America here we come!

We are all packed and ready to go,I can't help but think we've forgotten something...I'm sure I'll think of something when we're half way across the ocean! It will be an early start leaving here at 3.30am to get to the airport,then a 5hr flight to Sydney. Once we stop in at Syndey we change to the International airport and make our way to San Fransisco 14 hrs away! Once we are in San Fransisco we head to Denver and then finally reach our destination Houston! Heres hoping we don't run into any trouble(delayed flights,lost luggage) and have a smooth trip. Keep following us for all the updates while we're away,talk to you all soon.

Amelia's 3rd Birthday and my first rock concert

Amelia celebrated her 3rd birthday in true rock style. Spending the morning opening her presents and dancing along to her new CD player we then had a sausage sizzle and finished off eating her "meeli bug" birthday cake (Meeli bug being the nickname we've given her).As the afternoon approached we headed out to a reserve where dad was doing lights for a Kiss tribute band called Kiss Alive. Dad is a huge Kiss fan and it was always going to rub off onto the two girls. Amelia and her big brother both got their faces painted, Amelia as the star child (Paul Stanley) and Kade as spaceman (Ace Frehley). Amelia had been excited all day,she kept asking to see Paul,dad took her backstage to see the guys getting ready with their make-up and costumes,you couldn't wipe the smile off her face.The loud music,the flashing lights and the cool pyrotechnics made the day a birthday to remember. After the concert Amelia and her dad even had their photo taken with the band. The night ended quite late and I must say I'm quite surprised that Jayda out lasted Amelia,with Amelia falling asleep on the picnic rug. Something tells me that this will definitely not be their last rock concert!

Update on Jayda's achievements

Well Jayda is now 8 and a half months old and I can't believe how much she has changed. Jayda is in the process of having 4 teeth come through at once,all up the top and I can't say she is pleased about it. Although her teeth are enabling her to try new foods,which she loves to do,they are keeping her up at night.

Jayda has now found her rhythm when it comes to crawling,we weren't sure if she was going to because she was becoming very found of rolling everywhere. It had only taken a couple of days of crawling forward a few paces for her to eventually figure out that she could get to places faster this way rather than rolling and becoming stuck up against a wall or under a chair somewhere.

At the same time as Jayda was getting the crawling down pat she had started to use the furniture to pull herself up onto her knees. That only took her a few days before she realised she could get even higher by standing on her feet,this we weren't expecting her to do on her own yet. Everywhere she crawls whether its to the bathroom or the bedrooms she goes to a wall or piece of furniture uses  her hands for support and pull herself up,she is even becoming a little too confident for our liking that she stands there against the wall with only one hand as support....scary!!!!

I must say that Jayda being able to get to places on her own has been a good thing but there has been a down fall to it too. She is getting into things she shouldn't be. I can tell you now Matt is getting quite frustrated when she crawls to his DVD player and bangs on it like a drum,I don't think the laser inside it appreciates it very much. But now at least she can follow me or her sister anywhere in the house,better to have her happy then grouchy when there are things to do around the place.

Jayda has also had her dermatology visits reduced to 3 monthly. The hospital is happy with the birthmark at the moment especially because she has been off the propranolol for 1 month now. She is doing it for herself and there hasn't been any signs of regrowth,thank goodness! We were told that sometimes the hemangioma can have a relapse but we know what to look out for and if this occurs she'll be put back on the propranolol. Laser treatment on the birthmark will be discussed when Jayda is over the age of 2yrs,by this stage it may have started to fix itself but she may need some touch ups in areas,but that is way off to worry about at this point in time. As for Jayda's arterial anomalies we wont know of any changes until she has her next MRI/MRA which will most likely be done in Texas,which is when she'll be next due for one. At the moment all we can do about the blockage is wait and see how well the other arteries compensate for the flow of blood to that area of the brain. We still haven't been told if she should be on aspirin,there has been division between the doctors here whether this will be beneficial for her or cause more of a problem in the future. Hopefully we may get more answers in 3 weeks when we get to Texas!

My first Christmas

 A bit late but here are some pics of Jayda's first Christmas.Jayda had to be woken up as her older sister was very keen to see what Santa had left under the tree.Jayda was able to tear off the wrapping with a little help and if not quick enough Amelia would open them for her.Nanna, Pop and her aunties came over later where she got to open even  more presents. By the end of the day Jayda was exhausted I think it was all the presents she opened and being in the presence of great company.