getting ready for a kiwi christmas

This is our second Christmas in New Zealand.  In January we will have been here for two years. While Christmas still brings quite a bit of nostalgia this I am also feeling the love of being a Kiwi...so here are a couple of the joys of being in New Zealand this Christmas...

This is a weta.  They are very big insects that can be found here in New Zealand.  This one Max picked up our garden (yard) and almost brought into the house.  Being a good Kiwi child Max was excited to find this huge bug rather than being scared.

We moved into our current home last February so we missed the pretty red flowers on our feijoa tree, which will produce delicious fruit in a couple of months. These trees are related to pohutukawa trees, which are in glorious bloom all over New Zealand.   

 Other than the last week of rain we have enjoyed some very nice, mild weather.  Our landlord recently fenced our entire yard meaning that Max and Maya have created their own outdoor world, with a rain forest, jungle, mountain.  In preparation for a camping trip they made beds and stayed outside reading for hours.

We've set up our Christmas tree again this year.  It gets re-decorated every couple of days by the kids which is something I remember doing when I was little.

We were hoping to put together a Christmas card this year....I love getting Christmas cards, but I don't think I have ever managed to actually send one out.  Of all years, living in New Zealand with a new baby I thought this should be the year that it finally happens.  Have you ever tried to take family photos with a 3 year old?  Imagine having two of those wiggly 3 year olds, then add a baby (and a sleepless night), top it off with a freak wind storm at the beach.  Needless to say the photo shot ended with four out of the five of us crying.  I'll let you guess who non-crier was.  I'm still hoping to send out a Christmas card (or at least email out a newsletter), but it is very unlikely to happen before Christmas, so if I don't get to it please know that I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

auckland botanical gardens

We had a free Saturday a couple weeks ago and decided to head down to the Auckland Botanical Gardens as we had never been there.  We were also lucky enough to go during a sculpture exhibit that made it even more interesting. 

Max and Maya feeding the duck in the giant pod.

All of the grounds were beautiful but the most memorable were the Children's Gardens.  They had trails and tunnels for the kids to crawl through, a wobbly bridge, giant dinosaur eggs and animal scultputres.  We even saw a (real) beautiful kereru.  

We finally were able to get some photos of Trent awake while on one of our adventures.

Isn't he sweet?  He really is a happy, smilely baby....even if he doesn't like to sit still or sleep in his bed.

Max and Maya enjoyed pretending like they were returning to the womb.  :)

We have realized lately how much they really do like each other.  When one of them are hungry they don't say-"I'm hungry", they say- "Max and Maya are hungry or Max and Maya want a treat".  We are more likely to hear "Max and Maya want to go out to play" that we are to hear about anything singular that one of them wants.  While there is noting easy about having two three year olds and a five month old baby, I do love how much Max and Maya play together.  The get very involved in their imaginary play, exploring the back yard and pretending to be animal rescuers for hours.  I'm glad they have each other.

pregnancy journal

Baby...

Lonnie rememberd that I would be fertile that day.  After the twins were born I finally started having regular periods.  

Two weeks later I started wondering if maybe I was pregnant.  I was constipated.  

A couple days later I started feeling sick...I had a bad cold.  I didn't want to take any medication until I knew for sure I wasn't pregnant.  I went to the grocery store and bought tampons and pregnancy tests.  I took the test the next day while the kids were napping.  I couldn't believe it when I saw the pink line appear.  I waited until Lonnie came home and showed him the test.  He thought I was kidding.

A couple days later I called my friend Sharon Down who is a midwife.  

My cold turned into bronchitis.  I saw my GP and got a perscription for antibiotics.  I don;t know if I have ever been more exhausted.

As soon as the bronchitiis started clearning up I got a yeast infection.

I also started feeling nausiated.  

I have felt pretty sick with this pregnancy but nothing compared to the twins.  Throwing up every couple of days is much better than several times a day.  

At six weeks, six days I had my first ultrasound.  You measured right on track.  I heard your heart beat.  There is only one of you!   

I didn't have many cravings with my first pregnancy.  I just didn't want to eat.  This time I have had some strange cravings.  Miestore Soup, lemon-aid, oranges, I would really, really love some Whole Foods Mangos but I'm not sure they would make it through customs. 

You are due on Max and Maya's due date...which will be the oppisite time of year because we are now in the Southern Hemisphere.  

I had an other ultrasound at almost 12 weeks.  You are growing perfectly.   This time my cervix also looks like it is staying in place.

dec11

Lonnie and i went on a date last night.  It was fun to be out with out the kids.  I sat next to a woman who was 8 weeks pregnant almost the whole time.  Even being out with out the kids I still talked about kids the whole time.

I've gotten to where I am only throwing up once a week.  Today happens to be the day.  

I wish there were something I could eat that would settle my stomach.

Max has diarreah. It isn't helping my nausia.  

Dec 12

Lonnie stayed home with Max while I took Maya to churh.  She seemed excited to have time alone with mom, which doesn't happen very often.   We stopped by the Playcentre Christmas party for the last 15 mins on our way home.  Maya kept saying "just you and me mom".  She brought home a ballon for Max and was thrilled when he was waiting for her in the drive way.  

Dec 13

Max doesn't seem to be getting any better.  He had two poopy diapers before 8:30am.  When I went to make his bed I also noticed that he had thrown up sometime in the night.  I called the dr but they are waiting for the test results from Friday to come in.  He has been lethargic today and has had very little appitite.  I am worried he is losing wieght.  

wynyard quarter

We picked up Lonnie at work a couple weeks ago and decided to stop off at Wynyard Quarter again.  Max and Maya decided to take a dip in the fountain while Lonnie went to get fish and chips from the Fish Market.

They weren't fully nude, Maya had a hat on.

Afterwards we took a quick tour of The Fish Market.

rugby world cup

On the day before the end of the Rugby World Cup we decided to brave the crowds and head down town.  We even convinced Emma to come along with us, which was especially nice because we did a lot of walking and more importantly because we really enjoy her company.  We took the bus from Takapuna, which might have been the highlight of the trip for the kids. 

Standing outside "The Cloud"

There was an exhibition of kiwi ingenuity which included a display by Phil and Ted's.  We put Trent in the newest stroller so I could take a photo to show Ann.  Unfortunately neither I nor Emma could figure out how to unclip him.  Thankfully he was small enough to still slip out.  

I think this may be our first family photo of 5....although you can't really see Trent, at least you can see his hat. 

After we left The Cloud we walked along the Viaduct over to Wynyard Quarter and stopped along the way to explore.

The new park at Wynard Quarter is pretty awesome.  We all had a fun time playing even though I was worried we might lose Max and Maya in all the madness.

Nothing hotter than a baby carrying a baby.  :)

tairua

At the beginning of October we took a quick overnight trip to Tairua and stayed here The Gatehouse.  There are so many nice guest houses to stay in here in New Zealand.  Which makes travel a lot easier than staying in a hotel.   We went for just one night, and Trent had a hard time sleeping so we left earlier the next day than we had expected, but the drive was beautiful and it was still nice to get away for a night.  

 We had a nice hike up to the top of Paku Mountain.  Max and Maya have become good little hikers and Trent was happy to sleep in his Ergo pouch (have mentioned how much I LOVE this carrier?  We would be lost without it.)

The camera battery died right after we took this photo of the kids with silly faces, at least it shows the great view.

more lately.....

Spending time at the library with Emma (more about her later) and running into our friends Helen and Ella, who was born about a month before Trent.  

Max and Maya love to read books, which makes me really happy.  Max is especially interested in atlases these days.

We also took an impromptu trip to the Auckland Museum one morning when I needed to go into the city to pick something up.  Trent was quite interested in the glass floor aquarium.   

We have spent several afternoons at the park.

And, of course, stopped at the beach on the way home for a quick dip.

lately

I finally admit my failure to blog due to lack of photos and Lonnie found a way to download pictures off our new camera.  Thank you Lonnie!  the new camera isn't as fancy as the one recently damaged by bubbles, but at least we are still documenting our lives, which will shortly be posted, because if it isn't blogged it didn't happen.  Not downloading photos for over a month and then looking back has made me realize that we have been quite busy, even with a small baby.  We go on a lot of adventures.  I'm not sure how much of it Max and Maya will remember when they are older, but at least we will have the documentation to prove it.  

Even when we are taking it easy we still spend three days a week at Playcentre.   This photo is just a glimpse of the facilities.  

And this is the view from our Playcentre....pretty freaking amazing.  

trent-5 months

The day Trent turned 5 months old he pulled his knees under and started to crawl.  He still isn't very fast (thankfully) and sometimes moved backwards when he wants to go forwards but he is crawling.  Max and Maya didn't start crawling until they were 10 months old.  This little man has places to go and is never content unless he is discovering something new.

bayswater marina

We took these photos about a month ago.  We went on an evening picnic to Bayswater Marina.  The sun was shinning and it was a perfect evening to get outside and enjoy the beautiful place we live.  Max and Maya brought their bikes and rode up and down along the water after dinner.  We even brought bubbles...which ended up spilling on the camera, causing it to break....meaning we haven't taken photos with it since.....so sad.  

Thankfully my mom gave us her camera that she left here on her trip. So we do have photos of  our rapidly growing baby boy, I just can't figure out how to download them yet.  :)