We are no longer.........

LIVING OUT OF A SUITCASE!!!!

Today all of our stuff arrived and we are unloading it as we speak! Oh I am so excited for our bed--our nice pillowy soft (but not too soft), cloud like, King size bed!!

We have felt like Canadian refugees living out of our suitcases, sitting on the floor, sleeping on an air mattress, eating off of plastic and cooking with only one frying pan. However, God does have a reason for everything and maybe this was to teach us to not take what we do have for granted. We really aren't that bad off and I know that there are a lot of people in many third world countries that have much worse conditions than what we have had over the last month.

I think that God is also trying to teach us PATIENCE. We have waited over a month for our stuff and now that it is here, we can not open it, unpack it and enjoy it just yet. We are going to be moving in a couple of weeks, so we can't get too settled yet.

All we can do is trust in God's ability to see the big picture!!

Saturday Markets

Every Saturday we go to the West End Markets which are only a five minute car drive from us. We have discovered that the produce here in Australia is expensive at the local Supermarkets, but extremely reasonable at the Markets. So all of our fruits and veggies are purchased at the Market every Saturday.

We have also discovered that if we go around lunch time, the vendors are trying to get rid of their stock and will offer great deals. We will get a bag of avocados for $1, lettuce for $1, a bag of kiwi for $1, all sorts of wonderful produce for a great price!! They even have lots of Organic vendors and this week I got a free head of lettuce from one of them.

The basket in this picture was my birthday present from my sister and brother-in-law and the kids. I LOVE it! It is perfect for the market.

Just Saying "Hi".....

This little boy LOVES the telephone. In fact he has three telephones of his own. Since he was about 5 months or so, anytime the phone would ring he would go nuts, kick his feet, squeal in delight, it was hilarious. Not much has changed, he still gets super excited when the phone rings (that's also a plug to receive more phone calls!).

However now he can say "Hi" and he is so proud of himself. Even when he doesn't have the phone in his hands, he will put his hand up to his ear and say "Hi", "Hi", "Hi" over and over again. It is so cute.

The Joys of Teething

Zechariah got his first tooth at 3 months and it was horrible. He screamed non-stop at Christmas and made strange with everyone. Nice first Christmas. We didn't know what was wrong and after the many excursions to the Stollery's hospital due to hernia's, infections, heart murmurs, we thought we were going insane. When the first pearly white popped through we were relieved yet scared........Is this how it is going to be for all of his teeth.

This past month has been the most stressful month of my life. Moving and trying to get settled in a brand new country, with no friends, no family and no church, it has been so extremely hard. Zech has been miserable, absolutely miserable too! We are questioning are parenting, wondering what we could be doing better, or what we should be doing period. Found lots of good books, which I will share later.

However, we now discovered that he is teething yet once again. First a few weeks ago I noticed that he kept jamming his fists in his mouth and screaming, so I started fishing and sure enough his two top molars had cut through, so off to the pharmacy for some medicine. We have tried everything--frozen teething toys, frozeen carrots, herbal teething medicine, orajel, but the only thing that seems to settle him a bit is children's advil, which I hate giving to him.

Slowly the molars are breaking through, and he is not getting any better. I was angry with him for acting up and then he got upset and really started crying and I noticed that there was blood in the lower right side of his mouth. Could that be another molar???? Why yes it was--now three teeth coming in at once. I tell John about the new discovery and he says well what about the lower left incisor tooth that is poking through. You have got to be kidding me---4 teeth at once. He still isn't getting any easier to deal with and we are feeding him frozen strawberries like crazy. We were on the road this past week and going crazy because of our extremely irritated boy, who will not settle (and we forgot the teething medicine) and I decided to go on another exploratory journey in his mouth. I have to be careful now when I try and explore his mouth as he will chomp down pretty hard on my fingers and he already has a mouthful of teeth. So, he let me explore and apply pressure to his gums and sure enough I found it----the fifth tooth. Yes he is also getting his bottom right i-tooth. So five teeth in a one month span and I also think that his last molar will break through here any day now.

If anyone has any other tips or advise on how to deal with a teething baby----I am clearly open to anything and everything that anyone has to offer! I do wish he was born with them!!!!

Birthday Cake

Silly me forgot to post the pictures of the birthday cake. We just went to a commonly known superstore and picked up a cake. Well, it was so gross. Before we left Canada, I had went to Safeway and special ordered a cake. It was a vanilla cake with raspberry in the middle and whip cream frosting instead of the gross, yucky, too sweet fake stuff! That cake was amazing! SO I guess at least he got to try one good cake!

Apparently I was doing the cake thing all wrong. I was trying to feed it to him and cousin Wayne gave me crap and told me that I was supposed to let them squish it between their fingers, rub it in their hair, etc.

So much to my dismay, I let Zech eat his own cake. Check out these pictures. I think I have trained him to be a very clean eater! :o) (It was probably cause he didn;t like the cake)

First Birthday continued......

Sorry it took me so long to continue Zech's First B-day. It has been a really trying week, lots of tears, lots of struggles, lots of well everything. We are back though after a trip down the coast to Sydney and I will continue with Zech's b-day.

On his actual birthday, we had a really nice day. We still felt really lonely and sad that we couldn't have more friends (well any for that matter) and family around us to celebrate his birthday. We did receive a nice phone call from Grandma and Grandpa Gooch. It was nice to hear familiar voices on this special day. They also sent a card and some money for Zech's first b-day. So Daddy went shopping and found this:

A brand new Shrek Mobile with a trailer!!!

I think he really liked it!! :o)

After we packed up and headed to Coolum beach which is on the Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane). We were going to meet Cousin Wayne and Victoria and the boys for supper later that evening close to Coolum. Coolum was beautiful and there was a surf competition going on for the kids. It was really neat to see, as I have never seen one before in real life! Of course they weren't surfing huge waves or anything like you see on TV, but they were still pretty good. Zech had a great time on the beach as usual.

I forgot to pack his swimsuit......so he wore the outfit that Grandma H gave him for his birthday in the water.
Do you think this child can get anymore sand on himself. You can't even see his legs--they blend right in!

After the Beach we met up with the Australian Gooches for some supper. It was nice to see them again and to get to know Victoria better. We bought a cake (it was so gross) and then we headed back into Brisbane.

Wayne, Victoria, William (4 years old) and Mason (5 weeks old) Gooch

I didn't have the camera set right--that's why it blurred. Never put sparklers on a one-year old's b-day cake. He was so freaked out!

1st Birthday Festivities

I am playing a little bit of 'catch-up' here. I do have tonnes of new photos that I really want to share, so bear with me as I try and get organized and catch up.

We celebrated Zechariah's birthday for two days. I think we needed a bit of a break and we were feeling a little sad, lonely and well maybe a tad guilty that he wouldn't have the big 1st birthday that all other kids have or have had.

So the day before his birthday Zechariah got to open his gift from Mommy and Daddy.

Here he is coming around the corner looking at his new toy......

A brand new Elmo chair that laughs and vibrates when he sits in it.

He really loves to sit in his Elmo chair. He giggles and throws his head back everytime Elmo laughs it is so cute to watch. He knows how to sit in it all by himself!

After he got his present, we packed up and headed to our favourite beach on the Gold Coast--Surfer's Paradise. Zech just loves the water and when we arrive he just can't wait to get to the sand and water. He screams as I try and put the sun block on him as he just wants to go.

Love this pose....

He just has to taste everything!!

Playing with Dad....I love this picture of my boys!! :o)

Zech goes nuts when the waves come in.

Surfer's Paradise--it really is paradise! Miles and miles of beach!

Last but not least, Zech loves to chase these critters on the beach. I am a little scared of birds and well hate them, so it is kind of funny that I even took this picture. I thought it was kind of a neat picture though.

Zechariah's first b-day "day 2" will have to follow.......

One Year.....

I know that I am really late with this, but we just got internet today--finally after going to three different companies! It's a long story and just one of the many stressful things we have encountered this last month, but God is Great and has and will get us through.

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I spent the other day looking back at pictures of Zech when he was first born, up until now and it is so amazing to see how much he has changed. Thank goodness we have cameras to record all of these changes, these memories, because I have forgotten so much. It was hard spending his first birthday away from family and friends, but we tried to make the best of it and do what our little monkey loves to do most and that is hang out at the beach. We also met up with John's cousin Wayne and his wife Victoria and their two little boys and that was really nice and made us feel not so lonely!!

So our little Zechariah at 1 year:

• Has moved across the world to a new country and continent—Australia.


• Stopped in Hawaii along the way.


• Is an extremely easy going, go with the flow kind of traveler. He has been so amazing on all of our many excursions—we are truly blessed.


• Loves, loves, loves the beach, the water and well anything to do with the water. He is such a water baby; he is going to be a real little fish.


• Had his first big swim in the ocean, tasted the water and everything.


• Buried his legs in the sand with mommy’s.


• Tasted the sand and put sand in his eyes, and therefore discovered that it doesn’t taste that good and it really hurts when it is in your eyes.


• Said a tearful goodbye to all his friends and family in Edmonton, Kelowna and Vancouver.


• Had his first taste of birthday cake (early) at the Halwa get together at Randy and Sue’s.


• Just discovered how to clap his hands and thinks it is so much fun!


• Points at everything.


• Babbles like you wouldn’t believe—oh can he tell stories.


• Likes to look at and get the attention of strangers---we call him Ambassador Gooch!


• Finally gives kisses—especially to his daddy. He probably gets too many from mommy, so couldn’t be bothered to reciprocate!


• Still loves his books !


• Loves animals and loves his stuffed puppy dog that Great Grandma Halwa gave him. He is trying to say puppy now and goes pa pa pa--it's so cute!


• Met his cousins Wayne, Victoria, William and Mason for the first time. He really liked playing with William, and Mason is just still too little.


• Weighs 24 lbs. 9 oz. and is about 31 inches long.


• Is wearing all 18 month old clothing now.


• Has 10 teeth now---he just had three molars and his bottom incisor push through at the same time---can you believe this kid!


• Still is not walking but continues to pull himself up onto walls, doors, kitchen cupboards, you name it (we still don't have our furniture so he really doesn't have anything to hang onto).


• Goes to bed at 8:30 pm and sleeps until 7:00-7:30 am. Plus he continues to have his morning and afternoon nap.


• Still loves to be outside.


• Is so stubbourn and strong willed--it's a little hard to deal with sometimes! The Baby Wise II book has been an enormous help!


• Loves his new Elmo Chair and Shrek Mobile!


• Understands and sometimes responds to commands such as "come here", "don't touch", "go find your Puppy", "come have your Milkies", " go find your Elmo Chair".


• Understands phrases like "I love you" (I also sign it to him all the time and am teaching him more sign language), "give me a kiss", "bed time", and "bath time".


• Says Mama and Dada all the time.


• Is an extremely fussy eater--don't ask me what happened to our garborator. It is such a task to feed him as he stopped eating baby food a while ago and only wants what we eat. However, he is so fussy. He does always eat a really big breakfast though.