Weight Loss Update...

Regular blog readers will remember my horror at uncovering the shocking truth of my weight gain over the last eighteen months - a staggering 15kg!

You'll also remember that I said I would keep you posted on how I was progressing in getting rid of some of the extra burden! It's hard enough running around a football pitch for 90 mins without carrying the extra weight! You might well think that no news had meant that I'd fallen off the Healthy Wagon and climbed back on board the Tooheys New Sponsored one... we'll you'd be wrong! The good news is that I have managed to shift 5kg of it during the last month.

I put this down to careful eating (we've been grilling lots of lean stuff and veggies on the BBQ), careful drinking, some work outs in the garage and inside with Beth and Davina McCall in the mornings, the odd run and then there's the physical jobs Beth has me doing - breaking up compacted soil, laying concrete etc etc ... real chain gang stuff!!

Hopefully there will be more good news next month... although I doubt whether Xmas will help much! :0)

Beach Bums...

Newcastle Ocean baths isn't known for its nudist bathing but there were three cute beach bums on display this Monday afternoon. Beth met up with Kate and Kel and the boys for an impromptu swim lesson. I'm told that the water was quite warm (still in work clothes!)and a good time was certainly had by all. The boys' water wings seem to be coming along nicely.

Ain't he cute

It's hard being out at work, although I guess I've been lucky in that I've worked from home for much of the last six months. More recently I've been busy teaching at a few different schools and so missing out on whats going on at home ... or well you would think so!

With Beth at home you be assured of a picture by picture account of their day together. These are my favourites from today.... bless him!

Sick as a Parott...

It's not been the best of weeks if you are a Plymouth Argyle fan and a fan of English football in general.

Exhibit One: Ian Holloway (Now forever known as Ian Hollowords)



Days after he declared he was “in love” with Plymouth Argyle, Ian Holloway has dumped the club in favour of a richer suitor. Holloway resigned as manager of the Coca-Cola Championship side yesterday and will take over at Leicester City once the clubs have agreed compensation.

Exhibit Two: Steve McClaren.



England manager Steve McClaren has been sacked after his side's failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 competition.McClaren's fate was sealed at Wembley last night when England lost 2-3 to Croatia, despite having hit back from a two-goal deficit.England had needed just one point from the match to qualify.

McClaren himself refused to resign immediately after he and his players were booed off the Wembley turf by an angry capacity crowd but he did agree that the squad had badly let the country down.

"It is an indescribable pain," McClaren said. "There is so much expectation, both from the fans in the stadium and the people watching on TV at home. We have let them down."

Afternoon Picnic

After a fairly hectic week with work I decided to take last Friday afternoon off to spend some time with Alfie and Beth. The weather was nice so we decided to meet up with Kate and Maz and let the boys all get together. The weekly meet is something of a mums ritual and a good chance to compare notes on baby stuff and discuss Pop Idol, and so being the only dad I probably had more in common with the bubs... and despite the age difference (mentally not as far apart!) we all got on great.





First it was time for somethings to eat, crawling practice and a chat before out came the maracas we sang a couple of songs and a roll about... again I think I was enjoying all this more than they were.

Mad dogs and Englishmen...

Beth decided that the perfect response to the fuzzy feeling in my head last Sunday morning was to erect shade sails in searing heat. Saturday had been a long day of partying and trivia nights before returning to the party.... I was in no fit state to climb ladders and dig holes in the garden!

Still undeterred I staggered outside without sun protection or a hat (... this resulted in me feeling very ill until Wednesday and so this won't be happening again!) to get the sails up. We've had some very hot days as we build towards Summer and with the direct sunlight on the outside of his wall the room gets very hot 30+ degrees at times. This is obviously too hot for him so we hope the sails will help keep things cooler.... anyway back to the DIY!

The neighbours having seen my physical state both decided they better come around and lend a hand. We actually managed to get everything up in a couple of hours, thanks to a clever hole digging tool and the extra hands.

Almost finished.....


I give the shade sails the thumbs up!...


Foreman arrives, he's on the phone.... doesn't look happy!


Many hands ... I have a key role holding hose!


Think at this time pole was actually holding me up!



They seem to have had the desired effect as things have cooled down a little, we are going to put up another on the other wall this coming weekend. The shade sail installation has also coincided with some extended day sleeps for Alfie so it was very much worth all the effort!

Bumbo Babies...

When Grandma was here in August she treated Alfie to a Bumbo so that he could start to learn how to sit up. He can now sit without it but the Bumbo makes him that little bit more stable and avoids the need for tears!

For those not in the know (why would you be!) a Bumbo is a soft foam plastic seat that worn upside down on Daddys head gives him the appearance of an Anglo Saxon warrior .... anyway .... they are popular with parents but also with film makers it seems.

It's not one of our videos but its certainly worth a look.... Enjoy! :0)


If you enjoyed that check out Episode II and III on Youtube.

Wait a mo....

Having received several emails saying that there is no way that they are going to use their credit card to donate anything up from a £1 to raise money for prostate cancer without seeing the "photographic evidence" of the "lip catapillar!!!!"

So at the risk of receiving even more abusive emails...

Wow Chicka Wow Wow!

I must confess that the sides have now gone leaving only the lip fuzz as I spent all morning door knocking schools with my CV... oh and I have a class of five year olds in the morning who could be very disturbed by being educated by one of the village people! :0)

The Mo-taliser stands at £35... you can help by sponsoring my Mo and fight against prostate cancer by going to http://www.movember.com/uk/donate, and entering my registration number which is 118444 and your credit card details.

The OK Corall...

The days of leaving Alfie on the floor while you go to do something else - hang washing, have a shower etc are officially over as there is now no guarantee that he'll still be there when you return.... this situation can only get worse!

Thanks to Nanny we now have a cage... ahhem .... sorry Play Pen where Alfie can be left for a short period so that he can't damage himself or anything else!

Ahhh look as his "sad for the camera" face... don't be fooled he loves it! Honest!

He seems to enjoy the few precious moments he has spent in there as the floor is soft (rubber mats) and all his favourite toys are in there too! He has made an impressive start in wanting to keep his little area of the house tidy... in fact when he was sick in there he attempted to clean up by spreading the "deposit" thinly over the rubber mat with his hands! Lovely! :0)

Planning an escape?

Swim Pals...

Alfie took a swim in his private pool this afternoon after the water had warmed up nicely in the sun. It still took his breath away at first but before too long he was splashing around and having fun, his pal Ben must have heard him as he came around to jump in too! Strict Supervision by the lifeguards ensured that there was no Bombing, Diving or Polluting Incidents! :0)

After the swim it was snuggle up in towels to dry off time before Ben talked Alfie through the basics of crawling. Although more sessions will be needed there were obvious signs of improvement with Alfie starting to get his bum in the air and his knees up, under the expert instruction of his trainer. Not long until Alfie will have perfected the backwards shuffle by which time Ben will have progressed onto front crawl!!

Some pics of the ride...

I've had the bug since June and every time I've been asked what it looks like I've shown them the pictures that the previous owner took, so I thought it was time I got Beryl all dressed up for some new shots.

If you're wondering "What on earth is that thing stuck on the ......?" then best get yourself over to http://sled63.blogspot.com/ and find out!

My three favourites...




She has been very reliable so far (touch wood!) and has attracted a lot of favourable attention from the children at school and been mocked by staff. One uninformed individual can be quoted saying "At least I no longer have the worst car in the car park".

Answers to the most common questions...

1. No it's not an abandoned vehicle!
2. No there is no planned restoration, respray - I like it as it is!
3. No the boot isn't falling off its meant to look like that.
4. The "rubbish" on the roof rack you refer to are period accessories.
5. Please I don't need your pity, I can afford a "better" car but given the choice I would still spend the cash on summat old!

:0)

Grass is always greener?

We've been asked a couple of times during our life in Australia "What's it really like?", suggesting that the Blog paints a very positive picture of our new life. I guess that they are right in some ways to think that the blog is a way of showcasing the highlights. If we are being honest we do have moments where we think that the grass might be greener on the other side of the World but that is to be expected having made such a big life changing decision.

What we miss in our family and friends is compensated in some ways by where we live here and the fantastic most welcoming of friends we are making on our antipodean adventure. Green shoots of opportunities for more regular and reliable work are starting to present themselves and this is helping the feelings of being more settled. Time will tell if this has been the right move for us but in the meantime we are trying to make the grass down under as green as we can make it... literally!

Beth has been busy in the garden raking and sowing grass seeds on the baked earth which has been softened by lots of recent rain (... Think April showers in November!) The results are impressive...
Before...

After...

One at a time please...

For the previous post we had a really good look at how Alfie has grown over the last six months, trouble is he's not the only one to have piled on the weight!

My suspicions were first aroused when after unpacking my clothes in the new house I found that some garments had obviously shrunk en route, then several months later in preparation for teaching I unpacked my smarter teaching stuff all of which failed to meet around the middle apart from one pair of trousers!

I weighed myself a couple of times expecting a "one at a time!" response from the digital scales. Luckily in a measure of self protection my memory had erased all recollection of my previous weights and so all didn't seem too bad - until today that is! I managed to find some of my "over the top fanatical fitness records" and discovered the horrible truth in the last 19 months I have piled on an amazing 15Kg! ... to think that I comment on how heavy Alfie is when actually I'm carrying two of him mostly around the middle!

I have put this crash weight gain down to the following factors (excuses!):

#1 Yes you Alfie... there aren't as many hours in the day as there used to be!

#2 Too much time sat on this bashing a laptop...

#3 Three months spent working away from home in Oxford while manager of the Hamilton Trust. On the "Corner Shop Co-op Diet" - Ready meals, Snikers, pre-packed, sandwiches, office cakes and lager!

#4 Ah... for the love of Tooheys New! Trouble is I love it a little too much...

#5 Yup the good ole Aussie BBQ...


You'll note that none of this is my fault, but I can do something about it. Hopefully by getting on here and letting you know how I'm going will keep me motivated!

I have worked out the last three days and watched what I've eaten (... and drunk!) so results should appear soon. ;0)

Like father like son... in some ways!

A not so little anymore Alfie is six months today... and what a six months it's been. If I find the time between nappy changes and work next week I'll post a film to mark the occasion.

I forgot to mention that father and son went to the clinic last week for a weigh in. The news is that he continues to thrive and grow in all directions. He weighs in at 7.75Kg, thats a 3.37Kg increase since birth which is good progress despite a little blip around 3 months. At birth he was 53cm in length but now measures in at a lofty 70cm! As the midwife says long and lean - like his dad? More on that later!In the noggin department his head circumference has increased from (a far to big for a newborn!) 38cm to 47.5cm.

All good progress when you consider the start he got off to. He is also progressing in so many other ways which surprises us daily - sitting up for longer, wriggling (not quite crawling yet!), rolling, talking and off course wolfing down those solids.

It's a Mo Show...

Well two days in there is little to report on the Mo front, at this rate there will be nothing to show on my top lip come the 1st of December!

Still on a positive note the donations are starting to come in (thanks so much you know who are)as have the suggestions of what I should aim for. Here's the latest...


Remember every penny goes directly to Prostate Cancer charities and you can use the website to donate as little or as much as you like. :0)

To sponsor my Mo (moustache) and fight against prostate cancer please go to http://www.movember.com/uk/donate, enter my registration number which is 118444 and your credit card details

Stay at home Dad...

Well it's Friday and I survived a working week with Alfie while mum was in school! It's been a good week which is just as well as I'm doing it all again next week! It's certainly been an eye opener, I've not been one to take anything that Beth has done for granted for the last six months but it has certainly made me see what she does do for Alfie and around the house!

Cleaning the house like a loon (very quietly!) while Alfie sleeps is tough, and as for getting any work done! Its amazing what you can get done in such a short space of time, also amazing how quickly it can get messy again too!

My observations so far are:

1, Alfie is in control, don't pretend otherwise.
2, Alfie does not come with instructions.
3, What worked yesterday won't work today.
4, Coffee sessions with the girls (I had one today!) are richly deserved.
5, Alfie is quite regular! ... if you know what I mean!
6, The cups placed above the dishwasher need to be physically placed inside.
7, The clothes left near the washer need to be physically placed inside.
8, If he's asleep in the car keep driving!
9, You eat after Alfie.
10, Alfie misses his mum and sometimes channels this into being difficult for dad.
11, Don't wait for him to swallow just keep shoveling.
12, A smile can be followed by inconsolable crying within 20 seconds.
13, No longer can we be guaranteed that he'll be where you left him when you return.
14, Alfie is bemused/fascinated by the beetle!
15, Don't try to measure things using a paper measuring tape while having a 6mnth old strapped to your chest.
16, Some of Alfie's toys can provide entertainment for 34 year olds!

... I could go on! Beth says that I've been a different person this week after my enlightenment! Next week I'll try to post some pictures of us in action... til then thanks so much Beth for all you do! What a wife! What a woman What a mum. XXX