Tuesday, May 31, 2011

the vic

The kids and I went on another fun Playcentre trip today.  We toured The Victoria Picture Palace and Theater.  The Vic was built in 1912 and is the earliest purpose built cinema still in existence in the Southern Hemisphere.   It is also located just a block from our Playcentre.  When we first moved to the Devonport area the theater hadn't been in use for quite some time, but it was recently reopened and is becoming a vibrant part of the community.  One of our Playcentre moms works at the theater and arranged for us to tour the theater, use the stage and then watch previews for some up coming kids movies.

Maya was pretty excited about being on stage in a yellow princess dress. She twirled and sang and didn't take the dress off until it was time to go.
Max was more interested in playing music.  He loves strumming on the ukulele while tapping his foot.  
I kind of love Max's shy face in this photo.  
Marisa, sitting next to Max, is due two weeks after me.
After exploring the theater and putting on a show we had morning tea (which doesn't actually involve tea but is nevertheless always called morning tea) at the cafe.  Max liked watching all the cars drive by the window.  
We left The Vic so they could have a few minutes to prepare for the morning show and headed down to the library.   

Max and Maya talk a lot about how things are going to be when "my baby" arrives.  Usually the discussions start with...."When your baby pops out....".  Max says that he wants his brother to sleep in his bed.  Maya wants to help feed him.  Maya has also been a little more emotional than normal.  Yesterday she cried for quite some time when I wouldn't "carry her like a baby".  

On Friday I will be 38 weeks pregnant, three weeks longer than I was pregnant with Max and Maya.  For the most part I am feeling alright, but I am tired, emotional and physically awkward (maybe I have always been this way).  On my last two ultrasound scans the technician told me that I was measuring in the 90th percentile.  Considering that Max and Maya didn't even make the charts until they were about 9 months old,  I'm happy to have a big healthy baby.  I'm glad that this little guy is staying put in the oven until he is fully cooked.  I told myself that I would never complain about being pregnant to long.  It is nice to get the the stage where I don't have to think about making sure I don't go into labor and only thinking about when it will come.  I'm looking forward to the experience.  

Monday, May 30, 2011

maternity photos

My friend Zoe is a wonderful photographer and kindly asked me if I would like to take some maternity photos.  When I was pregnant with the twins we did a pretty good job of keeping up the photo documentation.  This time around it has been a lot harder to due to the fact that I am chasing around two crazy kids all day long and by the time Lonnie gets home from work I am in no state to be photographed.
We took these photos on Max and Maya's birthday.  I am exactly as pregnant as I was the day they were born.  I was very impressed that Zoe was able to get so many great shots as Max and Maya had a busy morning and nap times were disturbed by partying and eating cake for lunch.  If only we had been able to convince Lonnie, who isn't a fan of getting his photo taken, to be part of the photos.  He has agreed to hire Zoe to take our family photo after the baby is born.  

If anyone is looking for a photographer in New Zealand I would highly recommend Zoe, she was able to catch some great moments, even with the chaos of the day....http://www.zoesasulu.com/ 

Thank you Zoe!