Happy Birthday Frankie Lulu!

Wow, I can't believe the last time I posted was for Piper's 5th birthday, and now here we are with our baby girl turning 1 last week.

It has been a long time between posts, I am hopeless at lying and there has been a lot going on in our little world. While we have known for a couple of months some big changes were ahead we weren't ready to make any public announcements until details were finalised. You will notice I also stopped blogging during the first half of my pregnancy for the same reasons, I can't blog when I am only telling half the story.

All is in motion and there is no turning back - we are coming home.  Our house in Dubai has been packed into a shipping container and we have moved in with friends for the next month. We are coming home to Australia just in time for Christmas and the fun of an Australian summer.
We are returning to somewhat of a sea change rather than Melbourne and a change in roles of sorts. Naz is returning to work with Fire Brigade and I will be continuing my project role here in Dubai but working from home for a little while.

I am going to work backwards and get some post and photos up of the last few missing months. In amongst the craziness there have been some fun times, trips to Paris, and Sri Lanka, an amazing effort by Naz in the Dubai Half Ironman and other triathlons, and lots of fun sister moments.
I have decided to get these up and more of our final weeks in Dubai to close out our blog of our Middle East adventures, a nice little memory the girls can read and see one day.

Below are some pics of our Frankie Lulu on her 1st birthday.

Love Affair

These two. Together always.
If Frankie is awake, then Lily is right behind her, all day.
Of course Frankie drives her mad, pulls her ears, her tail, bashes her with the odd toy. But most of the time, the two live harmoniously side by side.

Look at me!

Uh huh! That is Frankie preparing to launch into crawling.... at 71/2 months. Given Piper didn't crawl until 11 months I was not prepared for the sight of Frankie up off her belly on all fours rocking this soon.
We never had to overly baby proof with Piper, by the time she could crawl and walk she understood no and boundaries. I think Frankie is going to challenge us a little more on that approach.

She also confirmed what I have watched grow ever so intensely over the past month - she is another Daddy's girl. Her first word last week was Daddy, not even Dad or Dadda like a baby sound, it is an absolute crystal clear, syrupy, sucky 'Daddy'.
This week she followed up with 'bub bub'. It didn't take Piper long to realise she could probably quickly coax Frankie into saying 'bum bum' much to her amusement... until I cottoned on and stopped the fun. No way is 'bum bum' coming before Mum Mum!!

7 Months Old!

Because Dads make the best jungle gyms ever.

This.

Please slow down baby Frankie.

Half birthdays, hospitals and craziness

What a crazy week! Frankie had a half birthday.... 6 months old, can you believe that! Piper was the bravest. girl. ever. (much braver than her Mum and Dad to be honest) and had her tonsils and adenoids removed, and tubes put in her ears.
She took it all in her stride and bounced back amazingly, but the past 48 hours have been toughest. She is completely and utterly over the pain, a bit down in the dumps, and not sleeping so well. I am sure she will be back to normal Piper in a few days, this is kind of that final hump.
Sure we have our amazing nanny Rose, but this was one of those weeks where being away from family is hard. I could certainly have done with a hug from my Mum.

Otherwise life has been kicking along as per normal. Frankie is still proving to be an early riser, hello 4:30am starts to the day. Naz competed in a duathlon on Saturday and came 7th in his category, although he ran in relatively new shoes and now has the most horrendous blisters on his feet.
The heat has really kicked in even though we are still a month from summer, days are averaging 38 - 40 degrees and nighttime lows of 27 - 28. Any form of cool breeze is now a distant memory for the next 6 months.
As it heats up our plan of sticking out the summer in Dubai this year is fading. I have found myself looking up flights and accommodation for July or August a lot lately. Right now we are thinking Turkey or maybe Greece.

My favourite thing at the moment is watching the girls play together - Frankie can not get enough of Piper, and is becoming more active and responsive to Piper by the day. Almost the perfect marriage - Piper loves to put on a performance and Frankie is the best captive audience.

And like a fish to water...

Cheeky

"It's not what you think Mum, Lily is sitting here because she loves me - not because I have pinned her down by the tail...again"

Oh hello 5 month old baby girl!

5 Months old today! Where has the time gone?

Frankie - 4 (and a bit) months

Our bub is growing up more and more. She is proving to be more stubborn and strong willed than Piper at the same age, and yet she is also the happiest baby I have ever known.

Stubborn Frankie stopped sleeping through the night several weeks ago, she now likes to wake anywhere between 3am and 6am. Sometimes she will gurgle, take her dummy and go back to sleep, sometimes she will want  feeding, and other times we wake to Frankie laughing and squealing with happiness in her bed..... at 3:30am! But the real issue is that several nights a week she does not settle back to sleep, instead she wants to play and chat and giggle for hours.
Last weekend at 4am poor Naz was out with the pram cutting laps of the lake in the middle of a sand storm!

It is nothing but a phase but OMG the shock and difficulty of going from an 11hr a night sleeping baby, back to broken sleep is horrible (not to mention I have to get up and go to work each day).

In the meantime she continues to crack us up daily, surprise us with her strength (she has rolling over and over down to an art now) and melt our hearts.

We have a special guest arriving in just a few more sleeps to stay for a few weeks. I am going to love sharing our growing Frankie with more family members and Piper could not be more excited - so do NOT miss that flight Grandpa!!!!

First Family Photo

Today while visiting the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi we realised we had not taken a family photo since the arrival of Frankie 4 months ago. So here it is, our first photo together as a family of 4!

Yes, I am wearing an Abaya it is not a post pregnancy cover-up. Our trip to the Grand Mosque was amazing, lots more pics and stories to come, I just couldn't resist sharing this one now. 

Frankie - 3 1/2 Months

Our little Frankie is growing up fast, I would do anything to slow this down.

Her biggest smiles and laughs are reserved for her big sister. Her love for Piper is beyond anything I could of imagined could exist for a 3 month old baby. Her eyes follow her every move and in the heat of a hissy it is Piper that can calm her best.

Frankie loves to play on the floor with toys, talk to the lights on the roof and watch Lily. She can roll onto her side and on the rare occasion, all the way over, but mostly her arm gets stuck underneath and prevents her - she is yet to work this one out.

She is sleeping through the night from 7pm and like most babies, she is at her best in the mornings and some afternoons are harder than others.

While the weather is cool enough we are spending lots of time outdoors and Frankie loves being in her pram. Soon the weather will be hot and a water baby like her sister she will become.

A little more Frankie

I have a few pics to post and catch-up on the past couple of weeks. We arrived in Australia 10 days ago and have since been enjoying introducing Frankie to our family and friends, a crazy Christmas and settling into our beach house - home for the next month!

Below are some pics I took on the 12th December, Frankie at 5 weeks and a comparison of Piper at the same age.

Piper - 5 weeks old

A Month of Frankie

Can you believe it has been a month since our little Frankie arrived?

I can't. It confusingly feels like a month has gone in the blink of an eye yet at the same time it has been one of the longest months of my life.

It's hard to imagine life before Frankie, she has slotted into out little family like she was always here. Piper is an amazing big sister, her patience with Frankie is impressive (except for when Frankie screams in the car - then Piper blocks her ears and lets it be known she is not happy). We are experiencing the usual hurdles of introducing a new sibling, but mostly our little family is happy and rolling with the changes.

Frankie is healthy and growing fast, and although she looks identical to Piper as a baby there is one big difference, Frankie is our chubby bubby. She has fat rolls layering all 4 limbs and so many chins I have stopped counting!
I have had some ups and downs since Frankie's birth, unfortunately there were some complications both during and after that have caused us a bit of stress and worry but we are almost over it all now and moving on.

A round-up of our month:

1. Most number of clothing changes I have needed in one day = 4
2. Number of times Frankie has poohed or peed on her Dad in one day = 4
3. Number of public throw-ups large enough to require an immediate return home = 3
4. Number of new grey hairs Naz has acquired = 4876 (he does the Richard Gere look well)
5. Return visits to American Hospital for Mumma = too bloody many to count
6. Ambulance rides back to hospital = 1 (Mumma not Frankie luckily)
7. 4 year old sister tantrums = 15
8. Maximum hours of uninterrupted sleep Naz and I have had in the past month = 4.5 hours
9. Packets of late night Tim Tams eaten = 22
10. Smiles in this house = 1,000

Sisters

I am loving these two together - the words 'my girls' makes me smile every time I say it.

First Week

Welcome Frankie Lulu

Frankie Lulu O'Brien

Born - 3rd November 2013 @ 9:14am
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Weight - 3.5 kg

Length - 51.5cm

Sisters first meeting