All the cousins

Brendan's sister Melissa and her family live in Blackwater so we don't often get to see them. When we do, we try to get a photo of all of the cousins together which is not always easy....

Will, Joseph, Poppy and Dylan

Chloe and Elizabeth

Will and Joseph enjoyed playing trains and cars together. It's a shame that they don't get to see each other more often.

All six together!

Tickles with Daddy

( Brendan will kill me for this one...)

As an aside, is it any wonder that sickness spreads through our house like wildfire given that this is the range at which Joseph talks to Elizabeth?

Grubby Boys and Gorgeous Girls

Julie, Daniel and Katherine came for a visit this morning. The boys were very busy and, amongst other activities, ate their weight in dog biscuits and play dough. Luckily the girls aren't active yet and were happy eating and napping.

This is the best photo we could get of the boys- they don't seem to understand phrases like 'stand next to each other' and 'smile'.

Elizabeth (9 weeks) and Kate (12 weeks). Hopefully the girls will go to high school together like their Mums did.

Visiting Thomas

Joseph loves the rail museum at any time of the year, but in January when they have the Thomas and the Tank Engine exhibit, his excitement goes up to a whole new level. We've been there twice in the last two weeks...thank goodness we bought the yearly pass!

Donald- Joseph's favourite train out there because you can 'drive' him

Driving Donald- serious business...

Is that really you Thomas??
Meeting the Fat Controller

Christmas Day

Unfortunately Joseph woke up with a nasty tummy bug on Christmas Day, so it wasn't the most enjoyable day for him buut he did manage to open and play with some presents in the morning and then went home with Dad for a big sleep.

Santa brought a dump truck!

And a sand pit!

'Helping' Jackson open his presents and showing him how to use them.

Mum and Elizabeth

Who's this crazy lady??

Jackson the happy little Christmas elf - especially now that Joseph has gone home and stopped touching his toys!

Elizabeth at one month old

It's hard for me to believe but Elizabeth is a month old already. She has been a wonderfully easy going baby so far- eating well and sleeping well and letting her brother continue to have the lion's share of our attention and believe that he is the centre of the universe. Elizabeth is growing really quickly and now weighs just over 5kgs.

Here are a few pics that we've taken over the last month.

One month old today....

Good at giving Mummy the evil eye already....

Off to see Santa

Earlier in December we all tropped off to visit Santa. Joseph's visit was a lot more successful than last year and he asked Santa for a dump truck (well, he actually asked Santa for a rubbish truck, but keeps telling everyone that he asked for a dump truck). As expected, Elizabeth slept through the whole visit.

I said smile, and they both pulled this face....

Merry Christmas from the Barrett Elves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Joseph and his little sister

Joseph is adjusting well to having a little sister. It's only early days but he's happy to help change her nappy and bath and dress her, constantly wants to 'hold it' or 'look at it' and always announces when she is waking up (if the crying didn't give it away). Poor Elizabeth has to constantly 'look' at all of Joseph's trains and cars- luckily Joseph doesn't seem to mind that she looks at them with her eyes closed.

First hold of Elizabeth at the hospital

Joseph preferred driving Elizabeth in her 'car' around the hospital hallways to holding her.

Joseph kicking back in hospital-catching up on his Play School viewing and eating the bikkies that he sweet talked out of the morning tea ladies. It seems that he quite liked his daily outings to the hospital....

On the way home from hospital

Joseph helping to bath Elizabeth at home.

Introducing Elizabeth Violet

Our precious baby girl, Elizabeth Violet arrived on Thursday 20th November at 8.04am. Elizabeth weighed 4.3kgs (9 pounds 8 ounces) and was 55cm long at birth. It's early days yet, but she seems to be a pretty easygoing baby and Joseph is adjusting well to having a little sister.

Weighing in at 4.3kgs

Dad with all of the important details....