Picture Post!

Be aware... here's a barrage of random pictures!!

So, Owen has lots of different facial expressions. Every day he makes me laugh! Most of them are quite serious or disgusted or very old man-like.

no more flash, mom!!

all wrapped up!

sleeping angel..

What are you looking at? 

"Hey all, look at this awesome blanket!"

"If I hold my head like this, can you still see my double chin??"

I try to get pictures of everyone holding Owen.

Kelsey loves holding him and is CONSTANTLY asking if she can. She's pretty good at it, actually, but I have to watch that I don't tell her to "hold his head", otherwise she will, quite literally take her hand and hold his head.

Kelsey takes holding Owen very seriously

Marco isn't getting as much cuddle time with this baby as he got with the girls. Probably partially because of all the people we've had here , and partially because he has to share with the girls as well. But, perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that if I get an embarrassing picture, I WILL post it! HAHAHA

I tired to get a nice picture with daddy..

until I discovered the ears sticking up behind the couch!! HAHAHA

Morgan likes getting in on the cuddle action as well. Mostly, I think, because of the attention lavished upon the person holding the baby.   :)

serious...

happy!

We've been doing stuff other than holding the baby and taking pictures of him. (Hard to believe, I know!)

Marco picked all the pears from our pear tree and so one day decided to can them all. 2 large buckets of pears turned into 14 large mason jars full. Not a bad effort!

canning pears with welding gloves - how men do it!

And, of course, we also have to do "the tourist thing!"
While the girls were at preschool one day, we went up to Te Mata peak. Jeanette closed her eyes on the way up (and down), but once up at the top, it was a STUNNING view! Actually, it was one of the best days that Marco and I had seen. Usually on warm days its also quite hazy, but this day turned out sunny, warm and clear.

taking pictures of tourists taking pictures! 

I wanted to perch Owen atop the rocks, but passing tourists wouldn't let me

Jeanette's on the TOP of the WORLD!!

Actually, we take a lot of pictures of each other taking pictures... that's a bit odd, isn't it??!!

Funny girls

So, Jeanette & I decided to teach the girls a bit of cooperation one day. Actually, we just needed a giggle, but either way, it was fun! 

Step 1: insert one girl into each leg hole. 

Step 2: smile for the camera

step 3: fall down and wave to the camera

step : RUN!! (well, try to anyway!)

Sorry, you'll have to tilt your head.. 

Owen - 4 weeks

Today, Owen is 4 weeks old!
And, today Owen has decided that he needs to eat constantly! Honestly, I do NOT remember the girls going through growth spurts!! I fed him at 10pm last night, then he woke at 2am - that's not too bad. But then the little booger decided he was hungry at 4, 6, & 8!! ARGH!! I'm tired, little man!!! At 6 am, I tired to convince Marco that he probably just had some gas, but when Owen gave him a hickey, I quickly got roused from my beauty sleep..

I don't think much else has changed in a week. He's growing more. My midwife weighed him again last Tuesday and in the previous 6 days he'd put on another 400g (that's 14 oz!!)! I can certainly see his face and arms and legs filling out at a rapid rate! He'll get weighed again this week, and I'm betting its another similar gain. That 400g put him at 3.950Kg (8 lbs 11 oz), which Jeanette pointed out is what one of her kids was born at. So, he's finally "normal sized!"

I've been working at getting him put to bed on time and getting him to sleep in his bed. Its been a bit hard since we've also been trying to do touristy things this week. But, when we're home, and when I've caught him at the right time, he's done great to fall asleep on his own, in his bed. However, if I keep him up just slightly too long, he gets REALLY alert ... and won't fall asleep. But, a few times isn't bad. Plus, it gives me an excuse to rock him and cuddle him to sleep :)

"Morgan, get off my blanket!!"

We also decided to get some family pictures taken today. 

Siblings!!

Hobbiton

"hi-ho, hi-ho, its off to Hobbiton we go!!"

Wait, that's not right... oh well. We took a day trip to Middle earth the other day. After all, what else do you do in New Zealand??

So.. we drove 3.5 hours on a slightly wet and dreary day.. to take a tour of Hobbiton in Matamata, NZ
the tour company supplied umbrellas :)

even Owen got to wear a little hat :) 

he's such a little old man!

 So, we heard lots of interesting stories and saw all the little hobbit homes! It was really cool!!  And, of course, we all turned into geeky tourists with the cameras clicking and the rest of us posing!

Jeanette posing in one of the only hollowed out houses

Jeanette & I posing.
The guy in front wrecking our shot was our guide. Had he been a wee bit shorter with hairy feet, I'd have thought he was a hobbit!! :)

Marco, Owen & I posing. 

Jeanette & I posing by the lake with the pub in the background

Marco and I wishing we could go have a drink in the pub! :)

Marco & I being tools pretending we owned a hobbit house!

The day was really fun, despite the weather. But, as you can see, it didn't rain the whole tour, so it was lovely.
I was well and truly tired of driving by the end of the day.. but it was loads of fun. 

Owen did great.. except at the first stop of the night... 

Ok, so we drove for an hour and half and then had our first stop. Marco and Jeanette went to use the loo while I fed Owen in the truck. As I burped him he spit up all done my shoulder. It dripped down my arm, onto my leg and onto the seat. And, as any good wife of Marco should do, I quickly wiped up the seat first, then my clothing. :)

Then, as Marco & Jeanette went to get us some coffee & hot chocolates, I decided to change his bum. Seeing as it was raining outside and I am in fact made completely of sugar, I opted to change him on my lap, using a technique I'd seen a few weeks earlier, which looked SUPER easy. 

Simply place baby on your lap, insert new diaper under old diaper, whip off old diaper using a quick one - two wipe, and voila, new diaper is on.
Reality, is often different for me. 

So, I placed Owen on my lap, took off his dirty diaper. Proceeded to wipe up the poo as quickly as possible. At which point, he proceeded to poo all over my t-shirt. As I began to wipe it up, Owen decided that now would be a good time to pee. He then proceeded to allow his pee to spray all over my t-shirt and the seat of the car. I threw the wipe over his "spout", pulled up my t-shirt (which now has both pee & poo on it), and tried to wipe up the pee on the car seats. 

At this point, Owen decides that he wasn't quite finished. He pooed again. This time all over my nursing tank. 

Packing for our excursion, I had brought 3 changes of clothes for Owen, and 2 full changes of clothes for me. But, alas, I did not bring an extra nursing tank, or even an extra bra. Therefore, I could not change. All my careful packing had been for naught. 

Note to self: its a lot more difficult to change a baby on your lap than it looks!!

Jeanette's visit

So.. my sister is here for a visit. One of my big sisters. But, she's smaller than me (in more ways than one) - lucky her. 

First, I let her put her feet up for a bit. Read a magazine. Relax. I think I let her do that for a whole hour! 

Then I took her to see the sites. Well, one anyway. 

I eased her into her workload by handing over the screaming baby. Rock this! 

But now the real work begins!! 

 Mowing the grass.. 

Canning Pears...

teaching the girls Angry birds... 

and other general nanny-ing requirements.. 

I tease. 

We've been having loads of fun. We've tried to balance work stuff (you know, laundry and cooking which must be done) with fun stuff, so hopefully soon they're be some posts on some of the fun stuff we've done.. 

In the mean time. Thanks Jeanette, for coming to help me out and see my world! :)

Where's Marco??

Marco's camouflaged. 

Can YOU find him?

Mwahahaha!!

Owen - 3 weeks old

My baby boy is 3 weeks old today!! 

My sister, Jeanette, has been visiting for the last week, so things have been going well. I love having time to just sit, cuddle, watch and just get to know my new baby. But more on my sister's visit in another post.

 The girls are loving their brother. Sometimes, i think they just love his toys, and getting their picture taken.. but most of the time, I can tell that they genuinely think their little brother is pretty cool.

In real life, we're all pretty certain that he's filling out and growing up, but in pictures, its a bit harder to tell (although that could be my spectacular photography skills!)

(top 2 pictures are at 2 weeks old,
 bottom 2 pictures are at 3 weeks old)

I've been spoiling Owen a bit. Letting him fall asleep in my arms, feeding him as often as he wants.. but.. he's only small once, and while I still have help... I can :)  However, the reality that I'm soon going to have to manage a household and 3 small kids, is slowly sinking in. So, in the last few days I've started to have him nap in his crib/cot more often, I've started to put him down drowsy but awake, and I'm aiming to only feed in the 2 1/2- 3 hour time span. I'm feeling a bit of pressure (self-imposed) to figure out and write down a "schedule" that would work for the girls and him, but as of yet, I haven't done it. 

Owen takes a bottle well. I try to let someone give him a bottle once every day or 2. While they do that, I pump. Sometimes, I time it so I can get an extra hour of sleep. It gives me the added freedom that I can go out with the girls and leave someone at home with Owen knowing that if he does wake up hungry, there's food to give him. 

So far, Owen has been gaining weight well. In his first 5 days he lost 160 grams putting him to an even 3kg. In the 5 days following that, he gained 250g, and in the next week he gained 300 more grams. Which puts him at 3.550 Kg or 7 lbs 13oz as of 5 days ago. It'll be interesting to see how much more he weighs this week. 

He's had a wee bit of a snotty nose for the past week and half. I even bought a nose aspirator - although I'm too chicken to use it. The real unfortunate part is that he's only really plugged up at night. So, all night long, while he's lying in his cot in our room, he grunts and snuffles like a little pig. He'd probably actually sleep for stretches of time if its weren't for his grunting waking me up. But if I'm awake and he's grunting, I might as well feed him!! 

So, that's Owen Tjibbe as of today!

Creativity

I am not artsy. 

I am not musical. 

I cannot sew, knit, or paint. 

I can barely cut a straight line with scissors. 

These are facts. 

And no, it would not be any better if I tried harder. 

I would not learn these things if I tried longer. 

For 30 years, I have tried harder. 

For 30 years, I have tried longer. 

But, these are the facts about myself that I must face. 

Once and for all. 

however, time and time again.. I see something, and I think:

"I could do that." 

Then I try. (I try really hard, sometimes too). 

Wanna guess how it turns out??

Following are a few examples, of my "extra special" creativity in the photography department, as of late. 

First, I saw this picture:

 

Cute, eh?! Yeah.. so, I thought, "that doesn't look that hard.. I can do that!"

Sure.. 

Here's how MINE turned out! 

Whoops! Don't Fall off!! 

So.. then there was this one: (and I'm sorry, but whoever I pinned it from, didn't have it pinned from the right source - sorry)

But SO cute! right?!

So.. I tried this one too... 

I'm not sure which one is worse..

Anyway.. so, then I spotted these last 2:

http://blog.weathershenker.com/ 

And this one:

http://lindseyagoddardphotography.wordpress.com/

Both of which, I thought were gorgeous since they used the baby's daddy's pilot's hat. 

Well.. can you guess how MINE turned out?

Firstly, I'm not sure how the first photographer got the baby INSIDE the hat.. there's no way, mine would do that!! So, after that.. I think they just go from bad to worse.. I even tried some with both the hat AND the tie.. Shockingly bad!! 

So, there you have it. I am NOT a photographer. At least not of newborns in awesome poses. Strike off one more thing from the vast array of creative choices. Some day, I will be ok with having no creative talents. But until that day comes, I will continue to try my talents against professionals and I will continue to fall short and hard!

Hope you had a bit of a laugh at my expense.. :)