No time for blogging

...Because we are having an absolutely marvelous autumn here in Austria, I have no time for posting any blogs. We are spending almost every free minute outside - during the week on the playground and on the weekend we have been doing quite a bit more hiking. Which is great, don't get me wrong - however housework and preperations for school have to be done in the evening after the kids have gone to bed and posting blogs is being postponed and postponed.

Next to spending time on the playground or in the mountains, Richard and I ran a mixed-fun-relay. It was great fun. We were both surprised with the outcome - Richard was, I think, a bit surprised how slow he was (for 4,2 km). I, on the other hand, was surprised that I could run relatively fast (19:30) - well, if you consider that I have hardly done any running since 3 years. I miss regular running, I would love to run more often - unfortuately it just doesn't work out. I will keep trying and maybe some day ...

Well, I won't bore you any longer.
Have a nice week!
Christine

King of the castle

As I am almost 6 months now, I thought it was about time to post a blog. Mmmhhh, what can I tell you about. Well, I have had a great life so far - mummy always jumps when I open my mouth ... Daddy is a bit of a harder nut - he also tries to convince mum to let me scream every now and then - fortunately he wasn't very succesful so far :-)

I have got a big sister, Hanna. To be precise, at the moment she is a bit bigger than I am but I am trying very hard to catch up with her - weight-wise I am doing great - I only have to gain 4 more kilos!

I am sure you would like to know what I am doing the whole day. I like to sleep, preferable in the morning, that's when I am most tired - it's all that screaming during the night - it tires me out ... . Also mornings are boring because Hanna is at daycare. Once Hanna is back, life is getting a bit more exciting here, I like pulling her hair - if mummy brings me close to her - which is quite often, I already told you I just have to open my mouth and she jumps ... If I don't pull her hair, I like to pull her pullover or T-shirt or nibble on her books. Nibble, that reminds me of my toes, yeahh I don't know if you guys know that you have toes on the end of each leg - very interesting things - found them the other day and they are great things to bite, nibble and play with!

Other than that I can tell you that I don't like lying still - definitely being still is only for when I am asleep. I like to jump around (with mummy's help) and roll myself from the back to the tummy and back. Soon I will be rolling through the flat - man, I am looking forward to that!

So, that's enough for now - have been sitting still far too long ... :-)
Cheers,
Marc

A weekend in the mountains

Our birthday present to mum was a weekend together in the mountains. It was not easy to find a weekend that suited everybody, however we managed - and it turned out to be a great one. We chose Rauris as our destination. Rauris is situated on the edge of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. It is still in the district of Salzburg and therefore not far for us to drive.
Richard, Hanna, Marc and me already left on Friday after lunch. The kids had their nap in the car on the way there. When we arrived we went for a walk through downtown Rauris, which didn't take us long :-) and then waited for the rest of the crew to arrive (mum, dad, edith and arthur).
On Saturday we went for a big hike - big, considering our circumstances and the fact that we have to carry 2 children around as well. We did something that we normally wouldn't do (unless in winter to got skiing) and used the cable car to go up the mountain and started a 4 1/2 hours hike over 2 peaks from the cable car station. It was absolutely wonderful and the scenery really stuning. Hanna and Marc had a great time (well, Marc slept almost the whole way) and we had a good excercise.

On Sunday we took it a bit easier. We had a big Sunday breakfast and left a bit later for a walk in the Rauriser Urwald. This is a forest area, which is not "looked after" and therefore very natural. For the orienteerers: it reminded us a lot or skandinavian woods with lots of little boulders and blueberry bushes, little marshes and ponds. We loved it! In the end we walked much further than we had planned. Unfortunately it started to drizzle on our way back, but we could make it back in time to a restaurant before it really started to rain! In our online photo album you can see a few photos of our weekend!

It was a wonderful weekend - all 5 of us enjoyed it immensely! For me it was also the last holiday weekend, as schools started again on Monday. I had to swap my always-ready-to-go swimming bag with my school bag! Although I am sure it will be a hard year - with the 2 kids and a half time teaching job, I look forward to it. It is good to get out and think about other things than nappies, feeding and household stuff :-).

Have a great day!
Christine

Photos from the hiking girl

Have a great day!
Christine

Stoawandl or "Stonewall"

Today we did one of our family excursions. The weather is absolutely fabulous at the moment, however autumn is coming, so we decided agains going to the lake. Instead we went for a hike up the Stoawandl, which is one of the peaks behind Henndorf. I don't dare to call it a mountain - but it is definitely a bit higher than a hill (about 1.000m above sea). The walk is through the forest on little pathes and partly on forest roads. I carried Marc in his Baby Björn (8kg) and Richard was responsible for Hanna (13,5kg). We were hoping that she would walk quite a bit, the rest of the time, well, Richard had to carry her. Hanna actually walked quite a bit on the way up - much further than we thought she would. For those who know the area - she walked until we hit the 2nd forest road. On the way down she got tired and Richard had to carry her most of the time. We all had a really great time and with all that extra weight that had to be carried :-), we also had a good excercise. It was great fun and reminded us of the days when we used to run our Sunday long runs regulary in this forest.

Other than that there is not too much exciting things happending here. Richard painted our passage and did an excellent job. Hanna and I enjoyed a couple of days on the lake and I am trying to go for a run every now and then (I normally manage once or twice a week). On a morning run this week I noticed the first yellow leaves on the fields and realised that autumn has arrived. I really love that time of the year!

Have a great day!
Christine

Sunny days, day trips and 60 + 30 = mum + me = surprise birthday party

Finally the weather changed and all of a sudden our days were filled with spending our (Hanna, Marc and me) afternoons at the lake. Going to the lake is always good - in terms of keeping Hanna busy and satisfied. There are lots of children to play with, a little paddling pool to have fun in and a big sand pit - short: there are lots of things to do and therefore little time to be bored and being difficult. In other words great for mum :-)!

On one of these really nice and hot summer days Richard took some time off and we decided to go on a day trip. We always wante to see Hallstadt, a celtic village in the Salzkammergut about 70 minutes drive from Henndorf. Hallstadt is very scenic and picturesque and lies inbetween high mountains on the foot of the Dachstein glacier. Therefore the Hallstädtersee, the little lake by the village, is really really cold as the water is coming straigth from the glacier. We left Henndorf at lunch time and had a picnic on a swimming spot with view on the village and the mountains. There we spent quite a while and, except for Hanna, all had a swim - brrrr - it was freezing cold however the perfect refreshment on a hot hot summer day. In the late afternoon we had a stroll through the village, had coffee and ice cream in a littel cafe on the lake and I went to see the famous Bone House.

On Saturday we celebrated mum's 60th birthday, with a big birthday party in a little restaurant directly by the lake. Well, at least I thought it was mum's birthday party. As we arrived there I found out that it was also a surprise party for my 30th birthday, which actually was already a couple of weeks ago. It really was a big surprise. Although Richard and Edith claim that they had almost given it away a couple of times, I had absolutely no idea. It was really nice and I enjoyed myself a lot. We had great food, the location by the lake was absolutely wonderful and we were very lucky with the weather. It had been pouring with rain in the morning but had cleared up in the afternoon! A great surprise! Thanks to everybody - for organising and also for everybody who came to celebrate!

As you can see our days were filled the last couple of weeks! I hope it continues like that - then I always have something to blog! So stay tuned!
Have a great day!
Christine

P.S.: Pictures will follow!

Rainy Days and Early Morning Pyjama Parties

The last week was decidedly rainy here in Henndorf - no July weather in any case! Anybody who has dealt with children before, knows that after a day or two at home with very little to no possibility to run, jump and fall, these little ones get very frustrated and start to drive their parents mad. With Hanna's "Tagesmutter" (daymum) and friends on holiday or sick, we were pretty much on our own to entertain ourselves. In a way that was good, as I started to do a very close research on what was happening for children in and around Salzburg. And that is how I found out about "The English Centre". The Centre offers a whole lot of activities for adults and children - also during summer holidays. The best thing about it is that everything is in English. I was looking for a similar possibility since weeks, as I want Hanna to be exposed to other people - and especially children - talking English. I believe that children learn best from their young fellows. So we have been there twice last week. We went to see the puppet show on Tuesday and to the Saturday Morning Stories. Hanna enjoyed it immensely and I think from now on we will be regular visitors to The English Centre.

This picture was taken at about 6 o'clock in the morning - Hanna's preferred waking up time - and therefore my time (and often Marc's) to start the day. First thing we do so early in the morning is have milk (Hanna) and a cup of tea on the couch and a good morning cuddle!

Have a good and hopefully not too early start into the next week!
Christine

P.S.: The weather is improving ...

Photos Photos

We updated our online photo album.

Here you can see the photos from our trip to London at the beginning of this month.
Here you can see pictures from Andrea and Bernhard's wedding on the 12th of July.

Have a great day!
Christine

London

From the 2nd to the 10th of July we spent in Sutton / London with Richard's sister. We haven't been there for 2 years, so it was really nice to get the vibe of a big city again. It was mainly a family visit, so we spent most of our time with Claire and Michelle, Gavin and George. Besides,the weather didn't allow much more anyway. We didn't even took part in a time trail, because we didn't feel like getting soaked. That's how times change :-) ... Instead we went to the South African store and spent 30 Pounds on South African sweets and snacks ... Another highlight was the visit to the zoo and amusement park. Although we spent a huge amount for the entrance fee we had a really great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Hanna was fascinated by the gorillas and loved the "flying elephants"!
We came back last Thursday after a very short night - leaving Claire and Gavin's house at 3 o'clock in the morning to catch our plane at 6. Needless to say that we were all quite exhausted that day. It didn't take long to get us back into our daily routine.

We had a wonderful time and it was great to see everybody!
Thanks to the London crowd!
Have a great day!
Christine

Braai ...

... and for the non South Africans ... barbeque :-).

Wanted to post a couple of photos from a braai we enjoyed last weekend!

I hope you had a great weekend!

Cheers!

Christine

Summer, Sun and Salsa

Lots of things happened in the last couple of weeks, however we still managed to recover from all the stress around Marc's operation. Originally I had planned to go on a one week holiday with my mum, the children and a friend of mine as well as her son Simon and her mum on Saturday after Marc's operation. With all the excitement and uncertainty the few days beforehand we didn't know whether we could leave to Lignano, Italy, or not. After Marc had another check in the hospital on Saturday morning, we decided to go. The doctor agreed as long as we would come back for another check one week later. Therefore we had to cut the holiday one day short. My friend Verena and her son Simon were very pleased that we could join them. Lignano is a very popular tourist destination for Austrians. The reason is because it is situated on the sea and in very short driving distance from Austria (4 1/2 hours from Salzburg). The main language spoken in restaurants, shops and coffee bars is German - quite sad in a way. None the less we had a really nice time on the beach and in the sea. Hanna was busy playing and fighting :-) with her friend Simon and I was busy with treating Marc's cut the way the doctors ordered. This made the holiday a bit less relaxing as I had wanted it to be! However it was still a great week!

Another highlight in May was a two hours Salsa workshop or lets rather say a Salsa "Crash Course": This dancing workshop was a birthday present from one of my friends. She had everything organized: a babysitter for the time of the workshop and even a 'replacement' for Richard just in case he wasn't keen on doing the course with me. Richard decided he wanted to join me. We had a really nice time although things could have gone a bit slower for us. We managed to follow everything quite well for the first hour but after that we struggled a bit to say the very least :-). I guess we need a refresher course soon - we will see whether I can Richard to do one with me!

Well, that's that for the moment!
Have a great week!
Christine

Whew - all back at home....

Just a short post to let you all know that Marc and Mum are back home after being released from hospital this morning with flying colours :) We have to go back for a control on Saturday, but it's better having him back home than having him in the hospital.

Hopefully Christine will be able to go on holiday like she planned next week with some friends, leaving Dad and Aisha at home to sulk around.

Thats for the well wishes and SMS's, hope you are all well,
From us.

Bad news, good news in one..

Yes, sorry to say today I must start this entry with some bad news. As some of you might know poor little Marc had to go into hospital this morning for an operation on an Anal Fistula, which is essentially a boil close to his anus, caused by a blocked tube between his intestine and his skin. Yesterday it was fine, we didn't see anything, but after a hard night, in the morning the boil broke through to the skin and we were concerned.

I was able to drain it myself, but Christine still wanted to take Marc to the hospital to get it checked out. Thank goodness. They were able to diagnose the problem straight away and Marc was booked for an op at 12 noon. In the end the op. only started at 14h00, but then after 45 minutes the good news. Everything ok. The boil was properly opened and drained (it extended almost 1,5 cm into the body cavity), everything was cleaned and he was returned to the room still asleep at 14h45.

He (and of course Christine) have to stay in the hospital for the next few days, so that they can keep an eye on it and ensure that it stays clean (the boil). He was awake after 2 hours but had not eaten before I had to leave to get Hanna from Omi and Opi. He was obviously in some discomfort, but fell asleep again just as I was leaving. I'll give you some more news tomorrow when I know it.

22:44 - quick update from Christine. Marc is doing fine and eating properly again :)

A new Picasso?

Hanna just loves painting - the messier, the better! Therefore I like to hide her most favourite finger paints. However she sometimes finds them anyway and then I have no chance and Hanna, sorry the new Picasso, enters the stage. The result you can see on this photo!

The last couple of weeks were quite busy. We were getting ready for visitors. Michael, Richard's brother, and Claire and Gavin, Richard's sister and her husband, visited us around the 1st of May. We had a really nice time - especially Hanna felt very spoilt being the centre of attention. There was always somebody around to play with and opening all these presents - even if they belonged to somebody else - was pretty exciting for her. Hanna and Marc provided enough action - so we didn't have to worry too much about a interesting program for our visitors :-) !

Check out our photographs of the last couple of weeks on our webalbum!

Wishing you a great weekend - for us it is a long one :-)!
Christine

Marc is back home!

Morning all,

Here is a very quick update for all of you who have sent emails and SMS's about how it's going....

Fine thank you!

Both Mom and Marc are back home and are doing exceptionally well. Marc is eating and sleeping (and of course, the other thing that comes with eating) all the time, but is really well and picking up kilos, and is back to 3.21 kg this morning. He is chalk and cheese to Hanna so far (touch wood, pray to god, beg that this doesn't change) and we are really very happy.

Christine is going really well and she has recovered from the operation very quickly this time round. We have all settled into the new routine back home and all that needs to happen now is that Hanna needs to start sleeping through - then we will be like... well... really happy.

We hope that you are all well and thank you all for the wonderful presents, cards, flowers and well wishes. Love from the family gathercole,
Richard.

P.S: there are more photo's online if you want to look :)

Some more news....

Geez, some more news...is that even possible? After months of nothing then twice in the same week.... *grin*

Yes, Yes, I will try to be a better blogger, and am just fitting in one or two short stories to keep you all posted.

Firstly Marc and Christine are both doing very well. Marc lost the usual 200 - 400 grams but is fighting back strong - he is eating strongly but mostly he just sleeps. Christine is doing really well, and is out and about every day for her little walks. They will be coming home on Tuesday (if you wanted to know) and will remain there for another week or so before we can start moving about with any sort of freedom again.

Secondly, Hanna is moving on. Now that she has a little brother some things have had to change. First thing to go was the baby bed. She now has a normal bed (no bars) and is also big enough to reach all the door handles, so as a result - yup you got it - cold feet Hanna comes to join me at 6 am in the mornings - man I look forward to that *grin*. And she just can't sit still for longer than about....well...3/10ths of a second - so my mornings have just got longer (he says with a long face).

Thirdly, we (the royal we, as in Hanna) are moving towards potty usage on a regular occurance - regular means everytime I remember to put her on it - and then she (aaaaarrrrrggggg) pushes and "lo and behold" I need to clean the potty out again. We are actually quite glad about this as those throw away nappies really aren't cheap, so we save where we can.

Fourthly, I'm unfit and need to do something about it, but that story can be told on my other blog! No seriously I'm going fine, feeling quite tired, but looking forward to having the family under one roof from Tuesday onwards.

Hope you are all well,

Keep Well All,
Richard.

P.S: More photo's on the web album :) I'm sure you know where it is by now......

Marc Richard Gathercole is here!

So it finally took this big event force me to actually write something on our blog again. But news it is, and exciting news at that. Yes - Marc has arrived after 39 weeks (1 week early) of hanging around in Christine's tummy.

He was born on the 8th of April 2008 at 09h29 after an 5 min operation (compared to Hanna's 24 hours) it seemed quite short. He is well as is Christine (after her operation) and is already quite the big lad (again compared to Hanna). Marc was born 50 cm long and 3160 g, which was quite a surprize, as the doctors had measured only 2700 g less than 1 week ago. We are glad though that he is so big, and the differences to Hanna are massive and evident from the word go.

He is already drinking hard, and is trying to look around all the time. His vocals work well, as do all the other parts. He has blue eyes at the moment, and very definitely Christines facial features. Black hair all over is also a feature that he shares with Hanna.

Christine had the operation on the advice of the doctors, and everything has gone very well. She is recovering well but still has quite a bit of pain (which is normal). She has been able to get up and move around, and was even able to have a shower on her own yesterday. I have been visiting at regular intervals and will be going to the hospital with Hanna again this afternoon.

Looking after Hanna and Aisha without Christine is quite a strain, but it's OK - I didn't expect to get any work done this week anyway *grin* but at least I have been able to sleep quite well. Exactly at this time Hanna has decided to move from her sleeping bag to a proper bed cover and so I've been checking her regularly during the night to ensure she is properly covered. All very exciting - but it would be better if she decide to use the potty properly first :)

Anyway, this is the news, we are all well and really happy to see that Marc has arrived safe and sound. Thank you for the many emails and SMS's that we received and the great support. I'm sorry that some of you didn't get the SMS's I sent - next time I will just send text and not MMS (with picture). I'll write more information on the weekend!

God Bless, love from all of us,
Richard, Christine, Hanna, Marc and Aisha.

PS: More photo's to be found on our online Web Album. Comments most welcome!

Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

So what have we been up to in the last couple of months. Actually it was quite a busy and hectic time. Things seem to be calming down now, but not for long ... our baby is due in only 3 1/2 weeks and I am desperately trying to work off my To-Do-List. Maybe it will be best if you check out our online photo album to see what happened in our lives. You will find pictures from our trip to Cape Town over Christmas and New Year, Hanna's Birthday Party and a couple more. Hope you will enjoy them!

At the moment we (Hanna and I) are more or less bound to stay at home most of the time, as Hanna has got Chicken Pocks. The worst stage is over and now we are just waiting for the Pocks to heal.

You will hear from us again sooner or later!
Have a great day!
Christine

Operation Update!

Well, I had my second Jaw / Tooth operation last week, and unfortunately it did not go as well as the first one. The "anti pain" injections started to wear off after an hour, and so the last 20 minutes I could feel almost everything. And then the stitching.....aaararrrrgggggg!

Anyway, he had to give me another injection before I went home so at least the pain went away again and then lots of pain killers (3 a day for a week) have kept it mostly away. Unfortunately it appears that the infection has spread back into the left side of the jaw again, and so it's a good chance that I'll need a third operation pretty soon. Additionally, after the first operation I was pain free in a little less than 2 days, but after this one, 1 week later, the pain is still very present - this is not good! Another hospital visit on Friday.

And to top it all, I've picked up a cold (it's going around at the moment) so I'm feeling quite miserable at the moment. Anyway, I should be able to run by the weekend, albeit very slowly, and I'm chomping at the bit to get started again.....

Thanks to all you who phoned, sent good wishes or SMS's - it was really kind of you!
Later guys,
Richard.

An attempt to stay fit

Last week Friday was a public holiday in Austria and as orienteerers like to use every opportunity to race we did so. The Salzburg Sprint Championships were held in Hallein, south of Salzburg. Every competitor had to race twice. In the morning I was still contemplating about running, as my belly is getting decidedly bigger and also because I actually haven't done any exercise since 5 weeks - except for pushing the pram and carrying Hanna, shopping bags and a dog into the 2nd floor ;-). I decided to run, however wanted to run slow and not overdo anything. A couple of weeks ago I read an interview with Paula Radcliff in which she claims, that every pregnant woman can run but should make sure that she is not running over 80% of her maximum speed. So I was wobbling along wondering how fast 80% of my maximum speed is. And I must admit I enjoyed my wobble :-)! Only my running tights felt a bit tight around my belly! The next speed wobble will take place in Venice on the 11th of November, where we will spend a weekend trying to catch the last warm sun rays of the year!

Here a photo of how Richard is trying to stay fit:
Have a good day!
Christine