More Photos...

At the beach

Getting sandy

Practising crawling with Dad

Happy Birthday Sethie!

View from Cabin

Our new home

Seth's third birthday cake

(1st at the pub, second from Grandma - maybe there were more?)

The view from our new place and the birthday boy and his cake...

News from the West!!

Howdy everyone! We are finally in our house and reunited with our computer so now we are making good use of it to create this little blog to let you know how we are going and more importantly what Seth is up to! I'll (Amanda!) be trying to update it every month or so but you know you these things go...

We arrived nearly 3 months ago and finally feel like we are finding our feet. Todd's bosses have been great about so many things - not the least for owning the horse that we backed as a winner in the Port Hedland Cup last Monday (public holiday here)!

Todd's work is going really well although the hours are long and he comes home this really weird orange colour (same as the colour of the bottom of our feet). My work (??!!) is going ok too - particularly now that I have a bit more space for Seth and me to play in as well as access to a computer, email and the internet. The caravan park was fine - it was fun being white trash for awhile and all the oldies traveling through loved to chat to Seth. However, spending lots of time in such a cramped environment unable to stop Seth accessing any parts of the kitchen (read OBSESSED with the oven) and no yard to explore sent us a bit insane. The view though was incredible - our verandah faced onto this and it was just lovely.

Port Hedland isn't what we expected - better in some ways and worse in others. Suprisingly for me I have found most of the locals overwhelmingly friendly. Most women seem really concerned that a stay at home mum like me can get too isolated and not cope - I'm constantly being asked out to do things. Probably the thing that has freaked me out the most is the lack of shops - well, probably more the lack of things in the shops. When it came to Seth's birthday we were in a real spin - we just couldn't find things that we wanted to buy for him at all. I s'pose it means we'll start saving money...eventually! Todd is having a good time fishing though - I am so used to him coming home from fishing in Victoria with that sad, despondent look on his face that says no fish. Here he comes home with big smiles and tells me how many he had to chuck back (sorry to rub it in Troy!).

We only just moved into our house last weekend so we are still unpacking. While we had a fantastic view in the caravan park this one here is incredible as well - as is the sunset. The house is ok but umm, well, there is no getting around it - cockroaches!! The hugest, biggest, baddest cockroaches in the whole world just love our house. One crawled up my leg the other night and while I know I am a girl, I stood there shrieking like a girl until Todd killed it. Everyone reassures us they are bush cockroaches but I really don't care what they are anymore - they are freaking us out.

Ok, ok - I know full well that most of you are only reading the other gumph to get to the important part! Seth is doing really well - actually I am fibbing. This week he has had gastro but apart from that he is doing really well. Actually, also apart from his being completely obsessed about staying with me and not trusting any strangers at all. Everyone tells me this is perfectly normal and really it is only my problem because he won't go to anyone else apart from Todd but I tell you it is sending me insane. So apart from the pooing, vomiting and sticking to me like glue Seth is going really well!

He is well on the way to being a serious walker - particularly if he is distracted by carrying something or being focused on something he can get to. For speed he still goes for his 4WD crawl but his favourite method of getting around is to push things - his little walker he got for his birthday (he turns into a speed demon with this and runs into / over your feet), boxes, chairs etc. The neighbours in the caravan park were not so impressed with his constant up and down rattle rattle of chairs running over the planks on the verandah - it definitely interferred with the serenity of a nice sunset. Here his only ambition is to make it from the front yard around to the back (lots of prickles and no shade so we don't want him there) stopping only to investigate the airconditioners on the way there.

Todd and I are having to adjust how we deal with him now - he seems to know so much more and while we are busy laughing at him we are starting to realise that he is starting to form habits. For example as soon as I put shoes on or pick up my bag he sits at the front door crying until we go out - regardless of whether we are actually going out or even ready to go. Anyone who knows and loves Jackson will realise how ironic that situation is! Seth also mimics just about everything we say so we are trying to be a little more careful about what we say. I guess I knew all this stuff was going to happen - I just wasn't expecting it so soon.

He is a little charmer though and while he won't let anyone touch him, he fully expects everyone's attention and is pretty vocal about getting it when he wants to be. He is doing this really weird smile / grimace at the moment that is so obviously put on that you have to crack up laughing. Oh - he has got another two teeth down the bottom now too.

Well I'll end this huge essay now. Don't expect to get such lengthy contributions in the future but I will try and keep at least the photos up to date so we don't have to spend forever emailing them about the place. Let us know how you are going and take care!

Love Amanda, Todd & Seth