thingy and so Oliver and Dad were playing golf. Don't ask me why Oliver had no trousers on - I cannot remember!

They're at it again. I'm not sure how Oliver managed to get dad's club and dad, Oliver's club?! They were having loads of fun anyway. LOL.

Oliver with another present - this one is his! It is a track for his Thomas set mum started for him. With this set, the trains run on batteries so Oliver will sit there and play telling everyone he is the fat controller! LOL

Here I am opening up a present - a DVD, got a few of those this year. Rob and I tend to focus on Oliver and give each other a couple of gifts each. It is so much fun seeing Oliver's face light up when he opens his gifts.

Speaking of him opening up a gift.

Now, there is a story behind this dinner. Are you ready for it..... Mum was up half the night being ill (she usually cooks Christmas lunch, with us helping), but she came down stairs to open up the gifts and then had to go back to bed (I think we told her to go), so seeing as Rob is the next best cook, he put Christmas lunch together. Obviously, we helped out where he wanted us to but he did a great job. Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you, the oven died only a few hours earlier!! Oh yes, we thought Christmas lunch was completely off the menu! Michael managed to fix the wiring and all was good - phew! By the time lunch went on the table, mum was feeling much better (we think she was faking it! LOL) so she joined us and managed to eat too.

Here is Oliver eating and his 'yorkshire puddings' which he cannot go without when having a roast. He just loves them.......and tomato sauce.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas wherever you are.

Photo with Santa

Oliver was so excited to be having his photo with Santa this year.

We went to Narellan Town Centre with Karen and her two kids, Hannah & Kaitlyn as they were having photos too.

I think if Oliver was allowed to jump the queue, he would have but I kept having to tell him he had to wait his turn like everybody else.

This 'Santa' was brilliant. He was very friendly and has such a great smile. He was chatting to Oliver and all the other kids before the photo was taken and Oliver just loved it. This is Oliver at his best with a whopping great big smile to match! Love it!

Hunter Valley - Highlights

Hunter Valley Escape - Day 1

Very last minute we decided to go to the Hunter Valley for 4 days as a mini holiday!

We stayed at the Eaglereach Wilderness Resort in Vacy. We arrived very late in the afternoon around 5pm so we unpacked and then went to get some dinner.

This is our cabin. A mini home away from home! It has 2 bedrooms on the ground floor and 2 more on the top floor. 2 toilets a bath room and mini laundry plus a kitchen and dinning area.


Here is the kitchen - small and basic but just what you need.

It had a flat screen TV, DVD and stereo to keep you amused so here is Oliver watching Kung Fu Panda.

Rob said he had to take this picture of me to prove I do housework! How rude! The floor as pretty dusty so I swept daily as the dust was coming in from under the doors.

This is the view of the Barrington Tops from our balcony out the back! Pretty spectacular!

I would recommend this place to anyone wanting a weekend or week away with no phone (mobile coverage isn't great), or just to relax and unwind.

Oliver's 4th Birthday

Here is the birthday boy! Happy 4th Birthday my baby.

Opening up his presents was so much fun. There was paper everywhere.

As you can see, there are more Thomas The Tank Engine sets! Somehow, I don't think he will outgrow these - there will always be that little place in his heart for them no matter how old he is!

Here I am helping him or am I playing trains with him?! LOL

He is so proud of his trains and loves them. Look at that smile on his face he is so excited he got new sets to play with.

Wow, another new set to play with. Oh, his t-shirt says - Innocent Until Proven Guilty!

It was a treat for lunch - McDonald's! He had to bring along Busy Bee James to play with while he was eating, then it was onto the play area with some other children that happened to be there.

Time for a juice first.

Oliver's 4th Birthday Party

This year we went to Lollipop Playland & Cafe for Oliver's party. Too much hassle and clearing up to have it at home!

They have a dedicated room for eating the party food and cake and once you are done, the kids get to go back and play.

Here is the birthday boy sitting on his throne! LOL He didn't like sitting there so he ended up moving and sitting next to Hannah.

Here comes the food! There was plenty of it too so you know who helped themselves to the left overs!

Some of the parents enjoying themselves - can you see where my Dad is standing, he is leaning on the food cart!! LOL My brother has the video camera capturing all the going's on of the day.

Mmmmm, cake time! Believe it or not, I made this cake! Oh yes I did!!! LOL

We bought Oliver 2 new pieces for his Thomas The Tank Engine set and they are on the cake - the Fat Controller in his car and the brand new train called Stanley. He was so excited.
Food time is over, now it is time to play and play they kids did - for hours!!

Funny thing is, we were lucky to be here at all today. Oliver woke up and was not well. He managed to go back to sleep for an hour or two and then with the click of your finger he was back to his normal self. I have no idea what is was but we ended up changing the party time from 11am to 2pm so all we well in the end. Thank goodness.

Liz & Mark's Wedding

Sasha and Katie are two of the people I used to live with when I moved to the UK back in 2000. It was great to catch up with them again.

How spectacular is that view (not of me!). It was a little overcast and according to the photographer, the best kind of day to take photos. The red dress I bought especially for the wedding and it is a size 10! Woo hoo.

I had to borrow the wrap as it was a little chilly outside. I didn't have anything appropriate to wear as it was in our container.

One of the rare occasions Rob and I have a photo together. It was a little strange not to have Oliver with us as where ever we go, he goes! LOL. Nanny and Poppy were in charge of getting Oliver to sleep tonight.

Liz and her Dad walking towards the groom (Mark). I also lived with Liz and Mark in the UK. We had such a great time together.

The happy couple saying their vows.

Congratulations Lix & Mark. I'm so happy I was apart of your special day! xxx