Living Life: A QUICK UPDATE

Royce and I have been very busy and I have no idea how we ever managed to find time to go to work! A new baby in the house certainly manages to create chaos, and all the things that we didn't get done before are now coming back to haunt us so we have had to pull our fingers out and try to catch up on a lot of outstanding jobs. We almost have our heads above water now and are looking forward to experiencing some of that laid back, relaxing retirement lifestyle we keep hearing so much about!
Our first Christmas with Marshall was lovely. Rory, Emma, Marshall, Royce, Kane and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve as we anticipated Christmas morning may be a bit hectic. Kane had an absolute ball opening his own presents and then ripping all the other wrapping paper to pieces as well. Marshall had no idea what all the fuss was about, and the rest of us enjoyed the moment.
Christmas Day was a bit of rushing around. Royce travelled the State to pick up his godfather and his mum and bring them to our place. Rory and Emma looked after Marshall and I tried to get all the food ready. I had set the table the previous day and done as much as possible ahead of time but even so everyone was here and ready for lunch and I was running a bit behind time. Didn't really matter that much - we all had a lovely lunch and exchanged gifts, chatted and then Royce did the reverse run taking his mum and godfather home while I cleaned up. We headed out to my brother's for Christmas tea with my family. It was a nice night but I am wondering if we shouldn't think about changing the "Foster" get together to a picnic on Boxing Day. May have to canvas the others and see what people think.
Royce and I babysat on New Years Eve (the dog and the baby) while Rory and Emma got to let their hair down for the night.
Marshall has been a bit unwell recently - some sort of tummy bug and was borderline running a temperature so he was pretty unsettled for a while but he seems to have come good and is now feeding like a real greedy guts! He is growing pretty quickly and now has chubby cheeks and a slight double chin. We discovered dimples in his knees recently. He has started focussing on people now and makes really good eye contact.
Emma's two sisters from Sydney were here for a few days and they loved being able to catch up. Marshall's aunties spoiled him rotten - buying him some really terrific clothes, rugs, bibs etc.
Only a short posting but it is getting late and this will have to do for the time being.
I have included some photos and I apologise to my Facebook friends because some of them you will have seen on Facebook, but I needed to include them here for those people who aren't on Facebook