25-27 Mar, 2024 Jon & Annalise’s place, Cairns, Qld

Mon, 25^th

Foggy early in the morning but it looked clear so got the washing on. I went up and looked after Beau so Annalise could get some more sleep. He was much better last night but still waking every 2 hours or so but at least wasn’t screaming like the previous night.

Steve worked on the truck. I went out to the shops.

I just got home as a very heavy storm hit us for half an hour. Luckily Steve had got the washing off.

Had a lazy afternoon watching Grey’s Anatomy with Annalise and Beau. He is 2 weeks old today so took a couple of photos.

Beau was very content and laid on the cushion so Annalise cooked us a lovely dinner.

 

Tues, 26^th

My niece, Rebecca’s birthday today. Sent her a happy birthday message.

Sky a bit clearer so got some washing happening. Annalise had a friend visit who is due to have her baby in May so I left them chatting and headed down for a cuppa with the Tuckshop girls. Two new ladies working there as well as the usual crew. They loved all the photos of Sophia and Beau and we had a lovely time catching up. Rochelle is going to be a grannie too in July, Luke and Nerrida live in Brisbane so she will be going down to stay for a bit.

Around to Spotlight to get some cushion inserts and backing material so I can make the babies’ cushions - got a very helpful lady for a change.

Met Wendy and Rebecca for lunch again at the Bungalow - very nice chicken dish.

Very hot and humid today - no wind at all. Steve had picked up the new shock absorbers so was hard at work under the truck fitting them as the ground has dried out a bit so it is just mud!

Sophia is improving so hoping she can be home for Easter.

Terry rang to say he has had his Whooping Cough injection and paid the final payment for the shed so he is all set for the few days at Woodgate for Easter then the train ride up to meet his great grandchildren.

After dinner I drove down the road to Valerie’s to cross stitch but as I have finished it went through the patterns I have and decided to do a 1^st Christmas one for the babies and finish a height chart that I started years ago to record my boys - now it can be for Sophia. Michelle has started cross stitching too and is doing a lovely peacock one and Valerie has started a new project of small sea animals which looks lovely. Christine came too and continued with her knitting of squares to make rugs. Lovely to be able to catch up with them and Russell again. I said I will have to visit Kirsten again in Perth but Valerie said they have moved to Forbes so I might be able to call in on the way down. She is expecting her second child soon too.

We heard some thunder then saw lightning flashing and then the heavens opened. It just thundered down, so loud even in the house.

Had to wait till 11pm before the rain eased enough so we could make the dash to our cars. Poor Christine had to drive back to Kamerunga - slow and steady.

 

 

Wed, 27^th

Another hot and humid morning after the heavy rain last night. The creek is roaring more - sent some photos to Jon.

Annalise took this photo of Beau last night - so gorgeous.

David has been working on a part for the new fan for the truck so Steve went down with the truck to fit it.

Lynda arrived to spend a couple of days with Annalise and Beau.

I started creating the baby cushions.

Wonderful news from Fran, they have removed the feeding tube on Sophia - she looks so cute. Hopefully if she feeds well they will all be going home together soon.

Very hot and humid day.

 

20-24 Mar, 2024 Jon & Annalise’s place, Cairns, Qld

Wed, 20^th

148 mm of rain from 9am yesterday. We are all over the rain. The creek is a continual roar. Happy this morning as it isn’t rain yet.

Annalise’s niece Sophia now has a little brother, Conrad, born 11pm last night. Congratulations to Tayla and Matt. They live in Brisbane but we will meet him at Byron Bay in May for the wedding.

The photographer sent through a few photos she took - beautiful.

No more rain today - yeah.

Midwife visited - Beau nearly back to birth weight.

The creek is flowing so well, there are little falls all the way along the edge of Jon’s property. I got this one through the trees.

Tony sent some photos of the shed today.

Fran sent a photo of Daniel bathing his little girl - she just loves her daddy. She certainly looks relaxed - Beau screams when he has his bath!

 

Thurs, 21^st

Heavy rain in the early house. 8am the sun is out. Lovely sunny day for a change so got some washing done.

Cross-stitch nearly done.

 

 

Fri, 22^nd

Jon headed back to SA for work.

Charlotte has been busy spinning her web during the night and this morning’s shower makes it very pretty.

Lynda arrived - she will stay for a couple of days which will be very helpful for Annalise.

Kaylene suggested I get a massage for my neck which is very stiff from all the cross-stitching. Got a great guy and felt amazing afterwards.

A couple of showers here and there during the day. Windy afternoon.

Maralyn used her app to modify one of the photos of Jon, Annalise & Beau - looks great.

Joined Kaylene, Rick, Steve and Sandra for dinner at Cocos at the Pullman. 8 months ago we were here for Jon & Annalise’s wedding. Steve and Sandra are heading off shortly to see their son and his partner in England for a holiday while he is still working over there. Sounds like they will have fun. We had a lovely night chatting.

 

 

 

Sat, 23^rd

Heavy rain started in the early morning. 50mm by 8am! Still raining but by 10am it had stopped so it is now hot and humid.

Finished the main part of the cross-stitches - just need to add their names, dates and weights so I had to work out the stitches for that.

Dan and Fran send us texts of Sophia’s improvements. She has now gone over her birth weight and is 2 weeks old today. Such a hard time for both of them but so glad things are starting to improve.

Cooked dinner for us and Lynda and Annalise and had a lovely time chatting and admiring our darling little grandson.

 

 

 

Sun, 24^th

More rain - so over it now. Beau was very unsettled last night so both Annalise and Lynda didn’t get much sleep. We had slept in so I went up to have a turn settling him. Belly full of wind we think.

David and Terry checked out the shed now that it is completed. We need to do some sand building up around it and the back fence needs retaining so will look at that when we get down there. Terry very happy - parked his car in the open area just to try it out.

David took a photo from next door’s balcony too.

2pm the sun came out and it is hot and humid again but at least not raining.

Beau had a nice rest with Granma. So cute.

Fran sent a photo of Sophia in one of the outfits I bought her. Adorable.

I have finished the last bit of the cross-stitches, hooray. Now to make them into a pillow for each of our grandchildren. Wendy had given me her Mum’s sewing machine so I got it out and gave it a try. I had some shorts that needed sewing and the machine worked well. Now to buy some material for the pillows etc. Now to wash, dry and iron them. 

Simon arrived to collect Lynda for a few days. Jon rang - chatted with his little boy via video! That part of modern technology is marvelous.

 

16-19 Mar, 2024 Jon & Annalise’s place, Cairns, Qld

Sat, 16^th

More rain forecast for the next week!! A few drops early but nothing yet. Hot, humid and the clouds are building. Miles visiting for the day before his flight back to Perth.

Wonderful news from Daniel - Sophia hasn’t had any reflux for two days so she is off the drip and getting milk via a nasal tube. One week old today.

I offered to make them some meals as we feel so helpless and they thought that was great. I headed off to the shop and started cooking.

Steve and Jon cleaned out the shed and loaded the old fence panels they just pulled down from behind the shed onto the truck and took a load to the dump. There is a cyclone up in the Gulf so a good time to have a clean up.

Steve went out to Daniel’s to pick him up so he could collect his ute from his workplace so they got to have a chat.

The rain arrived but didn’t cool anything down.

Kaylene and Rick joined us for dinner as I was cooking a roast. Annalise put on a pork roast in her air fryer too. Everyone was very happy with the crackling.

 

 

 

Sun, 17^th

More rain but it is still hot and sticky.

I did my normal baking then continued on with the meals, making some for Annalise too for when Jon goes back to work. Beau is doing well and Annalise is very confident so she should be ok.

The rain kept falling all day!

Fran sent some photos of Sophia.

David’s mate is staying at Woodgate and let David know the workers had arrived to start the shed but they didn’t get far as there were bolts missing or something. He forwarded us the photos.

 

Mon, 18^th

116mm of rain since 9am yesterday. We have constant temperatures from min of 25 to 29 to 30 degrees maximums.

No rain this morning which is good as Annalise has arranged a baby/family photographer. Beau is one week old today.

We decided to renew our passports so we can plan a trip to New Zealand and maybe further overseas later on. Only used the last ones once so have to make sure we use these ones more as boy is it expensive!

The guys are back working on the shed.

Once Daniel & Fran got home from the hospital I took out the food, our gifts and a present from Wendy & David. They were very grateful and thought the presents were lovely. Sophia is improving each day which is reassuring.

Home for drinks on the patio.

 

Tues, 19^th

More rain again.

Continued with the baby cross-stitches - the end is near!

Jon and Annalise took Beau to the hospital for his Healthy Hearing test - all good. 

Gorgeous photo of Beau after a big feed.

The shed is looking good.

 

12-15 Mar, 2024 Jon & Annalise’s place, Cairns, Qld (Erica 1 year)

Tues, 12^th

Heavy rain through the night.

So happy to be grandparents to two beautiful children and that they have such wonderful caring parents.

All quiet up in the house so we stayed in the camper to let them sleep if needed and settled into parenthood.

Sadly Sophia will have to stay in the special care ward longer as they haven’t worked out why she is trapping gas in her stomach and having such bad reflux. Poor Fran, it would be so hard to see your little one like that. Wish we could help somehow but she is in good hands at the hospital. I asked what her hair was like and Fran sent this photo and one with her eyes open. So adorable.

Trish texted that she is now a grandmother too as her son and his wife had a little girl early this morning. 

The sun came out so it is hot and humid.

Annalise said to come up so I had a lovely time cuddling our little grandson. He is so like his daddy. Annalise made the most of having ‘Grannie’ here and got some sleep.

 

 

 

 

Wed, 13^th

Roald’s birthday today. I gave him a call - very disappointed he didn’t get a baby born on his birthday like Uncle John did! 

Clear blue sky - yeah. Time to get the washing done.

The midwife came to check on Beau. All good. I got some lovely photos of him.

Lynda and Simon are back from Groote. Lynda was very happy to meet her grandson. Her son, Matt and his partner, Taylor have a little girl, also a Sophia, and are expecting a little boy about the 20^th - babies galore.

Hot day but no rain so no one is complaining.

Jon picked my Miles from the airport. He was happy to meet his little grandson too. He is here for 3 days from Perth.

Fran texted - Doctor is happy with her progress but she needs to get back to her birth weight and they sort out the reflux before she can leave. Sadly though Fran has been discharged and she and Dan will head home without their little girl - heart breaking. They will have to go back and forward each day to feed and look after Sophia. Very draining but she needs the care so it is for the best.

 

 

Thurs, 14^th

One year since Erica left our company. I posted up some photos and lots of people thought of her which was lovely.

Clear lovely sunny hot day.

Sandra’s 80^th birthday today so we joined her and the other line dancing ladies for lunch at Ochre. We had a wonderful time chatting and of course I was showing off the photos of my grandchildren.

Jon had noticed that our old house was up for sale. Lynda and Simon are looking for something so I went with Lynda for a look. I told the real estate lady that I had designed and we built it by owner-builder. I asked after the couple who bought it off us back in 1999 - they are fine just time to downsize. It was amazing to see that they hadn’t changed too much. Brought back lots of memories as this was where our boys were born etc.

Rang Terry to check he was ok. He had gone out to her plaque at the Crematorium and told her about her two great grandchildren which was lovely. Glad he is coping so well without her company.

 

 

 

Fri, 15^th

Joined Kaylene, Wendy and Andrea for lunch at Hopscotch. Had a great time chatting about weddings and babies etc.

Hot and humid with more rain forecast again over the weekend with the monsoonal trough across the whole top end.

Wendy sent me and invite to Sarah’s bridal shower even though we won’t be here. I sent Sarah a thank you message and hopefully I will get the wedding cross-stitch done before we leave.

Drinks at one of the neighbour’s house to celebrate Beau’s birth which was lovely. Pete and Lyn are planning a trip to Lightning Ridge later on in their motorhome so we might catch up with them there.

 

Mon, 11th Mar, 2024 Jon & Annalise’s place, Cairns, Qld (Beau Stephen Geck)

Jon sent text at 5.15am - they were heading into the hospital as Annalise’s contractions were every 3 minutes so things are happening.

I fed the dogs and did some cross-stitch. Lynda texted from work - no news. I hope nothing has gone wrong or maybe nothing was happening. I decided to vacuum the floor then sent off a text to Jon just after 9am.

Half hour later I got a text - ‘We have a big healthy boy, Annalise was so amazing.’

Wow so they must have been very busy, hence no updates. So excited for them. I told the dogs - they were excited, haha and sent off a photo to Jon & Annalise.

Annalise messaged ‘Your grandson wants to meet you’, so I headed into the hospital at 10.30am.

First I had to find Stephen with the truck. He was back at Fozzies so I picked him up and we headed in. Beau was so cute and looked just like I remember Jon was when he was born.

The birthing centre is amazing and so was Annalise - 10pm contractions started, 5am things started happening and at 9.38am Beau was born. 3.68kg (8lb 2oz), length 52cm. 

By comparison - Jon was 4.16kg (9lb 3oz), length 49cm (by Caesar).

I had lots of cuddles and we got a few photos. Didn’t take the camera so the phone ones are a bit blurry. Will get some better ones later. Steve had his cuddle - he will now wait till he is bigger he said.

I messaged Dan to give them the news and sent them some photos even though we are just down the hallway. We can go in and see Sophia one at a time with Fran. 

Dan and Fran went in to see Sophia then when he came out I went in. She is so little and so perfect. She certainly just wanted to snuggle up to her Mummy. So happy to meet her in person though no cuddles yet. I went back out so Steve could go in. Will I was away Jon, Annalise & Beau had come out ready to go home. Daniel got to meet his nephew. Steve went in then to meet his granddaughter. We said bye to Fran and Daniel and said to call us if he needs anything. 

Back home with the little family and lots of cuddles with my little darling. He has a good set of lungs and doesn’t like being disturbed.

Annalise posted some photos on our Geck Family Page so I then posted mine on our FB page. Lots of wonderful comments to these photos as well. Everyone is amazed how we got to have two grandchildren delivered within 3 days. Very considerate daughter-in-laws, I say.

Jon rang Grandad - now Great Grandad who was very excited to now have two great grandchildren and one is a boy which is he very happy about. I sent photos off to Pat (next door) to print off for him so he will laminate them and have a wonderful time showing off his little ones. He will be up on 6^th of April to see them.

Fed the kookaburras for Annalise - 10 today.

Left the happy but tired family to eat and get some sleep.

Fran and I chatted via text, hope things improve quickly for them both so they can be at home as a famil