Merry Christmas!

We left Mackay straight after work on Friday to drive to Bundy and arrived shortly after midnight and both of us so very tired. Sabbath started out alright and Bon's family and ours began to drive to Tin Can Bay to meet up with Trev and Roni. Just out of Maryborough the rain came and it stayed all the way to Tin Can. We met Trev on one of the most exposed parts of the entire coastline (although there was a decent shelter there). We decided to look further down the road for a better option. Fortunately we found one. We had a bit of lunch and shared gifts. The cousins had a great time playing together. Zemiel drank too much juice. Azariah ate too many green lychees and ended up landing the contents of his lunch on my shoes.
On Sunday, the boys great grandma and great-great grandma drove up from Gympie to see us. It took a while before the day got going. Bon and Lindon arrived after lunch and stayed a while. Azariah and Zemiel had unwrapped their gifts, so a hurried rewrapping and swift discipline was necessary. Great grandma brought her dog Sammy with her and so we let her play with Diesel. Zemiel and Azariah took turns throwing the ball using a long stick with a scoop on the end.
Grandma spent some time showing off her new Wii and suffered almost everyone to create an account.

Sickness...

We've had a couple of tough weeks. Sharlene has been quite ill with tonsillitis or strep throat or whatever it is that is causing her tongue to swell up and unable to swallow.  I've had ear infections and the boys have had conjunctivitis. My staff at work have also been sick which has been a bother.

Nightmares

Riah woke up the other night. He was frightened due to a dream he had just experienced. He was adamant that there was a green crocodile outside and that it had 'chomped' his shorts. I finally convinced him that the crocodile was now gone and after putting a pair of shorts on him (he went to bed without any), he went back to sleep. No harm done...but he has continued to talk about the crocodile for several days now. On Sabbath he was all for running out into the rain to find it. Today he used the memory to joke about the crocodile eating his shorts. Such a funny fellow!

Zeki's first month

It's been a busy life for the last few weeks. Work has been hectic with orientation days, information nights, meetings and newsletters to organise. Sharlene has taken Zemi and Ki down to Brisbane for a series of tests. They'll be there for about 10 days. Riah is finding the change a bit difficult and keeps wanting the plane to return so that he can hop on.

Ki @ two weeks

We have been blessed to have had our new baby now for two week and two days. He has been a fantastic addition to the family. He has put on weight and is now 3.9 kilos. He is great during the day for Sharlene but does have a 'witching hour' during the night, where he is very unsettled and windy. When this is over he sleeps well again.

Zemiel and Azariah adore their little brother. They still try to pick him up at opportune moments. Their first thought in the morning isn't 'where is mum' anymore, but rather 'where's Ki'. We have even noticed an improvement in Zem and Riah's playing behaviour, in that they are getting along better. Of both of them, Azi is having the most trouble adjusting. He has been supplanted as the baby and he has regressed a little. He wants to be picked up and cuddled, calling himself the 'big baby'.

Sharlene has spent a total of 3 days at home in the last 15 days, so it really is 'business as usual' from her point of view.

Comparisons

So...Sharlene and I were curious who Zekiah is most similar to. So we thought that we would look back on our blog photos and get some perspective.

This is Zemiel in his first week.

Azariah, also in the first few days.

Zekiah at four days.

There you have it. A look into the future perhaps? See any similarities? Let us know what you think.

Meet Zekiah David Cole

Zekiah's been with us for a couple of days now. We came home at 8:00 pm on Thursday night and he slept the night beside us. I had to work on Friday, so I took Zemiel with me and Azariah stayed with Nana for the day. Sharlene got to spend the day recovering and relaxing. The boys didn't see the new baby until Thursday night. We decided that we would have a nice birthday party for him. So we all sang happy birthday and ate pizza.
The boys loved Zekiah from the beginning. Generally, they have been very gentle. Azariah has already tried to cover (smother) him with bubble wrap and walk the pram out the door (and down the hill onto the road). Zemiel has been quite protective too, by not allowing the dog to get close to the baby or the pram.
We've had visitors this afternoon and a barbecue tonight already, so a lot of our family and friends have already seen him.
The jury is still out concerning who he looks like. However, it does look like his eyes might be the same colour as Zemiel's.

This picture is of Zekiah just before we left the birthing centre. Approx. 5 hours old.

 This picture was taken Friday morning. Approx. 16 hours old.

Meet new Baby Cole

Today a new baby boy joined our family. The little fellow was born at 12 minutes past 3 this afternoon. He weighed 8 pound 1 ounce or 3.67 kilograms. He is 52cm in length with a head circumference of 34cm.
It was a fast labour, lasting about an hour and a half. After coming home from work, and then dropping the kids off to Nana's place, we made it to the birthing centre with about 20 minutes to spare! Sharlene had a water birth and I delivered him, which was a lovely experience. He attached and fed well from the start. All testing so far looks great, and Sharlene is going very well.
And here's the big reveal...

Azariah has had a Birthday Too!

I was just looking back on the time that had passed and realised that I hadn't put up any pictures of Azariah's birthday this year! Well, I ought to remedy that right away.

Riah's second birthday was held at Big Camp in Townsville. I had only just started my new job at the Early Learning Centre a week or so before, but I took the day off to travel up and celebrate it as I had originally planned. Sharlene and I designed his cake the week before. Azariah at the time (and still does really) had a thing for backhoe loaders, or 'backhoe lo-oa-ders' according to him. The cake design was that of a backhoe loader, cut and iced by us at camp. It was great fun to make and was good to have some friends around to celebrate with us.

Pictures....yes, of course. Here they are.
The cake...

The guests...

The spoils...

The fun and games...

Zemiel's Birthday

Zem turned four this week and although we didn't celebrate in grandiose style, we did have a party none the less. On Sunday, Sharlene and I made a number 4 cake. It had solid chocolate topping with road markings drawn out of icing and tic-tacs. I made some little cars from smarties and strawberry creams. Zemiel has been coming to kindy with me for the last few weeks on Monday, and so was able to share the occasion with his friends there as well. Sharlene made some cup cakes for him to share. He has been super excited about his birthday, calling it his 'happy day' and wanting to blow candles out all week.

Sports Day at CACC

On Friday we held our annual sports carnival. It was a beautiful morning. This was a relief because the previous week had been rain, drizzle and cold. Our kindy group joined in for the first hour and a half. We did some tunnel ball, ball passing, running races and a lolly run. We themed the week after superheroes, and so dressed up as superheroes on the sports day. It added a lot of fun to the carnival atmosphere. All the ELC kids received a medal after their race.

Back Online

We're back again, after a significant hiatus without internet or home phone. The reason for the hiatus is that we've recently moved house. The reason that we have moved house is that I have a new job. The reason I have a new job is because Sharlene finished her old one.

So, now we're kind of organised again. We have moved to Mackay. I am working as the Group Leader/Director of the Early Learning Centre at Carlisle Adventist Christian College. There's plenty of work to do there but it is also a lot of fun. I have a great team working with me. Zemiel has started attending once a week and is improving his social skills. He also goes to the Early Intervention Program twice a week. His talking has become clearer and he is also talking in longer sentences now. He is even starting to experiment with the words he's learnt. Azariah continues to impress us with his clarity and vocabulary.

Sharlene now has roughly 5 weeks to go in her pregnancy. We still don't know what gender the bub is.
She is enjoying the change from work and looking after the boys at home. Although she doesn't get to relax too much, she has easier days than working full time. She has also done a little relief at CACC over the past couple of weeks to help out our budget.

Anyway, it's time to go now. Hope your day is pleasant.

Car Upgrade

It's time to break radio silence. Zemiel and I have grown closer over the last few weeks while we were spending so much time together in New South Wales. We spent a day at CCAS catching up with past students and friends. We also attended a few playgroups with Leia and Becky.

I am greatly indebted to Ben and Becky for letting me stay at their place for (what ended up being) a week, and also to Sue and Glynn who let me housesit for few more days until our car loan was ready. Gaining said loan was really a comedy of errors. Between misunderstandings, delays, signing and faxing pages and a lot of phone calls made to the bank, we finally got our approval on Tuesday 24th May. I picked up the car on the Wednesday and started on the way home and arrived in Bowen on Saturday night. It sounds shorter than it really was, however, when the original plan was to be away for two weeks and that time doubles to 4, it takes its toll.

We believe, however, that the time away was used by God. For example, Zemiel has come back from the trip verbally expressing himself so much more than before. I've had a number of comments on how much he is now talking compared to the beginning of this year. He is also joining in with action songs and singing along. He is also sitting better for stories.

While we were away, Zem and I practiced a lot of remembering the events of the day and last night it all paid off. Yesterday, we went to the beach for a few hours and the boys swam and played at the park. At one point, we were eating lunch and a seagull landed on a post nearby, calling for food. Azariah took his piece of mandarin, walked over to the bird and reached up to offer it on his hand. The seagull refused and flew away. But that was the story that Zem retold us last night. It was a real break-through for us, as Zemiel has not told many stories. He continued to tell the story several times, adding more detail each time.

Azariah also has moved forward while Zem and I were gone. He spent a lot of his time with some family friends who also have little children. His spoken language and vocabulary has become quite outstanding. He helps with vacuuming the house and doing the laundry.

Trip to RIDBC in Sydney

One week ago, Zemiel and I left to come to Sydney and to spend some time in the preschools at the RIDBC to see what Zemiel responds well with. We hoped to get some idea of whether we focus on sign during his education or speech. Unfortunately (or fortunately), there have been mixed results for both preschool environments with significant advantages presented in each. So I fear that I may be no nearer a final decision than before. In any case, it enabled his teacher of the deaf to observe him and helped her to identify some strategies for working with him. Sydney has turned down the temperature! Even the locals are feeling the cold and it seems that it might be an early winter.

Here's Zem with some of his new warm clothes:

We stayed at the RIDBC in North Rocks for a a week and enjoyed the change of scenery and activities. Zemiel really enjoyed sorting out certain transport toys into their colour groups or vehicle types (sometimes both). Here's a pic of one of his sorting efforts.

We also set about to recreate a lego/duplo farm scene. Below are a picture of the original card and our effort.

I originally planned to pick up our new car from Sydney and drive home, but the top up loan for our house that we originally planned for has taken longer than expected to organise and so we are staying at Adrian's place for a couple of nights. I feel very blessed that Zem and I get to spend some extra time with him before he leaves for America.

Today, Zem and I went to the Australian Museum and stopped on the way at the ANZAC memorial. We had a blast all day. The displays were: Skeletons, Dinosaurs, Indigenous Australians, Chapman Mineral Collection, Gem Stones, Birds and Insects, Surviving Australia, Kidspace, Search and Discover, and Birds of Paradise. Of these, Zem loved the Birds of Paradise the best and closely followed by Birds and Insects and Surviving Australia displays. Kidspace was also a big hit with him. The mineral and gemstone displays were of little consequence to him and we spent about 3 collective minutes (out of about 5 hours) in both displays.

Here are a few photos taken from the day:

This fellow had all the birds attention.

The ANZAC memorial.

Seagulls living the good life.

Inside the museum, there was so much to see.

These blocks were cut by the original convicts. Each convict had their own particular pick mark 'signature' so their overseer could keep track of their daily quota.

Zemiel pointing out a starfish.

Zemiel showing me a butterfly.

The museum had a section for kids five and under. Here, Zem is getting excited over a funnel web spider under a large magnifying glass.

Still in the little kids area, Zemiel cheers as he completes a puzzle.

The entire museum boasted an amazing array of preserved animals. Here are only a few.

 I can't begin to imagine how many children must have patted this wombat. It is looking a bit threadbare.

One last thing, that we saw on the way out, was a huge sperm whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling in the foyer.  

Easter holidays 2011

This Easter we were blessed to have Damian and Ellie come and stay a few days with us. Of course, Joshua came as well and really got stuck into all the new gadgets and toys. Zem and Az also liked having a live-in playmate too. We enjoyed visiting Queens Park Beach on Sabbath, fishing and markets on Sunday,  and take-away Chinese food and the Anzac day parade on Monday before they headed for home again. Here's some pics of the long weekend.
Joshua, Zemiel and Azariah at the park.

Here's Damian playing with Azi, Ellie smiling (in a case of perfect timing), and Sharlene... ...doing something.

Earthquake

Just felt an earthquake and its aftershock. We were talking to a friend on our stairs when we heard a possum run across our roof. Immediately following this a deep rumble sounded and our house began to shake. It sounded like a herd of cattle were running across our verandah! It passed in only a few seconds but it was my first first-hand experience with an earthquake.

First, a picture of where it hit:
Click for a larger view.

Source: http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2011/04/16/224201_news.html

And now,  a few of the statistics surrounding it:

Magnitude	5.2
Date-Time	Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 03:31:19 PM at epicenter
Location	20.034°S, 147.659°E
Depth	10 km (6.2 miles)
Region	QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
Distances	124 km (77 miles) SE of Townsville, Queensland, Australia 145 km (90 miles) E of Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia 991 km (615 miles) NW of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia 1697 km (1054 miles) N of CANBERRA, A.C.T., Australia
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 17.4 km (10.8 miles); depth +/- 3.3 km (2.1 miles)
Parameters	NST= 45, Nph= 49, Dmin=146.9 km, Rmss=0.92 sec, Gp= 76°, M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=6
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0002stu

Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0002stu.php

Sounds of Life

Today we took our family to the doctor and heard our new baby's heartbeat on the dopler. Its rate was averaging 145 beats per minute and was coming in quite strong. It is now fifteen weeks old. Today also marks the first day that actually felt like Autumn. Just walking outside today, I could feel that Summer had departed and that Autumn had fully arrived.

Zemiel has recently recovered from another ear infection. We were able to catch this one quite early thankfully and do something about it before it got too severe. He continues to improve his speaking ability for individual words and is showing signs of trying to join conversations - but no one can understand him when he does that. His loves at the moment continue to be steam trains and he watches some documentaries we have about them regularly. He also is very attached to his ipad and especially the puzzles thereon. To be honest, he is getting quite good at them. He loves to help with the washing up and the only thing that he likes more than yoghurt is nectarines. But nectarines are now out of season for another nine months, so we return to the ol' fallback. He also helps watering the garden and pot plants.

Azariah is cheeky and mischief rolled into one. Last week in Townsville, we called in at Australian Hearing to get some more batteries for Zemiel. Azariah was immediately recognised and the ladies in the reception and office areas went goo-gaa over him. (Azariah usually spends quality time with them when Zem does his testing). Azariah is also managing to climb the ladder up to the top bunk during rest times. Thankfully, he hasn't attempted to get down yet. He has had a few prickles in his feet recently and tonight we held him down and used a needle and tweezers to get them out. He complained that they were sore but when given the option to go to bed or get more prickles out he opted for the pain! Ha ha! Sharlene thinks it is because he is such an extrovert and just doesn't want to be shut away. He has been helping with the laundry and really enjoys throwing the dirty items over the stair rail to the cement, where I stand to catch them. Fun times!

Sharlene is in her last week of a 12 week term. She has been quite ill for the last 10 weeks and has lost weight compared to the start of the term. There are signs that it might be starting to ease up, so hopefully things will improve for her over the Easter break.

My Dads' Playgroup is still happening, despite being almost canned due to lack of patronage. It is now opened to the whole family with the focus remaining on fathers. I have the SES coming in tomorrow for a special event and hopefully we will get a decent turnout. I have finally put in my application for registration in Queensland for teaching. Hopefully, we will here something about that in a month or so.

Looking forward to some great Autumn days at the beach.

Rainy Days

The rain's been falling down for the last 48 hours and the ground is pretty slushy around here. The roads are cut both north and south and that meant that Sharlene couldn't get to her inservice in Mackay today. So instead it was just a normal day at school. Talk about an anticlimax. The rain also caused havoc with my dads' playgroup and the guest speaker I invited, couldn't make it either. Our phone isn't working properly and Sharlene is spending the night marking. So, in summery I think I should just go to bed and pray that tomorrow is better.

New Order for COLE:

We received this letter in the mail today. Click on it to enlarge.

Gingerbread Man

Today Zem and I made some gingerbread men. First we read the story and then we mixed up the batch. Zem kneaded, rolled, cut and decorated the dough.

So we didn't get any runaways, we didn't open the oven until they were well and truely cooked.

New ipad

We've had our ipad for a week now. It is a great device. We've gleaned some good applications from the app store and Zemi really enjoys them. It is a family thing, but we also got it with Zem in mind. I've already had some fun putting on some social stories. I've also managed to download for free some old books that I would never find in Bowen. At the moment, I am reading the sequels to The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Tomorrow our kids sabbath school is taking the morning program at the church. Shar and I are a little ready for it, but we'll see what else God can inspire us to do.

Our garden is now planted with tomatoes and egg plant. We are planning on getting some capsicums put in shortly too. We also got some rock melon vines. The seedlings came from the high school ag-farm. They had too many so we got the extras. Looking good!

Raised Beds

Well, we've finally got our act together and decided to make some raised beds. We are planning to utilize the no-dig garden approach. Click here and here if you want to know more. We only only have one started at the moment, but hopefully we will get up to four going eventually. Sharlene is trying to sprout some seeds in her seed-raiser trays, but every night it buckets down rain and I think most of them have been drowned. Besides that, Azariah has taken a fancy to little green plants that out of the ground and likes to pull them out. Luckily, I usually get to the uprooted shoots before they dry up too much. Even so, it could take a while before we get something growing.

Bunnings and Icecream

Today we headed off to Cannonvale to see the new Bunnings they have there. Yeah, sure. Seen one Bunnings - you've seen them all. But they don't always have free jumping castles, face painting and snow cones! Besides, we bought a raised garden bed kit to get our gardens growing again.  On the way home, we stopped at the 'Big Mango' and had some sorbet and ice-cream. Nice way to end a Sunday I should think.

Oh. I almost forgot. This morning we had a possum stuck up one of our trees. Diesel had it pinned up there since early morning. It was probably Zemiel's first look at a real possum. It eventually escaped after we tied poor Diesel up.

New Beds

The boys have a new bed set. Here's a look at what we got.

Under the bunks is a trundle bed. So, with Zem's original bed and the cot we now have the potential to sleep four kids and 1 baby in the one room. (Not that we expect to.)