2009 What a year!!!!

What a year...... definitely one filled with hard work, excitement, happiness & joy!

We settled on a house in Jan 09 in Warfield & went about the stressful task of moving...even though we had movers who packed, the onerous task of unpacking at the other end, was enough for me to vow (again!!) never to move!! As we were moving from a semi furnished house to an empty one we had to buy everything, from toaster, microwave, washing machine to lounge, beds etc.... OMG what a mammoth challenge & to do all this in a month, as ah yes, I was 8 months pregnant & due on the 3rd of March. But after a lot of hard work on w/e's (yes we were both still working), we moved in, ordered all essentials & began to slowly settle in.

We celebrated a milestone on the 22nd of Feb, with David celebrating his 40th. The plan was to go skiing in the Alps, but with the little one due so close, we decided to stay home. My penance (yes it was my fault we were pregnant & impeding David's skiing!!) was to play board games with him all w/e!!!....

Well I think the stress of playing board games :) (not lovin it as much as DAC!!) lent to little missy (Inara Kay) arriving on Sat 28th Feb at 7.36am. Weighing in at 6lbs 14.5o & 53cm long. Healthy with a full head of hair!!!

Childbirth not loving it, but being mum to Inara is a such a joy! She is such a lovely girl, got David's lovely quiet disposition & am enjoying her grow & develop & discovering new things.

Met some wonderful girls as part of my antenatal class & we have all kept in touch after our babies were born. They have been my social network & a great support whilst journeying through motherhood. We have become stedfast friends, enjoying nights out, meeting up for coffees/lunches & generally keeping in touch. With my family & friends in Oz, this group of girls have been a great support.

Dac bought himself a car, after braving it in the little Peugot on the M4 for long enough, so we are now an Audi household.

In July, David & I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary....wow! Still enjoying married life. Marriage Tip: be kind to each other.

We went for our 1st family holiday in August when Inara was 5mths to the Isle of Wight (island south of England). It was really great.... we drove all around the island visiting the sights, went for swims, long walks, ate great food, drank beer & wine and had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday.

6 months absolutely flew past, with that came, me facing work again & leaving Inara in a nursery. We gradually transitioned her into nursery part-time for a couple of months & then full time. The 1st month was hard on all of us. Leaving her at nursery was hard enough but then going to work, doing domestic chores etc... has been a bit of a nightmare. We are still trying to find a routine, which is extremely hard when both partners are working in demanding jobs. Still fine tuning the juggling!!!

Our plans had been to visit Oz in 2010 when we were more settled, but luck (good luck!) would have it, that our mate Bruce was getting married in Dec 09. With David as best man, we decided that we would all travel back to Oz for the wedding and of course perfect timing to spend Christmas with our families. More good to news to follow, my sister got engaged and as we were coming to Oz decided to bring up the wedding date so that we could attend. Too nice.

So on Dec 8th we caught our flight back home. As its such a long trip with a baby, we decided to spoil ourselves & travel business class with Singapore airlines. We must say the new A380 airbus is fantastic, so much space & Singapore staff were great....our trip was really smooth & Inara was a gem!

Being there for my sisters wedding was amazing! A great day, with the sun shining, great location & it was a wonderful family affair. A big thanks to them for having their wedding in December so that we could be there to share this amazing day with them.

We then headed to Melbourne for the week where we witnessed our mate Bruce marry Danielle. Another fine day & great wedding. David's speech was fab, a good dash of humour mixed with sentiment!!!

Then we headed back to the gong where we spent quality time with our families. Christmas was great & Inara got thoroughly spoilt. We had to get another suitcase just to bring home her presents (honest!!) We met up with friends, went to the movies, ate a lot & thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The BBQ on the 27th went brilliantly... it was threatening to rain, but the sun shone & we had a marvellous day, with loads of friends & family hanging out with us. Thank you guys for coming it was so wonderful to see you all, it was like we never left the country.

The last night ended with a high, as I had been dreaming all this time to eat my favourite food in the world - chicken curry with chillie from the Malay restaurant in Sydney, but being so busy, had unfortunately not been able to go & get some. So when my sister asked if I wanted anything before I left, I asked for the curry & she kindly bought it & delivered it to me in the gong...... oh my goodness did I enjoy that last meal in Oz!!! Still salivating!!! :)

Well the time came when we had to head back home.....tho' we still had a day/night in Singapore. We stayed at the Hilton on Orchard Road, highly recommend it & checked out the shops on orchard road....about all we could do in such a short visit....& sleep!!! We slept a lot!! So many designer shops on one street (actually in every mall), never seen anything quite like it! Would love to have spent more time in the country....next time!

When we got back to the UK, we were greeted with the cold weather & lots of snow still to come.....

Well I must say, 2009 has been packed with love, happiness, adventure.....

Looking forward to 2010....& all its surprises.