Bugs...

Of the tummy variety...Poor Orla came down with it all on Friday night (during the night) so we spent Saturday at home. She was only sick 2-3 times, then she was on an empty stomach. We made mum's sugar/salt solution which went down fine. We all got some sleep and got through the day, Orla slept for a lot of it and had an early night. She seemed ok and had 2 number 2's so we thought she was on the mend and that we just had a 24h bug to deal with...but that was not the case as she woke up being sick this morning and did it again a bit later. So back on the fluids and some panadol. She is asleep now and I hope she doesn't wake up vomiting again. She is a good sport though and very chirpy straight after the sick and tears bit. We feel a bit wobbly today too...it's Monday now. Not what we needed or wanted. Guess it may have come from Orla spending 2 days at child care on Wed and Thurs. We were out and about on Friday too...who knows! My bites are still BAD as well. I wake up with a few new ones every day and they itch so badly that of course I end up scratching and "breaking" them...I look like I've been in the jungle for a few months! Not sure where it will all end...may take a pic but it's not a pretty sight so may spare you.

Have uploaded South Africa pics and stuff from our long good bye venture in Sweden and England. They are on our web album now, have a look here: http://picasaweb.google.com/moosecat I still need to tidy up stuff and put in captions etc and we are waiting for more pics but you can still have a look now!

Saw a couple of houses yesterday in the afternoon. One was a possible, needed some work but was roomy and in a quiet street etc. There is one tonight apparently...not sure we can make that one though! Fingers crossed. Need to finalise paperwork for the mortgage bit now so that we are ready to offer when (!) we do see something we like.

Ok think I might go back to bed now!
Love & miss you all!

In the news...!!!

Check us out in the The Drum - an online communications magazine thingie!

http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2009/10/14/11659-precedent-opens-new-office-in-australia

We are actually standing on our knees in front of these lovely grass trees in Kings Park Perth!

Fab first day!

Orla had a great day today at nursery! She really enjoyed it! Had all her meals including curry, a good sleep, lots of playing and no tears! Hoping for the same tomorrow! Her mum drove there and back too!

We went to the office in West Perth today, it's very nice! Then we popped over to Kings Park where we took some pics for a note about the new Precedent office in Perth in The Drum. As far as we know! It's a beautiful park...we didn't look as stunning so who knows what it will be like! We saw the former premier of WA Richard Court as well, at the cafe in the park!

Got a mobile number for me as well. My little purple one still works...may get a new one still...to keep up with gadget man! Sean has a hero now...a google type thing that is not for sale in Australia so it was bought online!

Otherwise we need to keep the house hunt going, there is more gardening to do at the house and hope to see a few more friends too.

Downloading pics as we speak so hope to upload them soon!

Gonatt!

Lordag!

Just a quick note!

We have 2 home opens today so fingers crossed! And gardening, cleaning, shopping and more to do! Pizza with Catherine, Alice and Nick later too and then we have to skype with all the grand parents as Lynn is yet to see Orla and it is my dad's birthday!

Grattis pa fodelsedagen pappa! Morfar!

Busy week, caught of with some old work contacts and a couple of meetings so work is going well too!

And a visit to IKEA yesterday, it's the biggest one in South East Asia or something so we are very happy! Got a highchair and some little things for Orla and a packet of meatballs and a dubbel nougat - my favourite! Now they just need to stock valling and wiener nougat and we're in business! Thanks Berit and Julia for taking us and thanks for Orla's cute Pumkin Patch outfit too!

Right better get going!

Kram!

Tuesday it is!

Hej igen!

This morning Orla and Stina visited Orla's new nursery here in Perth! It's about 10 minutes away from the Evans house and brand new so looks lovely. We turned up at 9.30am and started out in the garden. There was "water play" going on which O enjoyed, then she went in a car, on another car, down the slide etc. Indoors she tried a rocking horse, kitchen things and more. A bit of drawing and singing followed by hand washing at the tiny basins at kid height (cute!) then a spagetti bolognese for lunch which was a hit and went all over her face, hands and top. Then it was sleep time and our time to go. So all in all a good morning was had! On Thursday we are turning up again and I will leave Orla to it for 2h, all being well!

Sean has been busy with work today and I have managed to squeeze in about 1h so far. Think I will be doing some evening work this week and hope that Orla can start properly next week...fingers crossed!

What else? Chris and Sharon are packing their bags ready for an 8pm'ish departure from Oceanic Drive. Charlie was meant to have had Orla tomorrow...that has been cancelled though as she's caught a tummy bug at work...we are also putting the car in for a service and a builder is coming around too.

It has been a lovely, sunny spring day so no complaints there! And we caught up with mormor and morfar on Skype which was lovely! Orla was very happy to have a chat, wave and giggle with them. They hadn't seen her since late August so this was overdue! They are well and mum was baking for dad's birthday on Saturday. Can't believe it's October already!

Right, time for Orla's tea I think so will sign off now!
Talk more soon!

Kram from us

Busy bees!

We are rather busy bees...maybe that is why I ended up with a headache yesterday afternoon!

We signed Orla up at a nursery after visiting in the morning, brand new, looked great, nice people and cute kids. We are trying it out on Tuesday and Thursday and hopefully Orla will go on a Wed and Thurs and we'll "use" our friends for the remaining 5hrs I think. I guess she'll do 3 days eventually depending on my hours. Will take some pics.

Right now Sean and Orla have popped out to get some milk. She loves to go out, waves to everybody and enjoys looking around. The scrape on her face is looking much better and she hasn't fallen by these steps again. She slept well last night and had fun with all the Evanses at Wembley for dinner. She covered little Mikey in kisses too!

I also have my WA drivers licence now! Watch out Perth! Just need to get driving now...! Pigs might fly and I will drive!

2 open homes today with some shopping in between...and dinner for Meg tonight with the family. She is 30 tomorrow!

All is going really well apart from me being eaten by mozzies...I think that's what it is anyway! It's just me, not Sean or Orla or Sharon or Chris! They must like me!

Right, time for another cuppa!

Love & miss you all!

Friday am!

Lots of things on our to do list today...drop our marriage certificate thing off at the licence place so I can get my WA licence too, visit a nursery for Orla, get some foodie bits for the Jardines who return from Melbourne later, shopping, pick up Chris etc as well as dinner with the Evans crew in Wembley followed by birthday drinks for Meg and Jonno in Leederville tonight!

The weekend will consist of a few open houses to get an idea of what's out there, some shopping and dinner out again (!) for Meg with the family in Scarborough. Sunday we may squeeze in another open house along with a visit to Ian & Lou - haven't seen them for years! And hi to Colleen so we are off south of the river for the afternoon.

Monday Sean is back to work! I am not sure which days I will do yet...depends on childcare etc...I am due back next week too but am "only" doing 15-20 hours. Should work out ok!

Still no lap tops...they should arrive soon...now that we know what is going on with customs! Got our massive parcel from Lynn and Brian - thank you! So have a few more of our things now.

Right better get going!
Kram for now

Nappies, mortgage and a house!

We are going to see if they'll lend us any money today...Fingers crossed! Looked at houses from Floreat to Padbury last night and the difference in size etc and price is quite big! So we'll see where we end up...if we can get a mortgage!!!

Need to stock up on nappies first!

Orla seems to be teething...waking up in the night in tears and what seems like agony...so she has been in with us a bit the last few nights/mornings. Hope it wears off as I hate to see her cry like that.

She is very happy all day long though, met Meg and Jonno last night and she fell for the boy of course, same with John, Marie and Daniel - John was the favourite! Had a lovely dinner including Sharon's caramel bananas with ice cream...yum!

It just started raining! I think the rest of the week is going to be fine.

Also spoke to Jo & Adrian yesterday, we look forward to seeing them and their lovely new house in Kalamunda soon!

Me again - and I have blogged already - most impressive!!!

We have arrived in Australia!!!

Well it has been a million years since I last wrote!
Not since Orla's birthday in fact!

It is now September, the 28th in fact and here in WA it is a bank holiday Monday...and the reason for it is the Queen's birthday! I wonder if she knows!

We arrived on Tuesday last week after 2 fantastic weeks in South Africa. I will have to blog about this trip properly soon! We also have lots of photos that we will down and upload as soon as we get hold of a charger for the battery...we ran out of camera in Stellenbosch...shame as it is such a beautiful part of the world!

Anyway, we are here now! Staying with Chris and Sharon Evans in Floreat. They have some room left over since their daughters Polly and Meg moved out. Thank you! We have spent our first few days taking it easy, looking around, catching up with friends and sorting a few bits out.

I will try to write here more often...I know I say this every time!

Orla is fine by the way, she has been a star with all this travelling and living out of a suitcase. Even the jetlag thing has gone well!

Take care!
Love & miss you all over there!

Orla is 1!

On Sunday 7 June little miss Orla was 1! Can't believe how time flies. Haven't written on the blogg since March either....we've been busy I guess!

After spending March in Sweden with lots of things going on we had mormor to stay with us for 4 weeks in April. This was lovely and we had lots of help. I also started working 3 days a week from home, contracting for one of the websites I worked for before. Orla also started at her new dagmamma that we thankfully found very last minute. She lives 10 doors down the road, her name is Linda and she has worked with kids for 18 years. She runs it all with one of her four daughters called Stacey. We had a few tears the first few days, then she was fine and now she loves it. Lovely boys and girls to play with, outings to to Panda, Treasure Island and the miniture railway and more. They also have a great big garden out the back. So all of this fell in to place during April. We also managed a visit to Sissinghurst with Farmor Lynn, again really nice. And we took farfar along as well to Sara Raven's garden - very nice too! We also had a lovely bluebell walk and went up to London, stayed with Ruth, Chris and Millie. Visited Hampton Court via a boat trip on the river and made it up to pub club with work at London Bridge. So all in all a fantastic April!

May has come and gone too...we've had 2 bank holiday Mondays so some extra days off. After mum went my brother Pelle, Sofia and baby Julia came for a few days. They went around visiting Lewes, Battle, Sissinghurst and more while we were at work and we went for a nice walk and we went to the new art gallery, lovely and just down the road. Will have to return with details of May!

On June 4 we flew over to Sweden. Went for breakfast at Birgit's Friday am to see Pernilla and family who were there. Then we had Sara and Tommy's wedding! All went well, lovely ceremony and a good party with yummy food. They looked fantastic and were very happy with their day. Congratulations again! On the Saturday we managed a visit to Knalleland for some shopping with Pernilla and Thomas. Town was closed as it was Sweden's national day. In the evening the four of us went down to Pelle's for their housewarming party. Great food and a good evening including a session with the "basement band"! Got home at 2.30am so were a bit tired for miss Orla's first birthday. We still celebrated in style! Sang for her around 8.30am with Nora, Ella and Simon who had stayed the night at mum and dad's. Got her first few pressies. Then we went out to Faster's summer house for lunch before the party at 1.30pm. We counted 43 people! 15 of them were kids! They were very happy running around, discovering the loft etc. Had some cake etc too. The weather held out/up so we could be outside too. Lots of lovely pressies and great to see everyone so a happy girl! Monday we flew back after seeing Annacarin for a quick coffee at home.

The flight and drive home went well. We are tired but fine. Have suffered two rounds of cold in May though so have been better...hoping the end is coming. Just saw Orla with a runny nose so I hope she hasn't got another round too...today we are having pics of the flat done ahead of renting it out! Feels strange but good! And on Friday we are off to London to get Orla's Aussie passport. And on Thursday we are catching up with Lindsay, Lucas, Jessica and Scarlett - 1 year on!

Orla is walking, we put the 18th of May as a bit of a first...it was the first time we saw it happen properly with a few steps in a row. She's been getting up for ages before then and crawling too. She has 6 teeth and is around 10kgs. Hope to weigh and measure her again soon for the books. A bit more hair and full of beans, busy investigating everything and copying what we do. Still loving her food and talks a lot...some swedish words and some english and a lot of Orla language!

Will try to write a bit more very soon! Pics in the web album!
Take care for now!
Kram from us

Busy bees in Sweden

Orla and Stina have been in Sweden since 1 March. Lots of birthdays and spending time with family and friends. Orla is just about crawling, still some fine tuning to do and tooth number 2 has appeared. She is very chatty and enjoying meeting everyone and playing with the older kids, from a distance I guess! They love cuddling her and would like to carry her!

Weighed her last week (Thursday) and she was 9220grams, can't remember what that is in the other language right now and 70,5cm, less than I thought.

Sadly my uncle Gunnar died on Monday. He has not been entirely well for some time so I guess it was his time to go. We were lucky to see him on Thursday one last time and we said goodbye with Erene, Karin, mum, dad and Birgit on Tuesday.

Big news is that we have booked our flights to Australia!!!

Leaving London on 8 September, have about 2 weeks in South Africa and we get to Perth on Monday 21 September. Feels quite unreal! Have a few passports, container, flat things etc to organise and more before then.

I will start working again in April. Not for Businesslink.gov.uk as they could not accommodate my work from home request (so I had to resign!). Have something else lined up where I can work 3 days a week from home. Will be great! Just have to figure out childcare now...thankfully my mum will come back with us and stay for a bit during April to help out initially so I think it will all work out.

Sean is working away and is coping without us. We've had some great sessions on Skype with Orla stroking the screen and laughing when she sees/hears him! She has also skyped with farmor and farfar.

Right, it's Orla's bedtime soon so better get going. Sorry that we haven't been in touch for ages...will try to get better at blogging and emailing...and posting photos! Have got one or two on our twitter page at: http://twitpic.com/photos/moosecat76

Take care!
Love & miss you all!
Kram for now

9 months ago today!

Orla has now been with us for 9 whole months! Feels a lot longer although she's only been with us for a short time really. (the blogger date says March 6...but it is March 7 here in Sweden today!).

She is singing away in her bed at mormor and morfar's at the moment!

We have been in Sweden since last Sunday, my last lot of time off before I start working in April and we have a lot of birthdays this month including Faster Birgit (83), Nora (6), Sofia (37) and many more! Going to Pelle and Sofia's today for her birthday party and to see their new house, will be exciting!

Orla is about to have a sleep in yet another office so will continue another time...to tell you more about her, my work situation, Sean's work etc. Have put a couple of pics on Twitpic for now as I/we still haven't managed to upload stuff since xmas, the christening etc!!!

Have a look here: http://twitpic.com/photos/moosecat76

Still planning our departure to Australia in early September, via a couple of weeks in South Africa! Will tell you more about that as well!

Take care and love for now
Stina et al

Bump, moving, tea and valling

Well today Orla had a little bump on the head...in our little bathroom...there is a ledge just off the floor, big enough for her to rest her hands on to get herself up! We were just about to leave this little room when she sort of toppled...no marks or bumps so it can't have been too bad but it scared me and I think my sound effects scared her more than anything else! She is also rather wiggly on the change table so tonight this came off the cot and we'll change her on the floor to avoid bumps and falls while changing. She is also sort of crawling, backwards mainly and she likes to stand up!

This morning I found her upside down too, head where her feet should be! Not sure how she manages but she does! She has slept well for 2 nights now, not waking up at all during the evening which is great news! We've had 4 or so weeks when she has woken up crying and wanting cuddles to get back to sleep. This happened quickly but she wouldn't always let us put her down again! It's been strange and hard work as she has always been such a happy sleeper. The reason/s for all this would most likely be her new tooth! This appeared for the first time around 7.5 months and it is showing now, very cute too! And she dreams...this seems to wake her up every so often as well! They (the books etc) tells us that they (the babies) around this age often do this.

Food wise she is eating well...had her first weetabix on the weekend at Debs & Chris' along with cracker bread which is another hit. She has also been having the Swedish drink called valling in the evening. She loves it and we even have a Swedish bottle for it so it can get through! It is like porridge in a drink more or less.

We went to St Albans this weekend to stay with Debs, Chris, Emily and Ben. Debs knows Sean from uni. We also got to see Taz (another uni friend), Lisa and TJ. Unfortunately Lynn and family couldn't make it. Debs and Chris have built an extension on their house which has turned out great. We also got to see Corinne and David before we drove back, they are also in St Albans. This was lovely too as it has been ages, they'd not met Orla before and we had not met David! The journey up and down went well and we got back safely.

This week is half term time. Orla and I have had a pretty quiet start to the week. Lynn is looking after Orla tomorrow so I will do 100 things that I need to catch up on then. This weekend I am going shopping in Brighton on Saturday with Nicky and Sharon while Sean is dad for the day and on Sunday Ruth, Chris and Millie are coming down to see us - all very nice! Next week we have lots on before we see a few Gardiners and Martins next Sat (it is also Brian's birthday during the week) before we fly to Sweden on Sunday morning, Orla and me that is. Sean will be home alone, get lots of work, sleep and xboxing done while we spend some time with the Frantzich lot, all this before I go back to work in April. Still don't know what the deal is exactly but hope to soon as I really need to book Orla in for childcare...wish me luck as there don't seem to be enough spaces to go around!!!

Weather is milder and we've had some lovely days. I don't mind the cloudy days, as long as it's not wet! Scaffolding is still on the house...Bathroom still needs finishing...and we have a million things to do before our move to Oz!!!

Right, I think that's it for now. Am making lasagne for dinner, should be ready by the time Sean comes through the door just after 8pm. (Not! Orla woke up...I should never have written the above! She is back in bed so I can start cooking now!).

Take care, miss you all and yes we will upload pics soon...!!!

In the meantime we have started a Twitpic page at: http://twitpic.com/photos/moosecat76 - pics from our mobiles that we send straight to here as we take them...quicker than our album but pics are somewhat swoshy! Enjoy!

8885 grams

Hello again!

We went to weigh Orla yesterday and she was 8885 grams or 19.8 in the other language. She is climbing the chart one line above "the average" (the 75th for those of you in the know!). We didn't measure her length but she is fitting nicely in to her size 74 clothing.

Her cold has got worse really, she sounds very husky today, nose is still runny and snorty and she is coughing a bit rather than just sneezing. She slept well all night last night though which was a relief.

My cold is better I think! The weather is ok, still quite cold. Think we might just go for a walk today to get some air, otherwise stay indoors to get better! Sean is in London today at a uni for a workshop.

Talk again soon!
Stina et al

Snuffly and tired...

Feeling snuffly, coughing, head achy etc today...not sure where it has come from...Little miss has a runny nose too and teething so she is not 100% either. Sean is fine, just had some work to do over the weekend.

Have downloaded pics from the camera and phones so will upload them this week I hope!

Am also very sad to hear about the loss of life in Australia due to the fires.

Kram for now

Orla 8 months today!

Looks like I have not written a word since before xmas!!! Gotta get better at this!

Haven't managed to upload any new pics either...it's on our list of things to do so hopefully you will see Orla as she is now very soon! Maybe us too but we are not as cute to look at!

Had a lovely xmas at Pernilla and Thomas' house in Saltis including Orla's christening on xmas day at Skogso Kapell. Also had a few days at mum and dad's and a good new year's eve at Sofia and Andreas' in Gothenburg.

After we got back we all got the winter vomit bug...Orla first then Sean and I followed. Sean got it while in Wales for work so he was sick up there while I was sick and on my own with Orla here...thankfully farmor Lynn came to help the next day which was a relief as I was pretty worn out. Since then we've been fine, a bit snuffly maybe and Orla has her first tooth on the go, otherwise we are good!

Not much to report from January really...Sean has been back to Wales for some more work, in Pembrokeshire where we went on holidays. Nice place to go! He was 37 as well on the 27th of January. Got a painting of fishermen in Pevensy Bay by Nigel Greaves. Sean knows him and his family from when they lived in the bay. Will be a nice reminder of this place when we get to Oz. His gallery is also down the road from us.

This month we are off to St Albans to catch up with Debs and Chris and all the uni lot, maybe even Corinne and her fiance if we can fit it in. I hope to go shopping in Brighton, see Ruth and family and a few Gardiners before Orla and I fly to Sweden on 1 March. We are staying the whole month to spend some time with my lot. Sean will survive but Orla must promise not to start walking or similar when he is not there! Have a lot of family birthdays in March, Pelle and Sofia are moving in to their new house, Sofia W will be at home and I start working in April so wanted to make the most of my time off. Mum (and dad?) will come back here for a bit in April too, including Easter which will be nice.

I am hoping to work 3 days a week from home until the end of July...whether this can be sorted out with work is another question. Have been to see them at London Bridge, now I am waiting to hear what they can offer me!

We've had snow...it's been all over the news! The UK really can't function when it snows...!!!

Work is still going on the outside of our big old house...will be lovely when it's all done. Also getting a leak from upstairs fixed and our freezer has died...will hopefully get back to life next week.

And Orla is a star! More hair, one tooth, around 9 kgs I think, will weigh her on Tuesday. Likes to stand, not really crawling but moving about a lot, just not getting far...loves her bath and swimming, chats away, likes to eat and more! Hope to show her off soon!

Will go to bed now I think...and hope to write more very soon!

Take care, love and miss you all!
Kram from us