Daddy treats an Echidna!

David's work as a vet is not always confined to treating dogs and cats. Quite often he gets Australian wildlife in that are sick or injured. But he has never had something as unusual as an Echidna in ... especially since it was discovered in someones suburban garden in Armadale! Fortunately he wasnt injured, but Laura got to help daddy give the Echidna a full physical check up - armed with leather gloves of course!

Nannys Birthday

We went to Nannys house to celebrate her birthday on the 14th of September. Scott, Daniel and Olivia were also there to help us share a lovely chocolate cake that Laura made! Hunter, nannys new puppy - a poodle cross, was a bit sick that night after the girls fed him a few too many lollies and sausages!

Fairyland Festival

Laura still loves her fairies, so we figured she would love the Fairy festival at Kings park. The day was full of fairy glitter, pretty fairies, elves, pony rides and a bit of rain thrown in! She met up with her BFF Freya and the 2 of them had a wonderful glittery fairy day!

Kelmscott Show

Every year here in September we have the Kelmscott Show. It comes just after the Royal Show and is basically a smaller version and still as much fun. So we take Laura each year and she loves it. Her favourite part is the games, especially putting the balls in the clowns mouth and fishing! She won some great prizes this year and she braved the bumper cars with nanny and daddy!

RIP Dylan

Unfortunately we lost our last cat Dylan in September. We were on our way out when we discovered him on the road, we think he had been bitten by a snake which rendered him incapacacitated enough to not be able to move out of a cars way and was also run over. We only have about 2 cars a day go up our cul-de-sac, so he was a very unlucky boy. We have seen 4 snakes this year, most of them brought home by Benson through winter, so they are out there. Benson the Burmese also disappeared a few months ago, we suspect he also fell victim to snakebite. So our beloved cats are no more. It is a very empty home without a cat. RIP boys.

31 weeks

Cath had a growth scan today at 32 weeks, because sometimes the heart medication she is taking can affect fetal growth. Well there is nothing wrong with this little girls growth. In fact she looks to be a similar size to Laura, with long legs again!

Gorgeous scan photo of her yawning!

28 weeks pregnant.

Shes got that waddle happening now!

Our block in Parkerville

The building saga continues as we still have not settled on an outcome with the builder. We have sought the help of a lawyer and are currently waiting for a meeting with the Builders Tribunal and Builders registration Board. Hopefully the outcome will be that we can cancel the contract without incurring huge fees. Since the builder has breached the contract on various occassions, we are confident the outcome will be in our favour. In the mean time we have decided to stay in Cope Place as it did not sell again in this current market. Keep the block, sell Cope Place when the market picks up, then rent up near Parkerville for 3 years till we are ready to build again. Well thats the current plan anyway!!

Laura's swimming lessons.

After a long (and dry) winter and with the finer weather setting in, Laura has started swimming lessons again at the beginning of October. She loves the beach and water and enjoys the lessons each week, however, like her mummy - she still hates putting her head under water!!

25 weeks pregnant.

With the baby belly bump getting bigger, everything is fine and mum and baby are healthy and happy!

New career, new job.

On the 9th of August, after 5.5 years of university and working as a Registered Nurse in the Neonatal Critical Care Unit at PMH, Catherine started her career as a Registered Midwife at Armadale Hospital. She is loving every minute of her new career and is currently working mainly on labour and birth suite, the post natal ward and special care nursery. Now only working 3 days a week with the rest of the time spent being mummy to Laura, Cath thinks life is pretty good without the added pressure of study and exams!

Our wonderful, gorgeous girl at 3 years of age.

Growing something special.

Pictures taken 16 weeks pregnant.

Baby Anatomy Scan.

We had our formal anatomy scan this week and our little growing girl is fine and healthy. This was a great relief after the ordeal she must have endured with Cath's episode of AF and the drugs she recieved.

Be still my beating heart!

Unfortunately, Catherine spent all weekend in Armadale and Royal Perth Hospitals, the night we arrived back from holiday!
She has a history of a heart problem called Atrial Fibrillation with an Arrythmia. She has not had any problems with it for 2.5 years and has not been on medication for the same amount of time. But it decided to rear its ugly head again and she spent 42 hours in AF as the drugs the doctors were using were not working. As they were reluctant to cardiovert her, being that she was 18 weeks pregnant, they tried various heart drugs to no avail.
Then suddenly, after 42 hours, just as they had decided to anaesthetise her and cardiovert her heart - it spontaneously reverted back into a normal sinus rhythm!
So she is now back on heart medication and has been thrown out of the Family Birth Centre for her pregnancy care and birth as she is considered too "high risk"!
She is back under the care of her cardiologist and consultant obstetric physician at King Edward memorial Hospital, much to her displeasure!

Baby movements.

All this peace and relaxation has allowed Cath to sit still long enough to start to feel the wee little girl inside moving, squirming and wriggling! An amazing time. Currently 17 weeks pregnant and very relaxed, healthy and happy!

Our holiday in Kalbarri

We are currently on holiday in Kalbarri, the weather is gorgeous and sunny every day. We are even having to use sunscreen!

Our days consist of a leisurely breakfast on our verandah overlooking the ocean, a walk across the road to the beach, sometimes going out on the dinghy, exploring the rock pools, reading, relaxing, BBQs and trying the local food at the cafes.

Bliss, relaxation and peace with just the 3 of us. A lovely 2 weeks!

Catherine finishes studying once and for all!!!

The day has finally arrived - i passed my exams and finished my Post Grad Midwifery course and have now finished all university study forever ..... or at least for a very long time (never say never)!!

It is a GREAT feeling knowing i will now be a lady of leisure, being a mum to Laura, only working the 3 days a week she is in day care and enjoying my life and family.

I am now a Registered Midwife as well as a Registered Nurse and start work at Armadale Health Service working on the maternity unit as a Midwife, on the 2nd August 2010.

A career dream i finally get to live!

Armadale is only 3 minutes from home, so that will be an added luxury - not having to drive an hour to work each day!

Yay me!!

Disappointment with the building fiasco.

At this point in time, after many problems, delays, stress, arguing and dealing with clowns in the office of the (unnamed) builders - we have decided to terminate our contract. This is a huge blow to us as all our dreams have been resting on this beautiful block and our dream home, for the past year.

So we move onward and upward, leave the stress behind and make new beginnings and plans.

At this stage we are unsure what plans we will make in terms of homes and where we will live, but we are keeping our block, still have Cope Place on the market and will think about what we want to do over the next few months. We may just end up staying where we are, although not ideal (its a small house for 2 adults and 2 children, with no garden safe for kids!), it is safe, easy and stable until we decide what we want to do.

Good news in a sad week.

We are thrilled and blessed to be expecting a new little member of our family! We already know Cath is carrying a healthy, perfect baby and it is another girl!

She is due to arrive in our world around the 4th January 2011.

A special little sister for Laura.

Farewell to a wonderful Poppa.

On Tuesday the 8th of June we said goodbye to Poppa Foster at the age of 86 years, he is now resting in peace after a 6 month battle with lung cancer. He was Catherine's dad's (Brent) father and Laura's only surviving great grandfather. He has left behind Nanny Foster after 60 years of marriage together. Although it was expected, it has been a terrible time for the faily and we say our last farewell to Flin Foster on Wednesday 16th June.
Say hello to Matthew and give him a hug from us upstairs poppa xxxx

Cope Place goes back on the market.

Our beloved home for the past 4 years will be back on the market and open for inspection this week. A bit sad but a big step forwards and towards the big move to Parkerville. Hopefully it will sell quickley this time as none of us are looking forward to home opens every fortnight and trying to keep the house and garden spotless!

Good news on the building front!

Well after many months, the building licence was finally signed and granted so we can commence the construction of our home! Finally! This has been a looooong haul (we started plans with this builder October last year!!). So we are very excited about the pad finally going down - hopefully next month.