Moving Countries... What a Business!

Well.... where do I start? So much has happened since we set off from London in late February. We haven't had the internet at home so Maddie's poor old blog has been a little neglected. It is now 11:20pm and I am absolutely knackered, so here are some quick highlights of the past couple of months.

Maddie got quite a shock to the system when she got off the plane in Adelaide to 40 degree heat! The city of churches decided to turn on the longest heat wave on record... WORLD RECORD! It didn't get below 38 degrees for 12 days. We were all about to expire! Bloody horrid. Everyone kept saying 'at least it is a dry heat'... what the hell is that meant to mean? Simes, Maddie and I felt like we had be shoved into a fan forced oven. Luckily, we had the love had hospitality of our crazy families to keep us smiling.

Little Maddie was Baptised by the wonderful Father Gaucci in early March. She had to wait in line to get into the baptism pool as it was 39.5 degrees on the day. Uncle Mikey was kind enough to throw Maddie a bash in his garden after the ceremony. He played host to 80 guests and it was a gorgeous afternoon (apart from a few minor glitches... eg: kids pissing on his floor, his mother locking him out of the front part of his house and the odd drunken relative). The grandparents were all amazingly kind and generous doing all the prep that made the day so special.

We moved into a serviced apartment in Waterloo Sydney which was somewhat like living in Hong Kong but we have now found a lovely little terrace in Glebe and have finally started to settle into our life in Sydney.

We haven't stopped since arriving back in Australia. We have caught up with a million and one friends and Maddie finally got to meet all her beautiful cousins. She has made so many wonderful new friends and has fallen particularly in love with Meagan and Martin's little boy Linus. Simes has pretty much set up our whole life here in Sydney and is busy playing daddy daycare and slowly going out of his mind watching the Wiggles on a daily basis (Maddie is OBSESSED). I don't know what I would do without him. He is our saviour, but there is no question that he is ready to start working again and he is currently on a mission to find Maddie some day care. I am absolutely flat out at work and feel like I have aged about 10 years in the past 2 months.

It was really wonderful to have four weeks off between leaving London and starting my new job in Sydney, but it has made it so much harder to leave Maddie each morning. She is quite simply a delight! Her personality knocks my socks off. She makes Simes and I giggle every day. She counts to ten in three different languages and can say the entire alphabet (thanks to her father's tutelage). She has a cracking sense of humour and thrives on being around people. She yells 'hi' to almost everyone she passes in the street. I can't get enough of her and sometimes when I look at her, she takes my breath away and I can't believe that Simes and I made such a wonderful little person.

Benny is proving to be the worlds BEST God Father. He and Richy treat Maddie as though she is their own baby and she absolutely adores them and their cat Oliver. All I can say is thank GOD for the boys. I don't know what we would do without them.

While it is wonderful to be back in Sydney, we are missing our London friends terribly. Leaving our little 'London Family' was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do and there is no question that the London chapter of our lives will always be amongst our happiest times.

Anyway... I'm off to bed. Beauty sleep is definitely required!

Lots of love xxx

PS: Now that we have the internet at home and life is reaching some kind of normality, I promise to update the news more regularly.

Saying Goodbye...

When Simes and I first decided to move to London, it was supposed to be a 12 month adventure filled with travel and good times (I remember us both saying that we were going for a good time, not a long time). Here we are four years later and it’s time to head home to Australia with our little baby girl. I never imagined that we would meet so many amazing characters and that our lives would be filled with so many riches.

As the old song goes… you don’t know what you got till it’s gone. The moment we decided to leave this big, bustling city, I fell more in love with it than ever before. I love that it is rich in history and culture. I love that it is truly multicultural and that when I catch the bus to work I hear at least five different languages and see faces from so many different backgrounds. I love that it is full of creativity and allows people to be exactly who they are without judgment. I love that I walk past St Mary’s hospital in Paddington on my way to work and look up and remember bringing our beautiful baby girl into the world in that funny old maternity ward. I love that it is so close to the rest of Europe and that you can be in another country in a matter of minutes. I love that Simes can revel in his passion for football and see world class players on a daily basis (well I kind of love that, except when I want to watch something else on TV!). I love that the UK is so regional and that every part of the country has its own identity and characteristics. I love that as I walk through Soho each morning I see the characters that make the West End tick (everyone from cross-dressing parking inspectors to cheery fruit stall owners). I love its beautiful big parks and the cheeky squirrels that run around them. I love the London pubs and the bangers and mash that fill our tummies on cold winters days. I love the summer music festivals and the amazing, fresh live music scene. I love the long summer days when the sun doesn’t go down until 10pm. I love that Simes and I are still crazy about each other and that Maddie has enriched our lives more that I could ever have imagined. But most of all, I love that we have made friends that will always be in our lives regardless of how often we see each other.

Saying goodbye is always hard… but I had totally underestimated how hard it would be to leave this amazing city. I can’t wait to be home with our treasured family and friends. I just wish we could bring parts of London with us. I remember when we left Sydney my mum gave me some great advice. She said “life is a great big canvas and you just have to throw as much paint as you can at it” (I think she borrowed the saying from the actor Danny Kay). I like to think that the London part of our canvas will be one of the most beautiful sections.

The last couple of weeks have been a series of catch ups with friends including a trip to the Cotswolds with our dear friends, a visit from Maddie's Godmother (Cherie) and her lovely husband Brendan, and a fun catch up with Maddie’s baby mates and their mums. It was Maddie’s last day at nursery on Friday. It was a teary farewell and the lovely ladies that have looked after her made a fantastic photo book to remind her of her time at St Stephens and each wrote her a little poem. The week ahead looks like it will be mayhem with leaving drinks, a night at the Brit Awards, leaving dinners, moving out of our flat and a trip to Brussels.

We are staying with our dear friends Simon and Nattie next week. They have been unbelievable friends to us. They welcomed us into their home when we first arrived in London, so it made perfect sense to end the journey in the same way. We love them so much. I can’t imagine how it will feel to say goodbye on March 2nd

Lots of love xxx

Maddie Walks for Australia...

Well it has finally happened... the little Minx has found her feet. The lovely thing is that she chose to take her first steps on Australia Day. She has been threatening to walk for so long but we were beginning to think that she would bum-shuffle her way through life! We were so thrilled that Simes and I were both present for this momentous occasion. It wasn't very glamorous really... I was folding washing and Simon was on the sofa nursing a dreadful hang over when Maddie suddenly stood up and teetered towards me. Naturally, she was greeted with ridiculous squeals of delight and a huge round of applause from both of us, so 'teetering' has now become her favourite party trick.

Our second big headline is that we are heading home! I have been lucky enough to get a promotions job with 20th Century Fox in Sydney, so they are helping us transfer from London at the end of February. Simes and I have very mixed emotions about the move. We have been living in London for nearly four years and experienced the most life changing moments from travelling through Italy, Spain, France, Egypt, Jersey and the UK, to seeing some of the worlds best bands playing at phenomenal summer music festivals, to bringing our beautiful baby girl into the world and watching her grown into a little English toddler. We have met the most wonderful people and seen the most extraordinary things. It has been an amazing adventure and we feel SO terribly sad to leave our London friends who really have become like family. On the other hand, the thought of climbing off the plane with little Maddie tottering next to us and seeing her grandparents (who have longed to cuddle her for so long) and her loving uncles and gorgeous auntie Bianca fills me with love and joy. So many of our dear friends and family have married and given birth to their own special babies while we have been away and I can't wait to see everyone and catch up on all the goss over a glass of wine.

We have been making the most of London by catching up with friends and enjoying the beautiful crisp winter walks in the park. Maddie is just big enough to start enjoying the playground at our local park in Maida Vale, so I thought I would share some pics of her loving the swings and the slippery dip!

We have a busy few weeks ahead including a weekend away in the Cotswolds with friends and one last cheeky European weekend in Brussels. I am finishing work around the middle of February so that I have a week or so to pack up our life and make the most of this fabulous city before we head home to the glorious sunshine.

Here's to the next exciting chapter!

Lots and lots of love xxx

PS: Saw the Spice Girls live on stage last weekend. Bloody marvellous!

Happy New Year!

2008, here we come (sporting crippling hang overs!). We had a fab new years eve at Richard and Jane's house in Clapham. Little Maddie was lucky enough to enjoy her first shared bath with her little friend Lucas. They had an absolute blast. Once the babies were in bed the evening was filled with dear friends, a lovely dinner, a bit of cheesy dancing and much, much too much to drink.

Maddie has entered a super clingy phase. Ever since I returned to full time work, the little lady is beside herself every time I am out of her sight. She even sits at the toilet door howling until we are together again. We are keeping our cool about the situation and trying not to buy into her hysteria too much. I guess it is just another phase...

Our first day of 2008 was spent reading, cuddling, playing, dancing and just generally chilling out together. I love my little family and when I woke up this morning with a cracking head ache, I reminded myself that every minute with Simes and Maddie is incredibly precious and that I must remember not to take a single moment for granted.

Here's to a brilliant 2008 xx

Ho Ho Ho...

December has been completely manic with parties, drinks, hard work, catch-ups with friends, nasty colds, new teeth and of course Christmas celebrations. The highlights have included meeting one of my favourite rock stars (Chad from the Red Hot Chili Peppers - see pic), catching up with our dear friend Flo and meeting her beautiful little boy Ryan, spending time with Richard + Jane and their lovely new baby Wilson, and Nick + Bron and their little chap Lucas, Christmas shopping, and a wonderful pre-Christmas lunch in Stanmore hosted by our amazingly generous friends Pam and Mike Freedman (Nattie's mum and dad).

We were lucky enough to disconnect from the chaos of London and escape to a beautiful part of Wales called Llansteffan for Christmas day. We stayed with Howie, Barney and little Hudson the dog in an old converted dairy in this beautiful, sleepy village at the mouth of the river Towy about 8 miles south of Carmarthen. Friendly and welcoming, the village has to be one of Wales' best kept secrets. We spent Christmas day wandering through the hills of Llansteffan with our beautiful baby girl and the boys. We hiked up a hill to Llansteffan castle to find that we were the only people there. It was absolutely breathtaking.... the sun was shining, the view was stunning and the castle (which was built in 1100) was one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the privilege of visiting. A truly amazing way to spend Christmas day and it was such a treat to discover somewhere so beautiful. We then headed back to the dairy and tucked into a delicious Christmas lunch which was prepared by the boys.

Little Maddie has become quite the little lady and is certainly starting to let us know her opinions. She is even starting to grow some hair, which has been a long time coming! She is learning new words every day and is looking dangerously like she is going to walk any minute. She cruises from one piece of furniture to the next with great confidence and much to our delight, she has started dancing (SO cute). We have been doing lots of family disco sessions (Simes is teaching us both his funkiest moves!). Hope you enjoy the latest pics.

Merry Christmas to all and wishing you a spectacular 2008.