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Pip update

Well Pip loves her food, she is currently eating anything you put in her hands which is great and distresses meal times. She is currently having her mush food followed by either banana or yogurt and then she has a second tea with us up at the table where she gets what we are eating to squish and feed herself which she loves.


Foods so far

Rice Cereal, Pears, Carrot, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Zucchini, Broccoli, Fish, Beans, Potato, Biscuits, Prawn Crackers, Banana, Peaches, Yogurt, Cheese, Bread roll, Toast, Rusks, Egg Custard, Peas, Corn and Weetbix.

She is also so close to crawling, she is up on her knees and hands and follows you around the room she just hasn't quite got the move the hand and the knees together. She is still trying to move her knees, overbalancing and face planting.

She is such a happy little thing, but does make a rather annoying noise when she is hungry, tired or dirty, I guess it makes it easier for us the know what is wrong, cause if she is screaming then she isn't tired, hungry or in need of a nappy change. She is still waking through out the night for feeds, but if she doesn't drop them herself before we go on our holiday in 20 days then once we are back it will be time to get tough and get her sleeping through. It is just so exhausting, especially when I go from my bed, to Caitlyn's to Pip's to mine.... I was saying to a friend the other day I think the last decent nights sleep when I slept all night undisturbed was 3 months before Caitie was born...


She loves her big sister and when Caitie is in the room she has Pips total attention, it is pretty much the same for Andrew and I too, she always has the biggest smile for us and either flaps her arms or does a little dance.

She is going really well at swimming, loves splashing around and has a great time, I on the other hand really do not enjoy being back in the cold wet water again.

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It's Official Caitlyn is a Big Girl


As of tonight it is a week that Caitlyn has not worn a nappy!!!!!!

Up until a week ago she was still wearing one a night, but started waking to do wees rather than in her nappy, so I bit the bullet and said no more nappies and it has worked. She is doing so well has not had an accident at night ever and has only had one day one in over a month....

Just watch now that I have written this down, she will wet the bed tonight and wee on the carpet tomorrow!!!

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New Play Area

A while back we brought 2 shade sails from Aldi, cause you can get everything from Aldi....., we were going to put them up beside the house in the back yard to cover the play area, but the problem was that Caitie could not go out there on her own cause of the dogs and there was no where for us to sit and watch her. So we decided to move all the things around the front and hang the sails from the verandah to the big gum trees in the middle of the yard.
Caitlyn with her house, her car and her bike!!!!! ooohhh she is daddy's girl

We now have a play area that is shaded, it keeps the things cleaner and it is a great place for me to sit and do work or read at the picnic table while Caitie plays and Pip sleeps. The trampoline net is all fixed now to, after the big wind storm that blew it under the verandah and ripped the net. After a long afternoon of me sewing it back together with Fishing line, she can play on it again without falling off.
We have been doing chalk drawings on the drive way of our family, Daddy, Mummy, Caitie, Pipi, Harley, Miss Daisy, Grandma Werlie (Verlie) and Special Grandma Ann (who has her own set of angel wings). Also I found the window chalk from last years show bags, so that has been lots of fun on the front window.

Pip also enjoys the swing and slide when she is awake and comes out to play.

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Easter 2007

After the abundance of chocolate last year we decided to ration it out this year, and only buy one for Caitie, one for us and none for pip (there is one thing for blended food, not blended chocolate even though many of you choc-a-holics out there would disagree). It was all going well , instead of a big egg for Caitie we got 12 small eggs and did a egg hunt around the lounge room for her, which was great once she got the hang of it. Andrew got his usual Rocky Road Egg and I was spoilt with a Lindt assortment box including a rabbit that has a zip and pouch under its belly.... just don't go there!!!!

This is where we hit a snag see we had forgot about everyone else buying chocolate including for pip..... hence and table of chocolate, rations of 1 egg a day for over 3 weeks and many pimples.....
Good Friday we had a great service and after church headed out to Turramurra to look at a bike for Nathan who is getting his licence soon. We then drove to Manly for a wet and windy walk along to corso and chips and ice creams, then we headed back home via the new Lane Cove Tunnel (thats one long tunnel and as it was free, why not) then we put the girls to bed and had a quiet night off.

Saturday we headed out in the rain over to BJ and Kerryn's for a nice BBQ lunch where the girls played together and Annika enjoyed her eggs. Then Saturday night we headed out again in the rain to Dave & Alissa's engagement party, which even though it was wet was a good night and we had 2 very tired girls.
Sunday was another great service with big numbers that was very encouraging for Noel and Andrew. So over all it was a nice Easter had by the Parkinson Family.

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Special Friends


This is Caitie and Tahlia at the last week of swimming for Term 1... And what more can I say...

Beautiful Friends


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Caitlyn The Chef

For Caities birthday Dad & Barb gave her this cute cooking outfit, which she loves and has to put on everytime we cook together now.

She did really well this day, we made fairy wands. .

She mixed
Kneeded, Rolled,
Cut
and Ate!!!
She loves cooking and is always saying let me do it myself mummy, as the bowl goes scooting across the bench and flour flys everywhere. But she has fun thats the important thing and whats a bit of spilt milk or crunchy egg shell between family.

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Chaplin Reverend Andrew Parkinson......


The last brigade service Andrew was commissioned as the new Brigades Chaplin as after much agonizing Frank & Glad realised that their age was finally starting to catch up with them and that they could not fulfill all that they felt the position of Chaplin entailed and they stepped down and asked Andrew to take it on.
So now he is out every second Thursday night at Brigade and gets to wear a sexy uniform......
When he was commissioned by Marcus he was given the silver crosses for his lapel and when he was commissioned by Robyn he was given a skirt as he is the Chaplin of both the boys and girls brigade.

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Where is Pip


We finished off the term of mothers group at Time to Play and so I put Pip in the ball pit, as you can see she disappeared for a while, ate a few balls and had a great time.

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Easter at Bunnings

I was looking on the web for something and come across the Bunnings Family Easter craft night, so I booked us in we headed up there to do Easter craft!!!! It was the best night, Caitie had a ball and we both came out covered in glitter. Bunnings are great they do these things for free and the kids have some much fun, they also do it on Saturday's and Sunday's at 12pm and it is a great hour out that the kids get to make a mess that you don't have to clean up.


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Romantic Anniversary + Kids = HA HA

After a healthy McDonalds breakfast we headed to Dooralong Resort, it was a long trip but eventually got there...... This is were what you expect doesn't eventuate!!!

We thought lets go to some where in the Hunter as that is half way home, so I put Hunter Valley in google and came out with the really nice resort that had these little cottages that had a special for 2 nights and they said were kid friendly. They had a restaurant but also a tavern with a bistro, which would be more in our price range and better for the girls. The deal included a full buffet breakfast both days, a hay ride, entry to the animal park and this great cottage.......AhHa well Dooralong is drive to Wyong, turn right and then drive another 15 minutes bush, if we had realised where it was we would have just got a ocean view apartment in The Entrance, anyway....

We get there, I check in, I am told that all is fine our cottage is ready and that if we wanted dinner at the restaurant then we should book once we get settled.... "What about the Tavern", I hear you ask, as I did, oh that is only opened Wed through to Fri and the restaurant is only opened Sat through to Tue.... (we are here mon to wed), then I am told that the animal feeding is at 10am, we are there at 3pm and the tracker blew up so there are no hay rides....... So by now I am starting to get a bit, how would you say FRUSTRATED. Then they call the courtesy van to pick us up as no cars are permitted on resort grounds, we unload everything, load it all into the van, Andrew takes Pip and I have Caitie who is now crying as when the van came up she got scared ran the other way and fell on the sharp gravel and ripped open her hands. We drive down to the boom gate around the corner and up the hill 100 mtrs, ohh look here is cottage 14!!!!! It took us longer to pack the van than it did to drive to the cottage. Then we climb the 5 steps up to the verandah that has no rails to stop Caitlyn falling to her certain broken limbs, open the door and walk into this rather nice, timber cottage with 2 lounges, a table and chairs, tv, aircon, separate bedroom, huge bathroom and a steel spiral staircase (that's treads are not even the depth of my feet) up to the loft where the 2 single beds for Caitlyn to sleep in....... YEAH RIGHT MAYBE WHEN PIGS FLY!!!!!!! So we end up putting Caitie in the porta cot and Pip gets to sleep on a pillow on the floor. Ohh did I say sleep as if that was going to happen!!!!!! Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that most of the winders on the windows are broken and the screens have holes big enough to let in the killer mosquito's from the land of HUGE!!! to eat my kids, I'm sure I saw one pick up Pip and trying to fly away with her one stage (ok maybe not, but do you think this was not one off our better wedding anniversaries....)

We also swam, in the icy waters of the duck poo covered pool area, hmmm fun.

Oh yeah that's why we are here to celebrate being married 8 years..... Do you know what we did !!!! don't worry its not r rated, while I was fighting to get Pip to sleep in one room Andrew is watching Mythbusters with Caitlyn in the other!!!! SEX SEX what is that!!!!
Tuesday is stormed!!!! Wednesday we came home.......

On the upside, the restaurant was fabulous they accommodated us so well, Carley and Roslene the hosts were fantastic, they allowed us to order from the tavern menu and were not concerned about the girls, as they both had kids of their own and understood. There was only 2 other couples there while we were and we had an 6pm dinner so we never really interrupted anyone's meal times with Caitlyn trying to blow out the candles on the tables as she walked past and refusing to eat her dinner.......

All I can say, as much as we love our kids and they are a product of our marriage and love, they are NEVER coming on our wedding anniversary celebration AGAIN!!!!!
Dirty Weeked away the only dirty thing was the floor!!!!!!!!

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Tamworth Worship Ministry Visit (17/03)

Firstly, I would like to apologise to those from Tamworth Baptist Church that were offended by my last blog where I am quoted in saying that their church was a "step back in time". It was not my intention to offend..... SORRY.


Now on with the story!

On Saturday 17th March we packed up the cars and headed to Tamworth. There was Linsday & Vanessa, Josh & Kaylene, Scuba, Cook, Nath, Dave, Phil and the Parkos. We left a little late due to my alarm not going off, but eventually we got on the road and after a stop in Singleton for Mc'Donalds we arrived in Tamworth at lunchtime and on schedule. We then unloaded everything, set up and then had a yummy lunch provided by Tamara. It was time to get ready for the Tamworth people to arrive. From all accounts the training went well and we have had a lot of positive feed back from those there on the day and then in speaking to their Pastor since.

When lunch was over I took the girls and we headed into town to do some shopping and then back to the van Ginkel's to unloaded our stuff and set up the girls beds, as after the training and a quick sound check for the morning we would be going out for dinner and so I wanted the porta cot and Caitie's bed set up ready for when we got home.

Caitie decided that she would use this time away to toilet train, so we had a 5 hour car trip with 1 stop where she did wee's on the toilet and still a dry nappy by the end of the day. Her big accomplishment for the day was doing wee's and poo's on Uncle Scott and Aunty Mara's toilet. Problem was as far as she was concerned she had to tell them about it when we got back to the church..... Poor Uncle Scott, its bad enough when she calls Andrew when he is at work and yells down the phone "Daddy, did poos on the toilet".
We all headed out to dinner that night and it was great, lovely to just sit, debrief the day and catch up with friends over a yummy meal. Then it was back to Motel van Ginkel for even yummier dessert and bed. Andrew, I and the girls were in the Big room, us in the bed, Pip in the cot and Caitie on her lounge on the floor. Then Josh and Kaylene were in the other room in the king single, it is always fun getting use to sleeping in the same bed as someone else when you have only been married just over a month, but put them in a king single and then the fun begins, poor Josh he was beaten up all night!!!!! The boys where then out in the lounge room on the sofa bed, lounge and the floor, they put Cook in the office as he snores (thing is he got the better deal as his floor was carpeted and not cold tiles). Lindsay & Vanessa stayed with another couple in the church.
Sunday morning saw everyone up and off to Church early. The worship went well and the team felt very welcome by young and old. After packing everything up we headed back to van Ginkel's for a yummy lasagna and salad lunch and then Josh, Kayles and the boys headed home and we stayed for Andrew to preach at the evening service. Pip and I had a sleep, Andrew took Caitie for a drive to put her to sleep and Scott tried to do some more study for his assesment on Monday and according to Vanessa she was still back at the church waiting for Lindsay to finish with the sound guys....
Church Sunday night went well and then we headed off early the next morning for our few days off..... (that's another blog).
Thanks to the team for their willingness to serve, thanks to Tamworth for their willingness to listen and thanks to Scott and Tamara for their unending hospitality.

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SOOOOOO!!!!!!! Where were we?????

I actually had to grab my diary to work out what has happened since the last real blog!!!!

SAD HEY!!!!

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WOW So Long

It has been so long since I blog'ed anything..... This is due life being rather full and busy at the moment and for me to have just to have 5 minutes to myself without some one wanting something only happens while on the toilet and then 9 times out of 10 Caitie is still knocking on the door to do wee's !!!!!!! SO to have anytime to be able to put 2 thoughts together let alone recap life and add photos just has not happened.

Anyway I do hope to get back to it in the next week or so and be all up to date with the happenings in the Parkinson house with photos to show how much our beautiful girls are growing up.

Easter Sunday 2007

In the mean time I would really appreciate your thoughts and prayers as it will be 3 years on Monday 16th since mum died and I'm not coping to well with it all. I have told Andrew I want to see and speak to no one and we are going away to either The Entrance or Kiama for the day.


So keep checking in and all our adventures since March will be here for all to read real soon.

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Jamberooooooooooooo





As Andrew is now the Chaplin of the Boys and Girls Brigade we headed down to Jamberoo on Saturday for a day of playing in the water and on the grassy hill.


The water was rather cold so Caitie was not to excited about going in passed her knees and Pip screamed when I dangled her legs in for 10 seconds. So while Marcus and Majella had the girls, Andrew and I took the opportunity to float around the Billabong a few times and then it was time to eat.

After lunch Caitie, Lizzie and John played on the hill. Caitie rolled up and down and sideways, She ran up and down and sideways, chased John and Lizzie and played peekaboo.


It was a nice day and made even better as it ended with the girls in bed by 7pm and Andrew and I enjoying a nice Thai dinner while watching Happy Feet.

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What has our world come to???

This is from the Huggies Website :-
Counterfeit Baby Wipes

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL PARENTS

It has come to our attention that an organisation is illegally applying the Huggies® Baby Wipes logo, graphics and artwork to packaging containing wipes which have been made in China. The packaging also uses similar colours to those used for the genuine product. We understand the counterfeit product is being sold in Victoria through some BP Service Stations; weekend markets and through a small number of Chemists. Please be aware these are not Huggies® Baby Wipes. If you look carefully you will notice the words “Baby Tender” on the side panel which do not appear on the authentic Huggies® Baby Wipes product.
Please see photographs of the counterfeit product below:

You will also notice these packs are being sold for as little as 3 packs for $5.00 and if you use them you will notice the quality is not of the standard you would expect from Huggies® Baby Wipes. At this stage we understand the counterfeit product only applies to unscented (green) packs of 80 Wipes. We have not found counterfeit scented or extra sensitive variants.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO
If you come across these wipes please do not challenge the seller or purchase the product. Contact the Kimberly-Clark Australia Consumer Advisory Team on 1800 028 334 as soon as possible. Selling counterfeit product is an illegal activity and we are actively taking steps to ensure the illegal conduct is rapidly brought to an end.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter and please share this information with other parents.

Always willing to help the common man!!!!!!
Sorry I just thought this was to much of a laugh to not share it with those I love!!!

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God Is Good!!!!!!

Well I don't know if it was all we need to do or that Caitlyn was so tired she couldn't be bothered but last night when it was bed time Andrew and I took 'bug' to her room, sat her down and told her that we had decided that she didn't have to go back to pre school, as soon as we said 'preschool' the lip quivered and so we tried to explain it a bit simpler and she seemed to understand. Then we told her that we would leave her special fairy lights on so her room wasn't dark, that her guard dogs were outside her window beside her bed and Daddy & Mummy were outside her door so the monsters and monkeys couldn't get in. Then we agreed that Daddy would do 2 stories, Mummy would do 2 songs and then it was sleep time.

And it was that easy, she was fast asleep within 10 minutes and we didn't hear from her till this morning!!!! Praise God.

That was Andrew's first unbroken nights sleep in a month and I was still up to Pip, that normal, but at least I got to spend most of the night in my own bed and thats was a blessing.

So we have all woken happy and ready to tackle the day even if it did start at 5:10AM Thank you Miss Philippa....

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Look I'm Sitting Up!!!!!!!!

Pip has been sitting up on her own off and on for a few weeks but kept over balancing. However today at Bible study she sat all alone reached forward to grab a toy and then sat up again. These shots are when we got back home.

It is all very exciting and don't you just love her 1st pair of sneekers!!!

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...."Oh What A Night"....

At 2:30am this morning I decided that we can not carry on like this and dropping Caitie down to a half day is not going to make ANY difference. So when we all got up at 6:30am I said to Andrew that we need to pull her out of preschool as it is not a positive experience for anyone.

Then we got a lovely phone call from Graham & Paula our very special friends on the other side of the world to encourage us that we are not failing as parents and to just pull her out. So that just confirmed that this was what we should do for her at this point, as there is no sense destroying the lovely little person she is just because she is 3 and that's when other kids go to preschool.

Before starting preschool, Caitlyn would go to bed at 7pm with little fuss, we would do 2 stories, 2 songs, say goodnight, turn the light off, close the door and would not hear from her till the morning. Now she cries when its bed time, won't settle, the door has to be wide open, the light must be on and she keeps waking up scared and not willing to go back to sleep.

We realise that for us to get back our happy, well adjusted sleeping child, we need to go back to the start and begin again. After Bible study today I am going to go up to the centre to thank them for helping us through this time and that for Caities benefit we need to pull her out.

At this stage we are not going to look at putting her back in till at least 3rd term if not till next year. Even though she is now 3 she is a young 3 and just not emotionally ready to be on her own and why should she, she has never had to be before and it is a lot to adjust to.

We will probably not be able to get her back into 'HeadStart' if she goes back in Term 3 as Wednesday's are their busiest day, but we need to believe that this is the right thing to do and that God will provide the right place at the right centre when she is ready. We do have a few options as we know different centres around the area that she knows people at, there is Michelle Bouveng, Robyn Murray, Kylie Alexander or Majella Cutts sister and where Tahlia goes. But we will just revisit that when we think she is ready to cope. In the mean till we are going to now concentrate on getting life back to normal and work on our toilet training, which is going quite well.

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