Family photos

Just a few photos of the new extended family. Enjoy!

Baby Niamh Isabella

Here is our new addition, Niamh (pronounced Neeve) Isabella Bramwell-Cooke. A quick explanation of our name choices, Niamh is a name I have always loved, I like the fact it is a celtic name which links nicely with the Gleeson Irish roots. My middle name is Margaret which has been handed down from generation to generation linking us back to our Irish grandmother through mum's side. But because we really wanted to use a middle name from Dave's side, having an Irish first name kept us both happy. It took us a while to decide on the spelling....whether to go traditional or not and in the end we decided she is always going to have to spell it...just like we all have to spell our names for others anyway. Keeping the traditional celtic spelling means it keeps its Irish link.

Isabella is the name of Daves grandmother and Isobel is his mum's middle name. We both love Isabella as a name too. One of the reasons we didn't put the names around the other way is that at the moment there seems to be an influx of babies with Isabella as their first name.

Niamh is just over a week old now, this photo was taken today. She seems to be a very content baby so far and she has an attentive older sister who gasps every time Niamh makes a noise in the bassinet. Beth loved watching Niamh's first bath, she was very helpful, offering the loofer and trying to put on Niamh's hat and booties.

It has been great having Dave at home to help out and help me adjust to managing two little ones. So far so good....

So here it is....

I know I know it has been forever since I last blogged...and it's not because nothing has been happening, maybe it's because too much has been happening?

We are now living in (what we call) our family home in Whitby. Yes we sold Kedge lane (also in Whitby) and now have a lovely 200 square metre blank canvas we call home. Blank canvas because it doesn't look like it has been renovated since 1987 when it was built! Thankfully there are neutral colours throughout so nothing hideous that needs to be done immediately.

I am still pregnant! At 36 weeks I think my specialist is patting herself on the back pretty chuffed that we have got this far. Me on the other hand am thinking why would you do the third trimester unless you REALLY had to! It is nice to think of having a normal (well as normal as can be expected) new born that you can cuddle and feed straight away instead of the little bundle being whisked away and placed in a hot fish tank.

The pregnancy has gone well and now that I think about it I guess it has gone reasonably fast. I have another ultrasound tomorrow to check on the babies growth, the specialist seems to think the baby is looking quite small for my dates....I think I am supposed to be upset about this....but as long as the baby is healthy, having a small baby (considering where it will be entering the world from!) has to be a good thing!!!!

Our wee girl is walking and has been doing this since January, but since we moved into a spacious place she has taken up running too! The photo of Beth was taken a month ago, so she is 18 months old in it.

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!!