Beth amid the daffodils

Don't want to say anything really, just thought this photo turned out beautifully and wanted to share it!

Moving, Death and an Accident with a Sausage!

Well we did move on September the 5th and are now residing in Whitby. The move itself went fine, I was a little worried when two wee skinny white guys turned up from the moving company. I had images of us taking a week just to load the truck!! But they were machines and packed the truck with no trouble. The day had started badly with me having to take Gizmo to the vet, he was acting a bit strange and felt quite cold so I dropped him of at the vet while the madness of moving continued. Then I was shocked to get a phone call from the vet to say that he had advanced cancer!!! We went down to the vet's and when we saw him we knew there was no tough decision to be made he had deteriorated so rapidly since that morning that we needed to put him down because he was in pain. So there I was on our moving day saying goodbye to my best mate for the past 13 years! It didn't seem like a good way to start our new life back in Wellington. Jane had been very kind to come over and help with packing prior to moving day and was also helping on the day. Thank goodness for good friends!!!! Jane was able to guide the movers while we were dealing with the Gizmo tragedy.

So anyway here we are established in Whitby, I must admit after a rough start of missing Gizmo, mum and dad and our lovely Masterton house and fenced yard, that Whitby does have some good things going for it. There are wonderful walkways to playgrounds and around lakes which are really quite picturesque considering they are dotted around a suburb. There are masses of Tui and other birdlife and lots of trees, it is a lovely green neighbourhood. Now we just need to be in a house that caters for all of our needs and we will be 100% happy!!

Now on to the accident with the sausage, yesterday Dave and I were pushing the VW out of the garage so I wouldn't wake Beth up by starting it in the garage (it is very noisy!) only to discover the battery was still flat as a pancake. So we went to push it back in and pushed it over Harley!!!!! Our wee sausage dog!!! I thought we'd killed him, he yelped and even attempted to bite me when I went to try and get him from under the car. I quickly rang the vet and took him straight there, all the time Harley was just shaking and watching my every move. I had to leave him with them so they could do X rays to make sure he didn't have any broken bones or internal injuries. Then I got the phone call to say he had broken a toe!!!! He was run over by a VW beetle and he broke a toe!!!! I couldn't believe it!! I was so thankful he was o.k!

The time is here....

Yep it is time to say good-bye to the first house that I bought all by myself and which has since become Dave, Beth's and my home. We move tomorrow and though it is sad to say good bye to this lovely wee house and of course mum and dad! Wellington has got some good things going for it. We are going to be closer to the majority of our friends again and the theatre!! I'm looking forward to exploring the Whitby walking tracks, going to the beach when it finally gets warm and having friends around for dinner.

At the moment I am surrounded by many boxes and I must say thanks to my amazingly good packing friend Jane, everything seems quite under control!! Which is just as well as I am not allowed to lift boxes at the moment....being pregnant and all! Yep that's right! I am pregnant with little number two and due on March 18th. So you know me I have been taking it all very easy considering I am choreographing and am also in a show 'Bat Boy' which means rehearsals three times a week. Though I have just finished the 20 hour contract I was doing for Kahutara School teaching dance so that is one less thing to worry about. Oh and of course moving house into a place that we are trying to sell still, so I will have the lovely interruptions of real estate agents showing people through and open homes to contend with. Oh and did I mention that we are moving into a place that is not fenced with two dogs!! Hopefully it will sell soon and then of course we need to find a place to live that both Dave and I really like....hmmmm hopefully that won't be as hard as it sounds?

Anyway I think I have done enough today to warrant going to bed early and reading my book!

Decision Made!

We are looking at moving into the Whitby place hopefully on Friday the 5th of September. So will be based in Wellington again soon after a nice three yearish break away.

In the weekend we had the auditions for the musical 'Bat Boy' at Porirua Little Theatre...it was a long weekend and we had so much talent audition! Especially as usual on the female side of things!! I know there were some very disappointed people who missed out, but some very excited people who are in it.

Dave has been cast as the Sheriff/ensemble and I have been cast as part of the ensemble too. There are four women and four men in the ensemble, each of which has around two characters to play, I just don't know which characters I am playing yet.
Mum and dad are very kindly helping out with babysitting so we can go to rehearsals that start from August 17th. We have rehearsals on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well as on Sundays from 1pm - 5pm. So anyone that can help with babysitting duties down in Wellington? I would love to hear from you!! Tuesdays and Thursdays will be more like... come around and watch our telly because Beth will already be asleep, Sundays will be more interactive.....aunty Chris?!?!? Anyway the show starts at the end of October so it is going to be a busy few months! What with the show and teaching the next four Mondays! Oh and Beth!!

For sale and tenantless!

It seems we are going to have to make some hard decisions sooner rather than later. Our beloved Ali has informed us that she has found a new love shack which she is moving into in about three weeks time...bugger!
So soon the Whitby house is going to be empty. Either we move down into it and rent out our Masterton house, which has a smaller mortgage. Or we stay in Masterton and have to pay two mortgages!!!! I am going to be in Wellington a lot over the next few months so maybe moving some of our possessions into the Whitby place will mean we can have two homes for a while?!?!? Arrrrgggghhhh but what if it takes ages to sell? We also have three fluffy children to think about.....oh I think I need a lie down!

Beth's First Birthday!

Well it was a day filled with wrapping paper, pressies, fairy bread and party hats. Beth was on her best behaviour, so excited there was no afternoon sleep to be had thank you very much!! It was a combined party for Monty and Beth, who are only hours apart in age. She had her wee friend Abby there to celebrate with her as well as the older friends Bethany, Harriet and Xanthe who helped with such things as blowing out the candles and eating the cheerios. Monty missed out on the party part as he slept through it all!

Beth had her first taste of a few things that day, the marshmallows were the funniest to watch.....the look on her face was priceless! Yuck! The chocolate fish someone gave her was promptly flung to the dog and the fairy bread? Well she liked the fairy bread!

Beth was very spoilt by everyone and when a pressy arrived the following day I think she thought it was all going to happen again!!!

Wow one already! Crazy! At first with a newborn you think your life is moving in slow motion (when will it ever end?) but get to this point and you think wow where did the time go?! She is so much fun and I love her to bits.

On the Market!

We have spent the last two weekends painting and tidying up the Whitby property to sell. We had to paint the stairwell and around the top of the bathroom. Dave was busy cleaning out spoutings, cleaning the outside of the house, weeding the patio area, fixing a couple of appliances and basically keeping very busy to avoid any painting duties.
We were very lucky to have help from Jane and Denis for a day of painting (yay!!!) and the lovely Ali did everything from feeding us and our helpers to babysitting, painting, cleaning up after us, homing us for the night.....the list just goes on. We are so lucky to have great friends!!
So it goes on the market this week! Open to View is taking photos this week and getting it on the website, Lyn (real estate agent) is taking her caravan through today! AND the first open home is Sunday at 12.40pm! You may even see the quarter page spread in the Kapimana! So spread the word, 5 Kedge Lane, Whitby...buy it today!!!

Antenatal Group

We have finally managed to start getting together again. Don't these guys look cute!! There was alot of biscuit stealing, face grabbing and drooling fun had by all.

Bat Boy The Musical

My major dance project this year is called 'Bat Boy' which Rob Ormsby is directing at Porirua Little Theatre. The auditions are the 2nd and 3rd of August and we also have a back up date of the 9th. I am choreographing the show.
'Bat Boy' has nothing to do with Batman it can be quite a dark tale depending on the angle the director takes. Bat Boy is half man half bat and the way that happens does not involve a simple bite.... I am looking forward to doing this production, with a bit more time on my hands instead of having to choreograph at night after work or weekends, I guess I have no excuse not to be organised and get most of the movement completed before the auditions begin. That's as long as Beth doesn't start crawling any time soon....
I have even asked if I can audition, the last show I was in was 'Nunsense' as Sister Mary Leo, that was before I travelled to Ireland!

I had a job offer from Kahutara school last week too. If they get funding from REAP they are going to employ me to teach the four classes - alongside the teachers, a dance and song from another country. So four different cultural dances and songs to compliment their Olympics project. Hopefully we will also get to design the costume as well. They said they are flexible in regard to when I teach each class so I am hoping to be able to do four hours at a time when I travel down to the school. That means less mucking around with Beth.

So it is a very busy term ahead...yay! I am looking forward to it.

Beanies for all!

I have finally done it.....I have completed a knitting project, in fact I have now completed two! It gives hope to all those half completed scarves that lie in wait in different parts of my house, who knows maybe one day they too will be finished. The first beanie that I knitted (with mum's tutoring) was the bigger one, this is for Beth to use over the next couple of months. The little one I finished knitting yesterday just in time to deliver to Mel for her little baby Maxwell who is one week old today. Now I have to go and buy another ball of wool as I have another cold head to cover!

Mohawk Girl

Our wee girl is getting a lot more hair these days.....but it only seems to be on the top!!! Thought I would include this picture which I took after her bath the other night just to show she has a pretty good mohawk going on!

Fish go 'ome?'

I bought three new books for Beth and they are all about animals and the sounds they make. There is one about farm animals, this one has all the animals and sounds that you would expect, except a pig that goes 'snore snore snore'? The wild animal book includes lions that 'roar', flamingos that 'onk' and warthogs that 'squee' and the pet animal book covers the sounds of cats, dogs, guinea-pigs, rabbits...it all makes sense until we get to the goldfish. What sound does a goldfish make!?!?!? Apparently, according to the author Alison Lester a goldfish goes splish splash splish..... which is quite a cute noise and it fits in nicely with the rhyme the author is creating in the book. However this is where Dave piped up and said " Fish don't make that noise they go 'ome'" (pronounced home, but drop the h - like they do in Coro) and he is dead right. Try it!
So what sound does a snail make?

Money please..

It is one of the hardest things to get used to when you are no longer financially independent. Imagine having to get your visa paid off by your husband, I know a lot of people would love that. But I can no longer save for large purchases, he does and then we buy it. I miss my financial independence, to work towards something whether it is paying something off or buying something new.

Sanity Regained

Monday the 12th of May is a day to remember, it is the day that I had my first paid day of work since having Beth. I relieved at Wainuioru School which is a small three teacher rural school about 20km? out of Masterton. What a lovely way to start back! I taught the juniors (5 and 6 year olds) for the day, a gorgeous class of 15 students. It was so nice planning the day and dressing in clothes with no baby drool on them....I felt like a grown up again, though I almost went to school in my slippers, luckily Dave pointed them out to me as I was getting in the car! It was even nicer leaving at the end of the day knowing I was going home to my little girl with no marking or planning work to do!!
This week I was lucky to be rung again to relieve in the same class and I must say roaring off through the rolling countryside in the VW on a fine, misty, Wednesday morning, it felt great to be alive!

Porridge

Cold wintry weather always brings back the memory of my grandad standing over the old range making porridge for us all. The brown sugar and silver capped milk at the ready. So it has been wonderful the last couple of cold mornings standing with Grandad looking over my shoulder, as I have made porridge for Beth and myself. The wonderful porridge pool plopping away with Beth listening, a bemused look on her face. Although it is only me who has the brown sugar and milk, Beth still seems to have been enjoying her porridge (with stewed fruit) experience. I hope one day she remembers these cold mornings with her and I huddled lovingly over our porridge.

Crankiness and Snot Goblins

Well it seems to be that this time of the year everyone gets a cold. Beth is the first to suffer in our household. She is fairly cranky, unless she has just woken up and then of course there is the streaming nose! Pipes, candlesticks....whatever you want to call them. My biggest problem is how to avoid getting it all over me! Apart from just not picking her up at all or going anywhere near her to avoid getting sneezed on there really is no hope. So it comes down to wearing old clothes I don't mind the odd goblin on, and having a wash at night once she has gone to bed to cleanse myself.

Things that make you go.....

I have to share a funny moment I had the other day, because at the time there was only Mack and myself there and frankly?!?! Mack didn't get it.

Beth likes to suck on a dummy when she is going to sleep, so like any good parent I have two dummies, the main one and a back up one in case of emergencies. Being back up dummy is a thankless job and it so happened on this day the dummy was on the couch in the dining room when Gizmo (the cat) discovered it. He promptly flicked it from the couch and had a great game of bat the dummy around the wooden floor. I heard this going on from the kitchen so thought I better rescue it. Mack (the dog) and I went to investigate but strangely enough I couldn't find it anywhere!?!?! Puzzled I asked Mack "Mack have you seen it?"

Half a Rodent!

Yes Beth has teeth!! A scarey thought for any breastfeeding mother... Believe me when she bites you'll all know about it! Yes even you Grace over in Ireland!
She got the bottom right tooth first and then a few days later the bottom left cut through. I hadn't really given it a thought but boy it must hurt a bit when they come through the skin. Yes she has been a bit grumpy but she does look very cute with the bright red cheeks and startling blue eyes.
Speaking of startling blue eyes.... couldn't resist putting this picture on!

Selfish or Essential?

It's not that I'm lonely or bored in any way, but I do crave adult conversation and company at times that doesn't involve babies! I think it's the guilt free non-baby time which is the hardest to achieve. I love going to the movies with friends, hanging out singing karaoke very loudly in a new subdivision with the windows open....thanks Gazza and Shazza!!

It is these moments that make me feel like me again and not just a wife and mother. I think that is why I have really enjoyed getting back into my running...because it's all about ME for a change. I spend the majority of my day doing things for my family so to get away and only think about me and do what I want to do.... is LOVELY!!

Definitely essential for me! Time out keeps me human.

Murphy's Law

I have been training for the last couple of months to run the 10km Round the Vines race in Martinborough on the 16th of March. The training went really well with both mum, dad and Dave looking after Beth at various times so I could run off to pound the pavements. I felt well prepared....

However over the last week or so Beth has been unsettled some nights, I thought she may be teething, but who knows? No teeth yet anyway. So you can imagine my dismay when she decided to have an unsetted night, the night before my race! Dave did his best to shoulder the load of getting up to appease the beast, but as every mother knows you can't sleep through your child's crys, as much as you may want to!!!

Then just to top things off my body decided to throw the monthly curse at me! I had a decision to make, do I take up the foetal position and whimper beneath my duvet deciding bed is a better option for the day or do I crush Murphy into the ground as I get up and prepare for the event I have been training so hard for? You know me.....

So as I took my place at the starting line I looked around wondering if anyone else had had 5-6 hours of broken sleep and had breast fed twice already that morning?!?

I was still determined to achieve my goal of running it in under an hour and.....I did!! 56 mins and 29 sec to be exact! Take that Murphy!

Special thanks go out to my lovely husband who did star jumps and shouted encouragement in the middle of the Martinborough School field (by himself!) and then proceeded to run 300m beside me (pushing the stroller) telling me I was almost there. What support! Though he did complain later about having sore legs...

Dave and Duvets

Is this normal? Has anyone else ever seen anyone put on a duvet cover like this? Or am I the lucky gal who has nabbed the one and only duvet burrowing male around here?

We have discussed the different techniques there are to putting a duvet cover on and this is the one that Dave believes is best. Now, who am I to say he is wrong? My way is not nearly as entertaining, so I am more than happy for him to continue the butt up head down technique for as long as he likes.

Date scones and the linen cupboard

I remember when I was teaching that I used to have these weird little homely fantasies about having time to clean out my drawers, sort out the wardrobe, bake a cake etc... Well yesterday I did it! I cleaned out the linen cupboard and finally got rid of the fitted sheets that no longer fit. I also made a batch of date scones, much to the amusement of my husband.
Hmmm I obviously have too much time on my hands.... well must go, I'm going to clean out my drawers.

Innocence

This morning as I was watching my daughter play, I started thinking about the beauty of her innocence. As far as she is concerned the world is a wonderful place that consists of boobs, toys, mum, dad, grandparents and people who give her loads of cuddles.

My protective instinct is well in place as my heart breaks with the thought of her getting emotionally or physically hurt. I guess the biggest thing to learn as a new parent is to step back and let her learn by her mistakes but to always be there to guide her, teach her good values and give her plenty of opportunities to discover the world and everything in it.

If all babies had this kind of start in life would that mean that there would not be evil people in the world? Or do bad people turn out to be bad anyway, despite being brought up with loads of love?

Shark Infested Waters

House Hunting! This is a scarey yet exciting event. I think I get excited looking at the different property websites and then realise I am looking at houses WAY out of our price range. But there are some properties that sit there not selling that look really good....but why aren't they selling? I am told it is definitely a buyers market at the moment which is good, but we do have to sell a house before we can buy another one!
It's the real estate agents that put me off, I really appreciate the ones that show me through, give me a call a couple of days later and then leave me alone. I think they are hard to find. If it's a buyers market I bet we will be like the fresh meat being thrown into the shark infested sea, the real estate agents will be fighting for a piece of us!
Anyway we are viewing our first property tomorrow so wish us luck!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I think snoring must be one of the worst curses to have...you could never have a sneaky little nap, everyone around you knows exactly when you nodded off and when you woke up. Although my husband is very talented and can snore when he is awake "How could I be snoring? I was awake!"
I am writing this after another night of little sleep, it's a terrifying feeling to wake to a noise which makes you believe Armageddon is happening right there inside your bedroom. Yes my poor husband has the curse, otherwise known as being a snorer. The poor guy wakes after a lovely night of sleep only to be confronted by a prickly, eyeball hanging wife with enough luggage under her eyes for a world trip. Sometimes I just can't be nice after a night of living on the edge, trying to get to sleep beside a ticking time bomb that you know is going to go off, it's just a matter of when!

Big Country

We have been on holiday in the South Island for two weeks now and I have to say...wow what a beautiful part of the world we have here! Parts remind me of my adventures around Ireland and Scotland with the mountainous countryside, strong dominating coastlines and lakes tucked up against the beautifully serene backdrop of green...wow.

The land of the rolling R's reminds me that we share the world with a lot of other fabulous people all sucking up the stunning views from the safety of their motorhomes or the not so safe seats of their bicycles.

I have been inspired into getting back into my running, every second day I head out to explore my immediate surroundings on foot. New scenery always makes the run seem less like work. I'm taking it pretty easy as I am still breastfeeding and want to continue for a while yet. We only have two more nights left before returning home then I am going to have to get good at running behind a stroller...ho hum.

Baby Talk

Listen to an adult talking to a small child and you would swear that they had lost their mind. They suddenly become mumbling, bumbling, goo gaaing idiots! This is one thing I wanted to ensure I never stooped too. As far as I am concerned dancing around the house with my wee girl, pulling faces, girly giggles and singing nursery rhymes at the top of my voice, as well as other songs are quite acceptable. But making new baby names for things which already have perfectly good names? Well lets just say I fight the urge to goo gaa every day, sometimes I slip, but I am going to do my best to ensure my little girl has a fully coherent mother, who doesn't embarrass her in public with Baby Talk.

Home Executive?

There are benefits to living in a small town.....house prices are lower, you can always get a car park, there are no traffic jams, cycling doesn't involve taking your life into your own hands and when you go for walks to get some fresh air....you really do!!
Don't get me wrong there are disadvantages, less people to hang out with, not so many options for extra curricular activities/classes for adults and not to mention the six finger and inbreeding jokes you have to endure.
I've recently become a 'home executive', what is with that by the way? There is nothing executive about the position? I don't wear heels and a suit to work, carry my coffee in its little trendy take away cup, covered with some gross advert outlining the benefits of drinking copeous amounts of the tarry stinky syrup! Nor do I have a plastic see through file under my arm full of incredibly important documents which I have spent the early hours meticulously checking whilst drinking my tarry stinky syrup!?!
I'm an at home mum, I spend most of my day wearing comfy clothing and looking particularly unglamorous. I drink water...it's free, good for you and won't burn the baby. I try to read a good novel, do the sudoku and crosswords to keep my brain functioning. I've given up a well paying job to take on this new role which involves puke, nappies and drool......hmmmm.