First Look-See of the 'Naki

Marco and I took a weekend visit to check out our new home base (or what will be our new home base if we ever finish and sell our house).

We dropped the girls and the dog off at various locations, boarded a plane and headed off for 2 nights of peace and quiet. Or, as much peace and quiet as one can get with a 3 mo baby in tow - but he's sort of attached to his food source, so taking him was a necessity.

It was Owen's first time flying, so we took the customary first picture. However, the lighting was a bit off, so imagine, if you will, that we went for a arty look. :)

As expected, Owen did great in the plane. he doesn't seem to like boarding the plane very much, but then again, who does?! But, as soon as we were sitting and he was eating, he was lovely again. 

We didn't arrive in New Plymouth until 7ish, so, we quickly made up a bed for Owen (I LOVE my safe t sleep that allows him to sleep in a normal bed without costing us extra for a cot).  After a feed and a change, he was out like a light. I also LOVE sleeping babies. :)

 And, after a feed and a change, we were out like lights too. After the customary wine in bed, of course!!

Saturday, we drove. And drove. And drove. 

Over the whole weekend we put 370 km's on the car, and the large majority of that was done on Saturday. (we'd be lucky if we put 50 km on the car on Friday or Sunday). 

We drove through wide roads and narrow roads. flat roads and hilly roads. paved roads and gravel roads. Road with pig farms, roads with chicken farms, roads with houses, roads with ocean next to it.
We drove.

 Oh yeah, and it rained. and it stopped. And then it rained some more.
So, there were rainbows.
We joked that if we were driving somewhere and there was a rainbow it was a good place to live. No rainbow meant bad place to live.

 We did a bit of sightseeing too. :)

 Look, we tried to see the mountain!! (its behind the cloud)

 And through it all, Owen was cute.

 And cuter.

It really was a good weekend for us.
On Sunday we had the opportunity to attend the church that we hope to become a part of when we eventually move. It was good. The pastor was gone, but an elder preached and did a pretty good job. The congregation was friendly and lots and lots of people introduced themselves. I hope they don't expect me to remember all their names in several months time! yikes!
But, we had a lovely lunch with a couple who live on a gorgeous rural property. They have a 5 & 7 year old who they home school (and who are really eerily well behaved - but I'm sure my kids will cure them of that when they get to know them!). Anyway, they also invited 2 other couples around for lunch so it was a great chance for us to get to know a few different people and ask lots of questions.
We eventually had to head home again, where Owen was another pro-star at flying. But, what else can you expect from a "nearly-captain"'s son?! ;)

I think I can now say that I'm looking forward to moving to the 'Naki. it has stores, beaches, places to walk, playgrounds, (i even saw rumour of a mall!). It should be a good place for us to raise our kids, meet new people and make new friends!!

We did however, have a good laugh at the local slogan:

 - really? that's the BEST slogan you could come up with?? it's "like no other". WOW! Owen just had a poo "like no other", you don't hear me bragging about it?? :)

Piper's Party!!

So.. Piper turned 1!! Yippee!!!

However, I was being a bit lazy and wasn't going to do anything, but the girls insisted. So..

(why can't you hear the girls singing?? how embarrassing!)

During the girls nap, in the afternoon, I whipped up a batch of banana cupcakes so that as soon as they got up the party could start!! We whipped some hats on and took the customary pictures. 

Kelsey took this picture, to prove that I, too, was part of the party!

 Then we put a candle in the cupcakes (this was completely necessary according to the girls!), sang Happy Birthday, and Kelsey got to blow out the candle! Woo-hoo!! (by the way, Piper got a few pieces of raw apple)

Then it was onto presents and party games! 

We wondered outside where I let Kelsey and Morgan each open one of Piper's gifts. 

Morgan got to open the new ball thrower

Kelsey got to open the well-timed new Kong
 (Piper had just managed to chew the entire top ring off her old one)

 After a few practice throws and a bit of peanut butter in the Kong, it was onto party games! And what game does Piper like better than "Bubble catching"!!
So, with each girl armed with a container of bubble mixture (and Owen safely put back to bed), we blew bubbles!

Kelsey even managed to catch one of her bubbles! 

Overall, I think Piper had a great birthday. And judging by the fact that she's sound asleep in her kennel, I'm guessing she's well and truly tuckered out as well. 

Owen's 3 months!!

I can't believe how quickly the time is buzzing by!! My baby is a quarter of a year old already! oh my!

Owen is brilliant. He's smiley, sleepy, hungry... practically perfect - just like his mommy :)

he's still as seriously expressive as ever. 

 The Plunket (well-child) nurse came by the day after Owen turned 3 months (13 weeks). He weighed in at a healthy 6.19kg (13 lbs 10 oz)  which is not quite double his birth weight, but more than double what he dropped down to after birth. And, he's moving perfectly along the 50th percentile graph. So, we're happy.

Actually, I think sometimes that the girls are growing just as fast as Owen. scary. 

 Owen, measured in at 63 cm now. That means he grew 2 cm in 4 weeks. Again, I'm pretty happy with that..

Owen's been sleeping great. So well in fact, that I'm contemplating dropping the "dream feed" (that feeding you do before you go to bed at night, without waking the baby).  but, its a scary feed to drop - what if the baby really can only go 10 hours and starts waking at 4/5am - ugh. COULD. NOT. HANDLE. THAT!!!!!
But, I'm waking him for every single feed during the day, so I'm thinking its time...

 Owen's also laughed a few times. I LOVE baby laughs. They are SO cute. The cutest, though, is as they're learning to laugh, it sort of scares them. He laughs, and then gets this look on his face like, "who did that?!" hilarious.

Owen likes cuddling with his sisters and being "one of the big kids"

Piper's Potty

I've had this project in mind for a while. In fact, I meant to work on it BEFORE we acquired a dog, but as usual, over 1/2 a year has passed and I've finally just now gotten around to it (nothing like a little pressure and the need to finish and sell a house to get things done!)

One of the annoying things about dog ownership is having poos all over your yard. Especially when this is also the area where your kids play. And even more especially when your kids are quite small and not always smart enough to avoid the poos (although ironically,we've had more problems with guests not avoiding the poos than our children).

So for the last several months, Marco has diligently walked around the yard at least once a week and picked  up all the poos. Eww yuck. But, I'd heard there was a better way. I had previously trained a dog to go to the toilet in approximately the same spot every day, so I figured, surely you can build a boxed off area to clearly define for the dog EXACTLY where they should go!

So, step 1: find a spot.

Marco put a couple old pieces of wood together in the right dimensions and the girls helped me clear the area of weeks, and dig it down. We covered it in weed cloth and then put about 2 inches of bark mulch over top. 

Then we (Marco) picked up all the poos from the lawn and mowed the grass. 

At this point I started to take Piper outside on a leash every hour or so and bring her immediately to her new toilet area and say, "Piper Toilet". After a few minutes, I'd bring her back inside. 

Day 1: Piper had NO clue what we were doing to her. 

Day 2: she finally did a wee - 22 hours after starting with her. Yikes. Stubborn dog. 

Day 3: getting weary, but 48 hours in, she did her first poo. Tiny success. Especially tiny since she only did 1/2 outside, and then promptly finished off her poo inside in my living room. Urgh! But, by the time the day was over she'd had 2 more wee successes and another poo success. 

Day 4: I think she's clicked. woo hoo!

A week and a bit on from when I started, she's doing great. I've caught her twice, while running around free in the back yard, starting to do a poo on the lawn, but usually a look and a "Ahh" noise is enough to send her running to her "toilet". And yes, I have to clean it up a lot more often, but at least its all in the same area and easy to spot. Which should also help me keep an eye on her general health. And FINALLY, the girls can run around the back yard with no worries of "stepping in it"!! 

Kelseyism - April 2nd

"Ahh.. I'm devasted!" I hear the dramatic cry from the lounge while I'm prepping dinner in the kitchen.

"Devasted?" I reply, "why, what happened?"

"Mom LOOK!" she's close to tears at this point as she shows me that her flashlight's batteries have died.

Thankfully, I'm super mom. I change the batteries and a major crisis is averted.

Phew!

Exploratory Demolition

So, now that we have a serious deadline to move, and thus sell our house, we've been talking a lot about what needs to be done still, what we're not going to do, what we need to pay someone else to do, and how much time each job will take. 

Inside the house, the only rooms left to do are the dining room and the lounge. We weren't going to touch them until mid July. However, one of the things we'd like to do is put a new wood burner fireplace in. In order to do that there are grants to attain, council permits to apply for, and quotes to get. 

So... 

Before.. 

 I cleaned off the wall and the mantelpiece. 

 And, Marco started ripping in!! The first thing we found is that someone had some fun before they put up the "gorgeous" wood paneling! 

"All this writing was done between the 6-7 of February 1981"

So, we had some fun of our own before ripping it down. Marco had just picked up a bit of this tape that said, "CAUTION Archaeological site". How appropriate! 

Marco's not entirely sure how to get these tiles off the front as they appear mortared on - VERY securely!

 At the end of the day, THIS is what I'm left with. Still no idea what size of fireplace we can put in (that was the whole purpose of this exercise, but whatever!). Its really exciting to see it now and imagine what it could look like when we're finished. 

Any ideas??? 

2 months on..

Well.. Owen's getting SO old that I've decided to switch from weekly updates to monthly ones. This decision has nothing to do with how busy I am. None whatsoever. (insert sheepish grin here)

So, here we are with a 2 month old. And, he's doing great! We don't get weekly weigh ins anymore so I have no idea how much he weighs, but I can see evidence of constant growth - no worries with this kid!! 

He's starting to smile a LOT more. Which is lovely for his mommy. 

He's also starting to sleep a lot more. Which is even more lovely for his mommy. Last night, for example, he went 10 hours between feeds!! Woo hoo!! 

I love watching a sleeping baby. 

Owen still has a few "grumpy" periods - but I use that term loosely because after having 2 girls going through 3 year old hormone tantrums, NOTHING this baby does seems that bad. And, I know, the worst thing in the world is for someone to say to you, "you think THAT's bad, wait till they ..... " but honestly, a baby crying for a few hours is nothing compared to irrational 3/4 year old girls! Sheesh!
Anyway, typically, he's pretty fussy around dinner time - which is a bit unfortunate and difficult (especially when I'm solo parenting through the dinner hour) - but its still doable. And, if all else has failed, I chuck him in the bath - a nice warm bath. I made the mistake the other day of making it a bit on the cool side. Master Owen wouldn't have a bar of it. Fuss pot.

However, this blog wasn't supposed to be soley about Owen. It was supposed to be about our whole family and everything we do. So, let's not forget these 2 goons! 

Kelsey & Morgan are best of friends. 

Kelsey and Morgan are worst of enemies. 

Kelsey and Morgan are typical sisters. 

But they are definitely goons!! 

We just got all the bedrooms moved around last week, and now the girls are finally in single beds. (SOooo much easier for sheet changing!). The new room has lots more room for playing too. So, they're pretty excited about that. And, of course, they love sharing a room (not that they have a choice). 

Kelsey is 4 1/2. She is still highly emotional. We're praying this changes soon. Kelsey LOVES drawing & coloring. She spends hours every day at the chalk board or at the table just creating her little masterpieces. I love watching how her people drawings are constantly evolving over time. Just in the last week her people have stopped getting round circle noses and have started getting C's for noses.
When Kelsey's trying to pester her little sister (which is pretty much always), she'll tell her that's she's drawing a picture of Kelsey but not Morgan. Ugh.
But, in this picture she drew (from left to right): Daddy, Kelsey, Mommy, Morgan, Oma, (and bottom row) Opa and Owen. Grandma and Grandpa are on vacation (she said. I laughed). I'm not sure why only 2 people have fingers. Nor am I sure why Owen has no arms. 

Morgan is hilarious. I'm curious to see if this will change as its usually a last born trait, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't, she just seems to have a unique (and pretty cool) sense of humour. Just yesterday, I went into her room to wake her from a nap and I just paused to watch her for a minute. She's often difficult to tell if she's sleeping and just the day before I'd walked in and watched her fully talking in her sleep with her eyes open. So, on this day, I watched her for a minute and she was just lying there really still with her eyes opened but they didn't seem to be fixed on anything. So, very quietly, I whispered, "Are you awake?" There was no reaction from Morgan, but very slowly her eyes started to get wider. And, just as I was about to walk out of the room, her eyes got really wide and she shouts, "BOO!" and jumps up. I laughed. 

Morgan is, however, just starting to get highly emotional. She'll burst into tears at the slightest confrontation, or if her feelings are hurt in the least. I hope it is much more short lived than a certain older sister!! 

Morgan loves being the center of attention. She'll do anything to get her picture taken. She'll do anything for a laugh. I realized the other day that she only wants to hold Owen because she thinks I'll take a picture every time (which I pretty much do). 

And, last but not least, there's Piper. Piper had a big week this week. She got spayed. She was so completely docile (and drugged up) when I picked her up from the vet that she could barely walk the 2 blocks home and I was actually contemplating putting Piper int he pram (stroller) and carrying Owen the rest of the way!! Thankfully, it didn't come to that. However, I seized the opportunity for a picture while she was all drugged up and not moving much!! 

And then today when I was taking Owen's 2 month pictures, Piper wanted in on the action too!! At first she gingerly crept on to the blanket... 

but within seconds she was trying to completely cuddle up to Owen. Oh brother, what a suck!!

I had to answer a million and one questions from Kelsey in regards to Piper's operation. 

what's an operation?

Its where a doctor cuts you open and takes something out

what does Piper need out?

The doctor will take out the bits to make babies. 

Ooh, but babies are so cute. Why can't she have babies?

Its irresponsible pet ownership. 

Why?

Because there's too many puppies already and not enough good owners. 

But you're a good owner?

Yes, but we don't want anymore dogs. 

{insert new thought}Will Piper look different?

No, she'll just have a little line on her belly.

Why?

Because that's where the doctor went in to get her bits out. 

It seriously kept going. I'd like to wear one of those clicker counter things one day and count just how many questions I actually do get asked in a typical day. I just try to keep telling myself: It shows she has a brain. It shows she has a brain. 

Anyway, clocks go back an hour tonight.. let's pray the kids' clocks move back an hour too!!