New blog address

We've starting a fresh blog, The Cunneen Clan. Eventually this blog will be transferred to the new web address. http://thecunneenclan.blogspot.com

we're here

We've been in Mackay for just over a week now. We feel winter is warm!

Almost there

Lots of packing.
Got a "new car". Actually a 1992 model. Nathan detailed it today so that it is clean and shiny for me and the boys.
He gets to drive a work ute up so we can take whatever will fit on the back and in the boot of the Mazda!
Still bits and pieces of our stuff all over the house, wanting to pack up the ute Sunday afternoon so that we're all ready to go Monday morning, arriving Mackay on Tuesday afternoon. Nathan starts work Wednesday morning.
We've applied to rent a furnished house 2 blocks from the beach. We should hear back Wednesday (because of the long weekend), and hope to move in on Saturday. Staying in a nice apartment until then on the Pioneer River, thanks to Nath's work :)
On the family front, Ryan is 3 months old, Daniel's vocabulary is starting to grow (yellow duck, mummy play, please, just to name a few).
Next update from Mackay.

We come, we go.

We're off to Mackay, about 12hrs drive north of Brisbane. Weather is similar to Brisbane, but more humid.

After 3 weeks of job-hunting, Nathan got his first call back on Tuesday morning. He had an interview 2 hours later, and we got a call back Wednesday to say the job was his! God is good. Nathan is getting great pay considering it's been a while since he's engineered, they are paying removal costs, and giving us an accommodation allowance. Mining is one of Mackay's industries, which apparently drives up rental prices. Nathan will be doing Quality Assurance work as Project Engineer on a road project. The company he is employed with is looking to expand quickly, which means there is room for promotion soon. We will be in Mackay for 6 months, after which there will be openings at Townsville or Brisbane.

It's been a whirlwind few days! Originally they told us they wanted Nathan to start in Mackay on Monday 7th! Thankfully that was wrong info. He starts work Monday in Brisbane, and then we'll head up the next weekend. Not sure of any logistics just yet. Trying to finalise quite a few things in Brisbane, and do some shopping in the 'big city'. We're sorting through the homewares we left in my parent's shed for 3 years. Some things didn't cope well with storage, and our tastes have changed a little too.

We've spent some time applying with Centrelink for government family payments, and we've received generous backpay so we have money to buy what we need. Nathan is out buying work clothes, safety boots, and getting new glasses. We've been offered a car which would need a little bit of work (1994 model), but would save us another big expense right now.

We've been catching up with family and some friends, but time seems to have almost run out :( I feel a little robbed of family time since we are going again after a month, but it is better than nothing, and we will at least be in the same state.

Citizens of Oz

We received Daniel & Ryan's citizenship certificates! We are quite surprised by how quickly they arrived, but very thankful. They are now both able to receive public healthcare, and we have begun processing family benefits to help us out financially while Nathan is finding a job.

Time flies

It's almost been 2 weeks in this beautiful land of ours!
I've not had much computer time, so am not able to keep up with distant friends as much as I would like. Barely enough time to check email once/day.
Nathan has gone this afternoon to play a bit of church-league soccer with some old friends. Still job hunting and hoping to hear back this week from some of his applications.
It's possible the boys' citizenship papers will come this week (I missed a registered letter from Friday's post, so we'll see what that could be on Monday). That will mean other red tape is a lot easier to tie up!
Looking foward to some play dates with friends' kids in the next week or two, and catching up with our old church on Sunday.

We've arrived

We're slowly getting over jetlag. Daniel is still getting up at 4.30am :( Hopefully that will stop soon! Ryan has been great, he's so little that he just does his thing. Starting to go longer periods of sleep now (around 5hrs), which is great.

Daniel has had so many changes - new home, new room, a big boy's bed, pets...He was really excited to see his grandparents. So excited that he didn't want to sleep despite being exhausted! His little legs were bouncing up and down and his face was full of smiles.

We had an insane amount of luggage. We knew that, but it still caused headaches for us.

• 9 suitcases
• 3 boxes
• 2 guitars
• 2 carseats
• 1 stroller
• 6 pieces of carry-on.
• 2 kids and only 2 adults

Ryan had a bassinette, but Daniel struggled with falling asleep. He was exhausted (we had an 8.30pm flight), but couldn't fall asleep because he is used to sleeping on his tummy. His cries of "mummy" were really pitiful, I felt awful not being able to help him.We ended up putting him on the floor once the lights were dimmed, and praying the air hosts/esses wouldn't see him. Thankfully he got 6 hours sleep that way.

The airline was helpful at Auckland, we had a golfcart to drive us from the plane to our next spot. However our stroller (checked in at the plane door) got waylaid, and we didn't get it back until Tuesday night. So we wasteda lot of time at baggage services.

Customs/security was really hard. I was carrying Ryan in a front-carrier, so Nathan did all the lifting and bag-moving. Daniel chose some poor places to be obstinate or run away. At Auckland he ran back through security - we were so glad we weren't somewhere like the US or Canada with tighter security. He also walked around behind the customs scanners, and we had to retrieve him on the other side. Lucklily Kiwis are nice people :)

On a positive note, we caught up with Nathan's grandparents at Auckland airport. They drove in to meet us at 6.30am in the morning, and spent an hour with us having cuddles with Ryan and playing with Daniel. It helped Nathan and I not to crash too soon, as we still had the 4hr flight back to Brisbane.

Arriving at Brisbane, we had to retrieve all our luggage. We had help and a trailer to get it all home, but we didn't know how to get it through security. We strapped Daniel into his car seat on the floor so he couldn't run away. We filled up 3 trolleys precariously with all our stuff . Apparently we were supposed to ask the airlines for help. One security lady pushed a trolley to baggage services for us to ask about the stroller, the baggage services man left his post to push a trolley to security, and a stranger pushed a trolley out the door. Nathan single-handedly put every piece of luggage through the scanner, and reloaded the trolleys again. I think that was the hardest part, especially knowing that our parents were only 10metres away through the thick glass. We were so close, but it seemed like so much effort to get there!

Our suitcases are unpacked, and we are enjoying having Nathan's sister's car at our disposal. We've taken a few walks outside in the gorgeous sunny weather (around 25 degrees), and are looking forward to catching up with a few more people next week once we are more settled.

I have photos, but haven't the chance to upload them yet from the camera. As we are trying to rest when the boys are asleep we haven't had much internet time either. Nathan is job hunting, and we have been sorting out health insurance and citizenship for the boys. We'll be at Nathan's parents' place for 2 months, so it's good to have a 'home' for a while until we know where we will work/live.

Back in Brissie

We have arrived!
Jet lagged, but happy to be here.
More details soon.

ready for launch

3, 2, 1, blastoff!

Bags are lined up, ready to go...time for a catnap before take-off :)

Next stop...Brisbane!

Graduation

I have graduated!

Packing and cleaning

Not much news, just packing and cleaning (well, Nathan is packing and cleaning anyway! I'm trying to do the normal everyday domestic things).

We need to be out of our apartment Friday morning, so Nathan is very busy getting us ready. Our friend Dave kindly donated some time and his car to drive quite a few boxes of household stuff to Regent. They have a giveaway at the start of every school year for new families, particularly those from other continents. We benefited greatly from others generosity when we arrived, and are happy to help new students arriving over the summer/autumn! It also gives us more space to clean and see what is left to pack.

Tonight is Nathan's Convocation - fancy academic word for Graduation. I hope to take a few photos, and sometime put them up on the blog. Speaking of which, the blog will need a new name next week...not sure what to call it yet!

Ryan is doing well, and sleeping as well as can be expected during the nights. 6.5 weeks old now, and getting bigger. We have our final appointment with the midwife on Thursday afternoon (wonderful timing - just when we are probably at our busiest!!).

Not enjoying saying goodbye to so many of our friends :( Trying to persuade many of them to visit our beautiful land downunder. The snakes/bugs/spiders aren't that bad, promise! We are looking forward to seeing our family back home though.

What's happening when we get back to Brisbane? Only God knows, and He's not letting us in on the plan just yet...watch this space!

My menfolk

Going to apply for Ryan's Canadian passport this week, then we can get his plane ticket and Aussie visa!

Winding down

Nathan completed his Comprehensive exams on Wednesday (it was 5 hours of translating in Greek & Hebrew and essay writing). He got his marks back already, and did really well praise God! :)

Nathan is finding it hard to keep in study mode now that the 'big one' is done. There is a noticeable decrease in stress in our household, and I'm appreciating the extra help he can now give me with the boys. Yesterday Nathan did a few trial packs of clothes and books in suitcases. I proved that all my clothes DID fit into just one suitcase. (apart from the ones that I sent home early with Mum hehe - is that cheating?)

It feels like we have one foot here in Vancouver, and the other in Brisbane. We've started preparing for 'home', but neither are we quite ready to leave the 'home' we have here. Moving on in life has anticipation and excitement, but after being here for almost 3 years, and growing our family here, Brisbane does feel a whole world away.

Ryan continues to grow and sleep and eat and cry. He will be 1 month old tomorrow! Not sleeping in his own little bed at night yet though :( Likes the company too much I think. He hasn't grown much in length, but he is around the 9 pound mark.





Daniel's digestive tract has improved a lot the last few weeks, and he is a noticeably happier boy with more energy. He is also learning how to be louder (not so great when the baby is trying to fall asleep), mastering walking up and down the stairs, and enjoying playing with other kids. Here are some pictures we took this morning as we walked around the community garden, looking for creepy crawlies and enjoying the Spring sunshine. The last photo is of the tower that Nathan studies in - a penthouse converted to a study room, with amazing views of the ocean, mountains, and forests surrounding our home!

2 weeks in

Ryan is 2 weeks old in about 7.5 hours time. This time 2 weeks ago I was baking cookies, doing laundry and wondering if my contractions were real labour or not!

Here are some photos of Ryan with Nana. She's been holding down the fort for us - Daniel is going to miss her attention and help next week when Mum is busy.

Ryan does look a lot like Daniel as a baby so far. He seems to have the same blue eyes as Daniel (thanks Poppy). He is feeding and growing well. At one week old he was already 8.5oz (approx 240g) heavier than his birthweight. So we suspect that he is at least 8lb at the moment.

Daniel is noticing more and more that Mummy is busy. Sometimes he is happy to share with Ryan (like at nappy-changing time). Ryan loves to watch his big brother, especially up close! He has been hit in the head with a tennis ball once, but it upset Daniel more than Ryan, so hopefully won't happen again for a while.

Ryan went to church for the first time on Sunday, and has been to playgroup as well. We are being blessed by meals from our friends which definitely makes things easier.

Nathan has less than 4 weeks to go til he is done. He is making the most of Mum being here and getting study done during the evenings too, despite being very tired. Daniel has a cough which is keeping Nana and Mum awake at night, we are hoping that none of us (particularly Ryan) catch it.

Family of Four

Here is a picture of us with latest addition - Ryan Zechariah Cunneen, born March 11 at 5.53am (his due date). We praise God that Mareesa and Ryan are doing well, after a relatively speedy delivery. Ryan was 7lb 2oz, 53.5cm. Daniel has not quite realised what being a big brother means yet, but will work it out soon enough. We are looking forward to Nana arriving on Sunday for 2 weeks.

Growing up

Daniel is definitely growing up! No pics for this post but a few new things in Daniel's world:

• Sings the animal noises in Old MacDonald Had a Farm
  
• Says 'home' and 'read' (well, the start of the word anyway)
• Loves digging and making sandcastles in the sandpit (even if it is 6 degrees outside)
• Possibly crawl over his crib/cot rail if he is upset - hoping to avoid this for a few more weeks if we can!
• He loves pretending to talk on the phone, and usually wants to call Pa and Neen, or Poppy and Nana.
• He's grown an inch taller in the past 2 months, and has more teeth now. His incisors have cut through on the top row, and he has his 12-month molars.

(You may have noticed a change to our layout - just felt like something different! Let us know if you think it is harder to read and we'll change it again.)

9 month belly

One week to go! :)

Waiting around with Daniel

Daniel & I are doing lots of hanging out this week. Playgroup and errands mostly. I'm enjoying 2hr naptimes (and having a rest myself). Not enjoying being the moody pregnant woman though :(

I signed Daniel up for a weekly music class today, which starts in 2 weeks. I'm not sure if I will be going, or if I will be delegating to Nana and Daddy, but I think Daniel will enjoy it a lot!

He is enjoying 'pretend' play at the moment. We feed and give drinks to his animals and toys, and he likes it when mummy and daddy make 'food' with playdough. He's gotten into reading stories with us big time lately, I think because it requires our undivided attention! He makes sure that he and I both have cushions to sit on, or chairs depending where we are. The Wiggles, Elmo and Curious George are still favourites in the entertainment department. And driving trucks/cars around is becoming more normal too. Our little guy is growing up!

2 weeks and counting

2 weeks today our bub is due! We are really hoping he makes an early appearance, but we'll see what happens :)
The Olympics are hard to ignore, and Nathan is finding it hard to study with exciting Olympic events and practice contractions happening.
Tiredness has really hit me today, I'm hoping it's just because Daniel got up early. Lots of naps for me today.
Today my friend Ramie rang and said "can you come watch the ladies gold hockey match right now?" Unfortunately I couldn't as Nathan was locked away in a study room somewhere, but it would have been awesome! We've been cheering on the Canadians (especially since Aussies aren't in every event) and getting a little more into the hockey.

Today we spent the morning at Jericho Beach. Daniel had fun chasing crows, ducks, seagulls, and climbing logs. Glad we packed gumboots, as the ground was surprisingly muddy.

Clear days should be treasured in Vancouver!
We finished off the morning with a picnic in a sheltered spot. Vegemite sandwiches for D and ham & salad wraps for us.
Daniel couldn't even keep his eyes open for the trip home! A successfully busy morning for out little guy :) We'll have to come again before we head back to Australia, he had so much fun.

Olympics, baby & sunshine!

Well, it's impossible to ignore the Olympics here in town. On Tuesday night I went downtown with my friends Jackie & Ramie, and we checked out the Olympic flame (behind it's chain-mail fence), LiveCity Downtown (one of the celebration sites), and the general buzz near BC Place where Canada was playing a hockey match. We even got a photo with one of Wayne Gretzky's jerseys (a very very famous Canadian hockey player). Tomorrow night Nathan and I are watching Russia & Slovenia ladies play ice hockey here at UBC (one last date before the baby comes!). Speaking of which, the midwife told me today that our baby's head is engaged and ready to go, yay! That was one of my big fears, that he wouldn't engage - just like Daniel. So hopefully sometime in the next 20 days we will meet this little guy! :)

And the sun has been almost constantly shining lately, which definitely improves moods everywhere. Nathan has cloistered himself indoors at the top of the high-rise right near us, as there is a study room up there with lots of windows. He is getting a good amount of work done which is great. Daniel and I are spending a fair amount of our time out in the sun. If it was rainy, I'd find it really hard to be bothered to get rugged up to go outside (yes, my energy is on the low side!) Yesterday we even played with some water and watering cans in our little garden (warm water from the kitchen tap) as it wasn't too cold. He is missing his little playmate Ixmu, and was glad to see her at playgroup on Wednesday.

It's February!

February has arrived - not that it is too significant mind you, I don't feel like anything really big has happened, but time is definitely passing.

I have 5 weeks til my due date - kind of scary, it has definitely snuck up on me. Feeling a little daunted to say the least. I mentioned to some of my friends that I didn't feel 'big enough' compared to my first pregnancy. Guess little boy Cunneen heard me! I'm not huge, but I did stack on a few kilos in just a few weeks. I'm partly blaming that large packet of Doritos that was sitting in the pantry with its MSG-laden tastiness (an extra ingredient not found in Aussie Doritos). And the ice-cream I bought for visitors. And watching TV during Daniel's naps.

The Winter Olympics will be starting in just over a week. And in just over 5 weeks Mum will be here :) Looking forward to that! Australia has almost 50 athletes registered which is pretty good considering we don't have much snow (maybe as much as Vancouver haha). Mind you, Canada has around 200 athletes - the benefits of being the host country! By the way, we could definitely do with snow on some of our mountains if you feel inclined to pray for some 'good' weather.

Busy Weekend

The weekend has come and gone already, soon it will be February! I am feeling that we are very busy of late, and it doesn't look like settling down just yet.

Friday night we participated in a Burn Notice Premiere party - thanks Ziggy! Burn Notice is a TV show that we love, and are excited to have caught up to mid-Season 3 just as it is being aired on the telly.

On Saturday, Daniel spent most of the day with his friend Ixmu (the girl I care for during the week) while Nathan and I went to a Prenatal Refresher course. We all enjoyed ourselves, and even learned some new things. And it was nice that Daniel was still happy when we picked him up at the end of the day :-)

And yesterday we went snowshoeing with Frank and Amber to Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. There's not very much snow up there! Quite a bit less than when we went on NYE. I wondered if I was crazy for going snowshoeing when 7 months pregnant? Needless to say I made the call to head back when I decided my bladder and muscles couldn't take too much more. Daniel was in a backpack carrier we borrowed, which Nathan & Frank used. Unfortunately he was colder than we realised, so a little miserable. But he was being a trooper, and pepped up once we had lunch. He spent quite a while smiling and staring at a boy blowing bubblegum bubbles, it was very cute!

We were excited to also catch up with Nathan's sister Ellen on Skype - she has just moved to Disney World in Florida for 6 months.

Tonight I am going to a 2 hour knitting for beginner's course (just for fun!) with Amber, we are visiting Mark, Angela & baby Isaac on Wednesday, and Thursday/Friday we are hosting a prospective Regent student, plus all the regular stuff that goes on during a normal week. (And missing out on a few things too :-(, hopefully we are not too busy!)

Bread

Fresh bread with butter. Yum. Was still hot too!


Daniel & I were pretty full from dinner, but it was too tempting. Nathan will be jealous, and ask why I made fresh bread the night he was at class! I squeezed myself onto the other chair (hope I don't break it) and we sliced, buttered and enjoyed. May be the best loaf I've made yet! :) Whenever I make it I always wonder why it's been so long since the last time. Daniel helped poke and prod this one while I was kneading.

Allergy Testing

Here is Daniel's arm -- track marks care of the allergy doctor we saw this afternoon. They had me put on a topical anesthetic cream an hour before and that did the trick - he had a numb arm, and Daniel watched as every needle was inserted (5-10 mins between each one).

We were at the doctor's for 3 hours. I took our laptop so we watched some Wiggles, looked at some photos, as well as read, played with the toys in the waiting room, and made a few trips to the washroom (for me, not Daniel ;) ).

I know this picture isn't very clear, but the column on the right had the two main allergies (bottom, and 3rd from bottom) which were carrots (incl celery and parsnip) and corn (which is in eeeeeevvvvverything! corn starch/flour or glucose....have a look at ingredient labels). No more cornflakes for brekky, sorry buddy! He also showed allergies to oranges (therefore all citrus) and beef/veal (I didn't know you could be allergic to beef!). So the next month will be interesting as we cut those things out and see what happens. But it does mean that we will be able to reintroduce cow's milk, which is easier on the budget than soy. I hope he still likes the taste!

About half-way through the testing Daniel looked like he had had enough (it was nap time). Apparently you're not supposed to eat during the testing. But the doc said we could have a snack, and that helped out a lot. Little boys can't go for very long without eating!

Anyway, he was very very brave, the staff were very impressed, and now it is all over! I'm not sure if these are permanent allergies, or if he has the possibility of growing out of them, but I'll be asking that in the follow-up appointment in a month. Makes me wonder what I could be allergic to! But since I'm not showing any symptoms I'm not going to spend all that money to find out.

7 months down, 2 to go

Well, here's the 7 month shot, taken Monday. Me in my everyday, not very sexy clothes ;-)
Not a shocking photo, but not one I think I will be putting on Facebook either!

I had a midwife appointment today, everything is looking good. My belly is measuring a little on the small side, but that has been consistent throughout the pregnancy. So I'm no bigger than I was with Daniel which surprised me a little. But I'm not complaining! Appointments will be a lot more regular now, another one in 2.5 weeks, then weekly after that. My energy levels have been pretty good, but it definitely helps if I can get to sleep by 10pm. Daniel wakes around 7am, so that's a pretty good sleep I reckon! :-)

Nathan is getting back into the swing of things now, upstairs translating his Greek at the moment. I'm making a fruit cake (microwavable), looking forward to its yummy fruity goodness!

A new year

With 2010 well underway, we haven't felt too busy yet, but these next few months will definitely bring changes. Weather-wise it is quite mild compared to other places in the Northern Hemisphere, today didn't even feel like winter.

We've met our new friend baby Isaac, went on our 3rd 'date' since Daniel was born (to see Invictus, great movie), took Daniel to McDonald's Playland for the first time, I started babysitting again, and Nathan starts classes again this week.
Lots of countdowns going on too:

• 32 days of work left (for Mareesa)
• 32 days til the Winter Olympics begin
  
• 60 days til baby is due
• 62 days til Nana arrives in Vancouver
• 95 days til Nathan finishes classes
• 105 days til Nathan graduates his Masters
• 111 days til we fly out of Vancouver back to Brisbane
  

Lots to think about, lots to do!

Other things we hope to do: snowshoe, allergy testing for Daniel, lots of visits to friends here in Vancouver :)

Mt Seymour snow trip

Some pics from our drive to Mt Seymour on Dec 31st. We had a nice drive, but didn't stay out in the snow too long.

Daniel enjoyed watching kids on their toboggans, and playing with snow blocks in the carpark. He couldn't really move in all his clothes which made it a little tricky.

We ate yummy snacks all day and enjoyed the freedom of not having to take public transport! Hoping for snow in Vancouver some time, but not it's not in the forecast any time soon.