The bane of being a grown-up...

... is paperwork. So much paperwork! It just seems like an endless stream of forms to fill out, documents to provide, fees to pay.

At the moment, I am knee deep in travel related paperwork. The fact that we have no plans to travel for a little while doesn't matter since we need to be ready to jump on a plane regardless.

In the last few weeks, I got new passports made for myself and for Eloise. My passport involved two trips to Sydney, whilst Eloise's will thankfully come in the mail. I also ordered a new id card which I'll have to go pick up in Sydney as well; a trip I'll be hoping to combine with picking up the kids' French passports as well. Although since there are quite a few steps before getting to that point, these might end up needing two separate trips.

I have also started looking into applying for my Australian citizenship since after 11 years here, I might as well stop having to renew and pay for various visas. The process itself isn't terribly complicated but will of course necessitate loads of documents and a trip to Sydney to take the citizenship test. I am hoping the ceremony can take place in Newcastle.

Once we all have Aussie and French passports, I'll start tackling the US ones... which, if not counting Chris', will leave me with only 9 passports to manage between the 3 of us.

Adding to that is the multitude of forms I have filled out in recent weeks to get Hugo enrolled in a pre-school for next year. (Good news, we got into Montessori!), let alone the admin stuff we need to do to claim the various family rebates we are eligible for from the governments.

All of this isn't even too bad but it certainly takes a clear head to try and keep track of it all... or a good pin board. However, If I'm completely honest, there is a small part of my slightly OCD brain that does enjoy crossing things off to-do lists. That's what's keeping me going :)

Beauty Girl

Normally, that's my nickname by my mum but there is definitely a new, much cuter, 'Beauty Girl' in town. We had another little impromptu photoshoot while Hugo was napping today. I love the concentration that goes into putting these soft little pudgy hands together and into the mouth... And then, of course, there is always those eyes...

The face.

This is the face Eloise makes when she wakes up in the carrier and gazes adoringly at us. Pretty irresistible.

Bar Beach.

Chris was sorting through the photos on his GoPro camera and rescued this batch we had taken before moving out of our beloved flat in Bar Beach. It's really funny seeing them after a whole year has passed since our big move.

I still miss our bedroom which was so bright and airy. When we lied in bed, we could hear the ocean and we were woken up with the wonderful sunshine pouring into the room every day. It was the most beautiful bedroom ever and our current one pales in comparison.

Of course, I also miss being so close to the ocean. How spoilt we were! To think that we could wake up, slip into our bathing suits, flick a towel over our shoulder and walk to the beach for a quick morning dip before heading to work. Amazing! And then, the endless walks I was able to take while Hugo slept in the pram, or the coffees by the beach after a difficult night. Although we no longer have the luxury of walking to the beach, we did once and enjoyed it thoroughly so no regrets.

On the other hand, the spaces seem so small to me now, and cramped. I know that they weren't but we are so spoilt for space in our current house that any normal sized room seems tiny to me now.

In any case, what a wonderful flat that was. I can't imagine a better way to start in a new city. We were very lucky indeed and seeing photos of the place will always make me feel a little nostalgic. I'm glad we took them.

And obviously, who would ever tire of photos of baby Hugo.