Holiday planning...

Originally posted on 3 April 2015 - updated 21 September with plans! EDITED WITH - So far since receiving Declan's passport we have managed to travel to Hoi An, Da Nang & Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. I also took the children back to Australia for just over a week. We are heading to Singapore in October for a week, and then to Europe at Christmas. So the travelling has started!



One of the major bonuses of living in Penang is that it is the gateway to Asia and so close to Europe for travel. A bit further for the USA and pretty expensive so we will save that one up for our last trip before heading home to Australia. We haven't done any travel as yet as we are still waiting on Declan's passport. We should have that in the next few months so we can start organising trips! We have a massive list of places we want to go and things we want to see.

Thailand
Bangkok - ? JULY 2016 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Koh Samui - ? JULY 2016 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Krabi
Chiang Mai - ? JULY 2016 SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Phuket - JUNE 2016 FOR HALF MARATHON
Koh Lanta
Koh Lipe

Malaysia
Langkawi- BOOKED FEBRUARY 2016 FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
Legoland
Kuala Lumpur
Bintan Island
Perhentian Islands

Vietnam
Halong Bay
Da Nang - DONE
Hanoi
- Hoi An - DONE
Mekong Delta - DONE
Ho Chi Minh City - DONE

Cambodia
Angkor Wat & Siem Reap - DECEMBER 2016 FOR HALF MARATHON
Phnom Penh - DECEMBER 2016 (WHEN IN CAMBODIA/LAOS FOR ANGKOR WAT HALF)

Laos
Luang Prabang - DECEMBER 2016 (WHEN IN CAMBODIA/LAOS FOR ANGKOR WAT HALF)

Japan
Tokyo
Disneyland
Mt Fuji
Skiing

Hong Kong
Disneyland

Germany
Munich - BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015
Berlin - BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015
Neushwanstein Castle- BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015

Austria
Innsbruck - BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015
Salzburg - BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015

Czech Republic
Prague - BOOKED CHRISTMAS 2015

Greece
Greek Islands
Athens

USA
Portland, Oregon
Seattle
San Francisco
LA
Disneyland
New York City
Niagara Falls
Washington DC

Would love to get the all Disneylands in Asia / Europe and then go to the best Disneyland for our final big trip when we do the USA in 2017. We have been looking at Christmas this year and we are going to Europe - so will be able to mark off Germany, Austria & the Czech Republic. :) We are also looking at going to Thailand and perhaps Legoland in the middle of the year - so hopefully will have a few more trips marked off!

First post-baby run

Yesterday I got the all clear from my obstetrician at my 6 week post-birth appointment to run again! Crazily I was very excited.

So I decided to hit the ground running - really - and headed out to Gurney Drive tonight to attempt 2.4km without stopping. I made it but won't be running out there too often at night... You can picture it I'm sure - lots of pedestrians strolling along and blocking the path and cars zooming by so I couldn't go on the road. My time wasn't the best but hey I just had a baby and was dodging people.. so all up I think I did ok!!

I am feeling great to get back into my running.. just need to buy some new running gear that fits properly as all my pre-baby stuff not surprisingly is a little small!! Let's hope it doesn't take me too long to fit into it.

6 Weeks Old!

Declan is 6 weeks old! I have been trying so hard to get back on here regularly but it has been so difficult. I have a lot of things happening at the moment so will be back on here more to report on it! One thing I am very excited about is a 8 week fitness challenge I am starting on 13 April with a Bootcamp company over here. It is from all reports pretty full on and intense but I am excited!

I will be on in the next few weeks with all the details about the challenge, and also with my new fitness goals now I can run again!

Here are some 6 week pics of Declan.

2 weeks old!

I can't believe Declan is already 2 weeks old! The last 2 weeks have flown, and I know I will have to work really hard to keep the posts up on here. :)

We are absolutely loving having another little man in our family. He is so cuddly and sweet, and rarely cries which is a bonus! Sleep is a rarity but I am trying to rest when I can and trying to get out to go walking to wear him out and that seems to be working!

Here are some pics of our newest little guy:

2 weeks old: 24 February 2015

1 week old: 17 February 2015

First walk to the shops with his big sister and Mum

Cuddles with big sis

Big smiles

Chinese New Year

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year which is the start of the Year of the Goat. Here is a little excerpt I found about Chinese New Year.

According to Chinese astrology, each year (starting from Chinese New Year) is associated with an animal sign, occurring in a 12-year cycle. 2015 is a year of the Goat.

The Goat comes 8th in the Chinese zodiac. The 12 zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The Luckiest Things for "Goats"

According to Chinese astrology, each animal zodiac has its own lucky numbers, lucky days, lucky colors, lucky flowers, and a best direction.

Here are the Goat's:
Lucky Colours: brown, red, purple
Lucky Numbers: 2, 7
Lucky Flowers: carnation, primrose
Year of Birth: 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027

The Goat's Personality: Calm, Gentle...

People born in a year of the Goat are generally believed to be gentle mild-mannered, shy, stable, sympathetic, amicable, and brimming with a strong sense of kindheartedness and justice.

They have very delicate thoughts, strong creativity, and perseverance, and acquire professional skills well. Although they look gentle on the surface, they are tough on the inside, always insisting on their own opinions in their minds. They have strong inner resilience and excellent defensive instincts.

Though they prefer to be in groups, they do not want to be the center of attention. They are reserved and quiet, most likely because they like spending much time in their thoughts. Goats like to spend money on fashionable things that give them a first class appearance. Although goats enjoy spending money on the finer things in life, they are not snobbish.

Today at school the children celebrated Chinese New Year a day early because they are off for a long weekend for mid term break as of tomorrow.

We had a great morning - they had activities including dragon dance, lion dancing, tossing of the Yeesang, karate demonstration, drumming demonstration, fan making and a few other fun activities. Lots of families went to watch including us. It was a great morning.

The dragon dance

Isabel with her fan she made

The lion dance

Keenan tossing the yee sang with his class

Our new addition - Declan Hamish

Well time certainly flies when you have a newborn in the house!! I thought I had better make time to update on the arrival of our newest little family member.

On Tuesday 10 February I delivered Declan Hamish via caesarean section at Island Hospital here in Penang. The surgery went really well and now, 8 days later, I am feeling fantastic. I have the occasional twinge but apart from that I am all good.

I ended up staying in hospital for 3 nights and we left hospital at around 11am on Friday morning. My obstetrician, Dr Narinder Singh Shaden, was absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend.

The staff at Island Hospital were lovely too. It was a bit difficult at times with the language difficulties but they tried really hard to make sure they helped me with whatever I needed, and there was no pressure or stress. Malaysian people really are very loving and gentle, and the nurses just loved having Declan there as they thought he was very cute. I guess western babies are a bit of a novelty!

Declan is sleeping quite well and feeding well - 2-3 hours been feeds, and sleeping up to 3 hours in a row at night. We have had a few big nights and he loves his milk. I have been managing to keep up with his feeds and am really enjoying breastfeeding. I think the fact he is my fourth baby I am more relaxed and this is reflected in him being pretty chilled.

Here are some pictures of our gorgeous little guy:

With his big sister and brothers - who already adore him.

With Mum

Declan's first bath time :-)

37 Weeks

Baby growth:
According to the thebump.com Baby Murray is still the size of a watermelon. Baby is approx 51cm long and weighs approx 3kg.

Total weight gain/loss:
13.5kg - haven't weighed this week so hoping I am still about where I was last week. I haven't been eating too much so if I have put on any it would be very minimal. Hoping to have under 10kg to lose after I have bub - so with only gaining 13.5kg this is a realistic goal I think. 10kg or under is mentally do-able for me as I know I will lose the first few kilos quickly and then it will no doubt slow down. I just need to be back into my pre-baby clothes by early July for my beautiful friend Cynthia's wedding (so I can fit into my bridesmaid dress) and am feeling like it is definitely going to happen! I am determined no matter what i will get there! I did order a new Garmin Forerunner 15 so will have that ready for after I recover from the c/section. I am also going to grab some new scales so when I get back into it I can record exact weights and measurements to keep me on track.

Maternity clothes?
As previous - Yes!

Stretch marks?
As previous - Yes!

Sleep:
Very little! Lots of insomnia and 3am Facebook surfing! It is such a pain because I know next week I'll be up at this time feeding a baby.. but there is little you can do when you're wide awake and a baby is kicking inside to keep you awake.

What I miss:
Sleep!

Movement:
Lots of movement!

Exercise this week:
Nothing - except walking to and from the shops and around the apartment.

Food cravings:
Nothing - not hungry at all!

Have you started to show yet:
Most definitely - no disguising this pregnancy!

Gender:
Boy!

Questions or concerns this week:
I am trying to squeeze in last minute things this week - getting my hair cut and coloured tomorrow, and having some maternity photos taken on Friday. It is also my big boys birthday tomorrow (the big 10!!), so I have been crazily busy trying to make sure everything is sorted for that. I have cupcakes being delivered tomorrow for their school friends so I will drop them over to school and we will have a family dinner on Friday night with cake to celebrate.

Hospital bags ready to go!! Just need to add toiletries at the last minute, and chargers for iPad / iPhone / camera. :-)