Photo Friday: Spring in the City

September 11, 2015 Kaine Barton1 Comment

Spring is probably my favourite season of the year. And in Queensland, the gods really turn it on for us each year when spring eventually rolls around.

Spring has officially begun. We are now 11 days into what I think is the best season of the year and it’s already looking like it’s going to be a spectacular one. The skies are blue. The trees are starting to get their leaves and flowers back. The grass is the greenest I’ve seen it. And the temperature is that perfect mix between being not too cold and not too warm…

It is absolute heaven…

I work in Brisbane City. Always have done. And spring is the perfect season to get out and about to soak up the sun on leisurely lunch time walks.

On more than one occasion over the past week I have found myself walking through the Brisbane Botanical Gardens enjoying this heavenly weather we are experiencing. I’ll often walk through looking at the gardens daydreaming about our future with little Jesse. Or sit on the grass and soak up the sun thinking back about how lucky we are to have such a perfect little man in our lives.

It is incredibly soothing and relaxing to be able to get outdoors and just clear your mind on a daily basis, getting away from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Brisbane and the stress of work.

Spring in Queensland, is perfect!

So, do you enjoy spring as much as I do? What do enjoy doing in spring that relaxes you?

Photo Friday: Baby’s First Camping Trip

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015 Renee Barton1 Comment

Every year in the last week of August you will find us getting our country on at the Gympie Music Muster. We have been going for over 10 years and it is definitely one of the highlights of our calendar.

This year however was a little different to most. This year we had our 3 month old baby with us.

Yes, call us crazy, but we took Bub on his first camping trip, 5 nights in the Amamoor State Forest with 50,000 of our closest friends.

And he handled it like a champ!

What I thought was going to be an agonising car trip turned out to be a breeze. He slept the whole way there and back. And the little guy took to camping like a pro. Thunderstorm and all.

We must say a big thank you to our awesome friends for being so understanding of our situation and for helping to make our time so enjoyable. It was incredibly reassuring to hear how happy they were that we didn’t back out because we had a baby and that it in no way negatively affected their time (no one really gets much sleep at Muster anyway).

Obviously he is our number one priority and we made all the necessary adjustments to ensure he was safe and comfortable. But it was also great to prove that we can still do the things we love even though we are parents now.

Photo Friday: We Love the Gympie Music Muster

August 28, 2015 Kaine BartonLeave a comment

If you are like us, there will be one or two events that come up every year that you simply can’t miss. And for us, one of those events is the Gympie Music Muster!

If you love music, food, festivals and camping, The Gympie Music Muster is the place to be. And you don’t have to be a country music fan as there really is something for everyone.

We have been going for years and years now, and every year it seems to get better and better.

This year however, is a little different to previous years. Different, because we have our little Jesse with us.

This is our first time camping (well, you could say “glamping” considering we have a pop-top caravan) with a baby. Something that we thought we prepared very well for.

So how is it going? Have we survived so far? Well… you will just have to wait until we get back for us to release our usual ‘Muster Vlogs’ showing what exactly we got up to this year at the Gympie Music Muster.

In the meantime however, if you would like an idea of what the Gympie Music Muster is like from our perspective, below is the three part video series we filmed last year.

Enjoy…

Photo Friday: Baby Discovers His Hand

August 21, 2015 Renee BartonLeave a comment

One of the most thrilling parts of having a new baby is watching them grow, learn and discover.

Mr Jesse has recently discovered his fist….well the left one at least. Several times a day when his hand passes his face he gets fixated on it for minutes. Staring and studying it with immense fascination.

Discovering hand

It is such a joy to watch him discovering his body and the world around him. We look forward to seeing him learn to roll, sit up and all the other precious milestones that are no doubt just around the corner.

What are your favourite milestones to watch your baby achieving?

Footage Friday: Smiley Bubba

August 14, 2015October 10, 2015 Renee BartonLeave a comment

We are waiting with bated breath to hear the delightful sound of Jesse’s first laugh.

He often shrieks with joy as he smiles and kicks his legs. And there have been a few times when he has smiled and had a little chuckle in his sleep but he is yet to let out a definite baby giggle.

Today’s Photo Friday is a cute video of our smiley bubba.

Photo Friday: How Much Has Jesse Grown?

August 7, 2015 Kaine BartonLeave a comment

So for Photo Friday today, we thought that we might share some photos we have recently taken, showing the comparison between Jesse from just after birth, until just recently.

Our little Jesse is growing so quickly. Well, that’s how it seems to us. Being only around 2.6kg when he was first born, to now being 5.5kg, means that we can definitely see the difference.

He is growing and filling out more and more every day and lately, we haven’t been able to control ourselves when it comes to playing with his chubby little arms, legs and cheeks.

So how much has he grown, well have a look below and see for yourself. We think he is just getting cuter and cuter every… single… day!

Jesse at 14 days old:

Jesse at 9 weeks old:

Jesse at 10 days old:

Jesse at 10 weeks old:

Photo Friday: Documenting A Love Story

July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 Renee Barton1 Comment

The first time we worked with our photographer (and great friend) Renee Trubai was last year when she asked us to be a part of her project ‘A Love Manifesto’. The project is all about documenting love in all its forms through photographs and conversations. We immediately fell in love with the idea and couldn’t wait to be apart of it.

We chose a location that was very special to us, the beach where our wedding photos were taken. As we shared stories with Renee about our relationship and vision of the future, and the kind of parents we dreamed of being someday. I distinctly remember telling her that if we were not able to have children we would be OK because we had each other. What we didn’t say is that we had been trying for a baby for quite some time.

Deep beneath those words we spoke to Renee was actually a lot of heartache, frustration and disappointment. And by that stage I had actually begun coming to terms with the notion that it may not happen for us.

Little did we know that there were actually three of us in those photographs. We were in the very early days of pregnancy.

So needless to say, these pictures are incredibly special to us.

Photo Friday: Maternity Shoot Flashback Friday

July 24, 2015July 26, 2015 Kaine BartonLeave a comment

So we thought for today’s photo Friday, that we’d do a flashback Friday post. And we are flashing all the way back to our first maternity photoshoot.

Enjoy…

Photo Friday: How Cute is a Sleeping Baby

July 17, 2015July 17, 2015 Renee BartonLeave a comment

Everyone loves the beautiful sight that is a sleeping baby.

Here are a few of our favourite sleepy bubba (and sleepy parent!) pics so far.

Jesse at about 2 days old. We love this photo so much because it shows what he would have looked like when sleeping in Mummy’s tummy.

Mummy and Jesse catching up on some sleep together on the lounge during his first few days at home.

With a tummy full of milk, sleep follows shortly after.

Jesse’s favorite place to sleep is on Daddy’s chest. Daddy often catches a few zzz’s as well.

This is one of Jesse’s favourite sleeping poses. The Thinker.

Photo Friday: Who Does Jesse Look Like?

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 Kaine BartonLeave a comment

So right from the start, many if not all of the visitors we got in the early days said that Jesse was a spitting image of me. It certainly looked that way. Blonde hair, blue eyes, big nose.

But the more time passes, more people are saying that he is now looking more like Renee.

So we visited both our parents houses and went hunting through old baby photos of ourselves to try and see if we could find any that would be good to use as a comparison. And so below, we have 4 photos to compare. Photos of both Renee and I as babies with photos of Jesse at the same age (in days/weeks).

Have a look for yourselves and let us know who you think Jesse looks like… Mummy or daddy?

Jesse and Kaine: Kaine and Jesse