Annabelle is a big kindy girl!

Today is Annabelle's first proper day of kindy.
We went in at 8:30 and she settled into the serious business of playing right away. She has a cubby to put her bag away, and there was a sign on the board welcoming her :-)

By 9am it was clear she didn't need me to stay, so Zoe and I came home. It's now 11am so I'll be heading back there around 12 to help her with her lunch and then we'll be home at 12:40.

I was shocked at how emotional I was on my drive home at 9am. I was quite teary-eyed! But I'm so proud of her, and she's going to have so much fun as a kindy girl!

Having a bit of a sad day

Slowly but surely, all our baby stuff is disappearing as it sells. This is a good thing! But I can't help but get a wee bit sad as some of the girls most gorgeous clothes walk out the door to their new homes. :-(

Still waiting for someone to bid on the Bugaboo so I can get out and buy me a P&T!!

Time for a buggy change...?

We have two prams. A Bugaboo Chameleon and a Marco Sky L (which is our double). Neither of these are fabulous for walking, and both of them now don't technically cope with Annabelle's weight.
So I'm seriously contemplating selling BOTH of them, and buying a P&T with doubles kit.
I know a few people who have them and rave about them.
I'll do some research and then start listing the other prams on TM!

Me :-)

30 years ago:

Pet Service

My Mum took Annabelle to the pet service at the Cathedral today. We were going to go along with Zoe too, but after a rough night of Zoe coughing up a lung, we opted to stay home.

Anyway, apparently they were the first ones there and the photographer from the Dom Post was all over Belle and Spooky (Mum's cat) like a rash. So there may very well be a pic of my girlie in the paper tomorrow or Monday :-) Will certainly get a copy to post on here if there is!

Turning 30

I posted something about turning 30 on my FB yesterday. It was amazing how many people thought I was freaking out about it! I'm not! I am struggling to work out where the last couple of years have disappeared to, but I really don't care about moving onto my next decade. I'm excited!

I have had some highs and lows in my 20s, and can't wait for the adventures (particularly adventures in raising 2 girls!) my 30s have in store for me.

Hmmm... now that I actually sit down and think about it - my 20s were huge!
In no particular order, I:
Moved from New Plymouth to Wellington.
Graduated from Uni after 3 years with a bachelors degree in Sociology.
Graduated from Teacher's College after 1 year with a diploma in primary teaching
Got engaged
Got married
Got separated
Got divorced
Moved in with Chris
Had Annabelle
Had Zoe
Worked in a very enjoyable environment at the Min of Education
Shifted house 8 times (!!!)
Met lots of amazing people I am still honoured to call my friends

All in all, I am pleased with the person I am today. And my 30s will only add to that :-) BRING IT ON! xxx

I'm a listing machine!

My poor computer has been earning its keep over the last week. I've been busily listing all our baby stuff and maternity stuff on Trade Me. Some of it has sold already which is great - frees up some space and puts some $$ back in my account!

Lady Bugs!

My mother is very clever. She has made the girls some gorgeous LadyBug costumes (which will later be added to, to include a butterfly and bee attachment)
So we had a little photo shoot today, their first time wearing them.

A happy little family of four

Well Chris and I have had a week of being quarantined in the house together to talk about the future, and we have decided that we're not going to have any more kiddies.


Lots of reasons, like financial implications - I want to be able to take the girls on holidays and not have to skimp at Christmas time and stuff like that.

Plus I'm not sure what's going on with my stupid ovaries so now that we've decided, I'm very tempted to just get them ripped out.
I'm happy that we've made a decision, but there were a few tears when I started listing all the baby gear on Trade Me :-(

But that's ok, I can have a little grieve for the fact there'll be no more babies, but at the same time I can look forward to all the fun we are going to have with Annabelle and Zoe as they grow up. They are starting to become great little friends and I can't wait to see that grow and grow! xxxxx

Sad wee bubba

This was Zoe on Monday. Very sad little girl.

Touch Wood

We appear to be through the worst of this bug now. Girls are pretty much back to their normal selves, but still aren't eating as much as I'd like.
Chris is still quite under the weather, but appears to be on the improve. I seem to have gotten away with only a little bit of a funny tummy, which is almost gone.
Yay! Hope it's a good long while before we catch another gastro bug in this house!

Sharing a room!

On Saturday, before the lurg hit Zoe and Annabelle, Chris and I did some rearranging while they were out with their Nan.
We took Zoe's cot down (with only a couple of tears from me) and have moved the bunks into that room and set them out as two single beds. Zoe is in the "top" one as it has the railings around it. She looks so tiny in it!
So now Annabelle's old room is the playroom.

First night was a disaster because of the vomit bug, but last night was great. And Zoe's gone down for 2 naps today in her big bed. So in a way it's worked out well - Zoe was too tired and sick to fight being in a big bed, and they're both so tired from the bug to be bothered by daylight savings! They've adapted really well!

So here is the new bedroom:

And the playroom:

So, it wasn't just Zoe

We've had two very unwell little girls over the weekend.
Turns out Annabelle had the same puking bug, but she waited until 10pm to puke her guts out on Sat night.
We ended up all camping in the lounge in front of the fire.

It was a looooooong night! Last night was much better, both sleeping in their own beds and I only had to get up 3 times.

Both still lethargic but they've had some toast and water and it seems to be staying down so I'd say we're through it now.
Thus far Chris and I are unaffected... *touch wood*

Poor Zoekins is sick

Stupid puking bug.


Poor Zoe has been throwing up since about 6pm. No warning, ate her tea with her usual enthusiasm. Then she was in the kitchen with me waiting for her milk to warm up and BAM all over the floor came her dinner.

And several times since then. There's nothing left in her tummy so now it's just bile coming up every 20 mins or so.

No temp, no trembles or sweats or anything. She's very tired and lethargic but isn't crying or anything (except just after throwing up).

I'm guessing it is going to be a long night for us tonight!

Crafty Belle

When Annabelle was at her Nan's (my Mum) last weekend, they got crafty and made a buzzy bee! It would appear Belle got a wee bit carried away with the black paint hehehe

Thank you Tony!

Chris' dear friend Tony came round on Saturday and he brought with him an enormous stack of books that were his daughters'. They've outgrown them and he wanted them to go to someone he knows.

So here is the stack of books that has been added to Annabelle and Zoe's library :-)

3 weeks to go!

Yesterday was exactly 3 weeks until my 30th birthday. More importantly, it means yesterday was also 3 weeks exactly until Bathurst. For those of you not in the know, Bathurst is the Great Race: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathurst_1000

So I will happily be spending the first day of my 30s blobbed in front of the telly with snacks and beer for a solid 9 hours. Woohoo!

Too tall

This weekend I've been boxing up all of Annabelle's Size 3 clothing and getting the limited size 4 stuff we have out and into the drawers.
I measured Belle this morning and she's 103cms. She was 101cm on her 3rd birthday so that's a 2cm increase in 3 months. Not as much as I expected actually!
But anyway, her tops are all too short and her pants aren't long enough anymore so away it goes into boxes, waiting for Zoe to grow into them. That's the really great thing about having two girls!

Out to dinner!

Always a nice excuse to dress the girls up! Yesterday was my brother's 25th birthday and he was in Wellington to celebrate. So we had a family dinner (minus Chris as he had to work late) at the Fisherman's Table.
Annabelle still had her facepaint on from her Kindy Visit but we removed it once we met up at my Mum's place. Here are the girls just as we were about to leave.

And again with their coats on to brave the wind!

And a few shots from dinner. Including a rather nice one of my brother and I!

Annabelle's new Kindy

We went for our first visit to Wadestown Kindy today (after discovering Ngaio's waiting list was ridiculously long!) and Annabelle had a fantastic time!
She jumped right in with the other kids and played with the playdough, dressups, trainset and ran around outside like a mad thing.
She even got her face painted!

We couldn't stay right until the end because Zoe was grumpy and needed a snooze. I"m going to have to adjust her nap time slowly so that she sleeps once we've collected Annabelle at 12:45. Something to work on over the next 4 or 5 weeks!
The teachers were fantastic and the kindy itself is lovely. Small by comparison, only 30 kids, which is really great! The head teacher is going on maternity leave next term and the teacher who is stepping up to replace her is a man, which I'm very happy about. Not too many male ECE teachers around!

So all in all, a very positive experience and I (and Annabelle) can't wait for her start date to roll around.