livinglovinglaughterlife

Visit to Nana and Grandads

2011-10-31T16:23:00.000+13:00

Quite the multi-tasker!

Helping Uncle Nick brew beer

Nick's motorbike- the highlight of Jack's visit

Halloween Party!

2011-10-31T16:17:00.000+13:00

Jack wasn't much a builder- he didn't like any tools in his belt!

The new sandbox's official breaking in

We tried bobbing for grapes instead of apples for the littlies but alas the grapes sank- they still enjoyed retrieving them from the water. Us adults had a go at the apple-bobbing- very difficult indeed!!

Morning at the river

2011-10-30T21:30:00.000+13:00

smoothie!

The New Earmuffs

2011-10-30T21:25:00.000+13:00

Piggies

2011-10-14T21:26:00.000+13:00

Wilma

Piggy shantytown's addition

cutie pig bums

Walter

Driving Fast for the camera

2011-10-14T21:17:00.000+13:00

round and round the chair

looks like a mini-teen

2011-10-14T21:14:00.000+13:00

He loves his new backpack even though we haven't put anything in it yet. He likes to put it on, buckle the chest strap and blow the whistle. He's just discovered his pockets too! Contemplating his empty sand box.

Very deep in thought...

2011-10-14T21:01:00.000+13:00

First whitebait pattie! He ate it but seemed a bit more interested in the white bread.

Mum's shoes

Cuddling Dad's head

Nana and Grandad visit

2011-10-14T20:57:00.000+13:00

on the motorbike- Jack loves sitting on it and making vroom vroom sounds. He spends a lot of time talking about motorbikes .. too bad Dad's motorbike is "sleeping" so often : )

Fun at Home

2011-08-08T11:01:00.000+12:00

we ordered a wagon that came with only one wheel! The other three should come this week. Jack still has so much fun with it!

Jack wanted to put Dad's shirt on

2011-08-08T10:49:00.000+12:00

/

Jack with friends Sam and Jensen

The newest family additions

2011-08-08T10:43:00.000+12:00

Wilma (on left) and Walter... no relation to our family Walter : )

Pig shantytown

2011-07-26T20:09:00.000+12:00

thanks for the top Granny!!

Morning walk

Playtime with mates

2011-07-26T20:05:00.000+12:00

They've all got chips in their mouths- guess who the chips belong to?

2011-07-16T22:12:00.000+12:00

Nana sweaters

hmm not sliding so well. . .

2011-07-16T22:06:00.000+12:00

hanging with Uncle Nick

Our Forrest memorial day walk

2011-07-16T22:00:00.000+12:00

first steps on sand

getting the hand of it pretty quick

2011-07-16T21:54:00.000+12:00

Flower for mum

"boo"

handy mobile sandbox

2011-07-16T21:49:00.000+12:00

"Being one is fun!"

Thanks great Auntie Aud for the great sweater!

2011-07-16T21:44:00.000+12:00

Loving his blankie

Before. . .

First haircut

After (with the winning pumpkin) He looks like a proper little boy now!

April

2011-07-16T21:39:00.000+12:00

Figuring out his new trike

First injury- Jack fell off the deck and had a nice wee gash.. bad mummy moment!!

Loving rides in the chariot.. Rimu's not too sure

2011-04-22T10:06:00.000+12:00

birthday rain gear! The fly swatter is one of his favorite toys!

New trike from Nana and Grandad

Grandad and the birthday boy

He's so busy now- into the dogfood

A few months ago

2011-04-22T09:54:00.000+12:00

just standing

L.L. Bean would be proud!

Trying on his first rain jacket.. will come in very handy with our weather- thanks Granny and Grumpy!

summer! Seems so far away now...

2011-04-22T09:43:00.000+12:00

Jack's First Christmas

2011-02-02T14:45:00.000+13:00

Opening Granny and Grumpy's presents

the new bath tub

2010-12-21T09:47:00.000+13:00

Got it!

crawling through a tunnel... have to practive this one- turned bad when he wanted to sit up in the middle!

2010-12-21T09:22:00.000+13:00

big beetroot!

Picnic at the park

drumming on the pot- what a lil multi-tasker!

2010-12-21T08:40:00.000+13:00

our new rooster- currently his name is Atomic Fireball

quite a thin, depressed santa- luckily he won't remember him! jack was pretty suspicious of the whole affair! kept turning his head around to see who's lap he was sitting on

please mum get me off of him!

at the park after with mate Sol. not too traumatized : )

springtime fun!

2010-11-26T21:49:00.000+13:00

First time in the sand- he dug it!

Picnic at the park with mate Sol, Sol just figured out why you don't bite an orange : )

First swing ride- he laughed the whole time, also first proper spew a bit later

On our way to America!

2010-10-13T22:18:00.000+13:00

Last cuddles with Dad

Jack is very excited to get on a plane

Auntini and Henry getting in touch with his nurturing side

Jaden shares his cars

2010-10-13T22:12:00.000+13:00

woohoo Miles turns two!

g'day!

Cuzzy lovin

2010-10-13T22:09:00.000+13:00

Lakeside

2010-10-13T22:04:00.000+13:00

Cuddles with Tyler

just a bit big- thanks Karen!

Camp life

2010-10-13T21:58:00.001+13:00

The forbidden cruise : )

Grannyanna cuddles

At the camp

2010-10-13T21:54:00.000+13:00

2010-10-13T21:51:00.000+13:00

First time sitting on his own

timber!!

With Great Auntie & Uncle and the flying dog

Momo gets some cuddles and Jaden looks on

Ferry fun

2010-10-13T21:46:00.000+13:00

The backseat posse

2010-10-13T21:43:00.000+13:00

The seasoned traveller

2010-10-13T21:39:00.001+13:00

On our way home

Classic black n white skin shots-5 months old

2010-10-13T21:35:00.000+13:00

2010-10-13T21:32:00.000+13:00

Finding his feet

bath time

I found him like this when he woke up from his nap and couldn't resist getting my camera!

2010-10-13T21:27:00.000+13:00

Rimu and Jack

About 5 months

2010-10-13T21:24:00.000+13:00

Fast asleep. . .

pushing his skin to the limits!

Second day on solids. He's now on 3 meals a day and loving it!

Finally back on the blog!!

2010-10-13T21:18:00.000+13:00

Jack's first party- as you can tell he's oh so stoked!

Getting ready to go out in the rain- Thanks Walt & Ellie- it's great for our spring- the rainy season

Hanging out with the Rowe men

Ugh his eyes are glued to the TV!

Great Uncle Peter got some great shots

2010-06-10T14:51:00.000+12:00

2010-06-10T14:49:00.000+12:00

2010-06-10T14:47:00.000+12:00

heehee this could be a funny photo if he wan't a baby!

2010-06-10T14:43:00.000+12:00

2010-06-10T14:41:00.000+12:00

Great Auntie Shirley & Uncle Peter's visit

2010-06-10T13:47:00.000+12:00

this is one of my favorite "Jack expression"

2010-06-10T10:45:00.000+12:00

homemade hat n tummy tme

2010-06-10T10:40:00.000+12:00

Mmmmm mmm

2010-06-06T12:29:00.000+12:00

Just so cute!

2010-06-06T12:25:00.000+12:00

A few days old

2010-06-06T12:18:00.001+12:00

9 weeks- big boy!

2010-06-06T12:17:00.000+12:00

2010-06-01T16:59:00.000+12:00

2010-06-01T16:50:00.000+12:00

2010-06-01T16:44:00.000+12:00

2010-05-10T13:00:00.000+12:00

first bath

2010-04-23T15:27:00.000+12:00

2010-04-23T15:18:00.000+12:00

Sleeping Jack

2010-04-23T15:14:00.000+12:00

2010-04-07T18:36:00.001+12:00

36 weeks!

2010-02-26T13:28:00.000+13:00

So yup four weeks to go... in theory. I'm still feeling really good and have quite a bit of energy. It's not so hot here anymore so I'm able to move about more during the day and not hide from the intense sun. My belly's now 40 inches around and suprisingly enough my uterus is measuring 36 cm- thought you might be keen to know Audrey : ) I'm looking forward to finishing up work in two weeks and being able to totally focus on myself and the ever-growing mystery bump. The baby's head down, yet not fully "engaged" in my pelvis, so my belly hasn't dropped. Everthing is feeling more surreal than ever and it's hard to imagine Kris and I being parents in such a short time! We've hired the birth pool, got our birth "plan" and I'm starting to think about what type of music, if any, I'd like to have in the background during labour. I'm thinking about ocean sounds or whale calls- have heard you can get cds of mama whales calling to their calves and quite like the sound of that. Our midwife was saying some women have laboured to comedy cds to help them relax with laughter. . .don't think that one's for me though! I've joined an active birth group of mamas that meets informally at someone's house for a morning each month. It's been really great meeting other women I can really connect with. Most of them already have children, yet there are a few of us new mums-to-be. It's pretty inspiring to listen to birth stories along with laughter and positive energy, instead of the horrendous stories mum's feel compelled to share. It's quite a phenomenon I reckon- the desire to tell first-time pregnant women horrible stories about something they're about to go through for the first time and might already feel a bit apprehensive about. And they can be quite intimate, personal details they share and it doesn't seem to matter that we've only just met and they might not even know my name! In anycase I'm looking forward to the mystery that lies ahead and maintaining my view that I can do my best to prepare- emotionally and physically and remain positive, and at the end of the day what will be will be. . . what really matters is welcoming a healthy baby into our lives : )

Burnt land

2010-02-26T12:58:00.000+13:00

We had a wee scrub fire a month or so ago... ended up pretty exciting in the end with the local fire brigade having to attend! Kris doesn't like to go into the details. . .hehehe! It was actually really good for the land and we're thinking about having a "controlled" burn in the future.

Only a month on and it's amazing the new growth!

The will to live is wildly strong

On the land

2010-02-26T12:52:00.000+13:00

The shed Kris built- our first building

Kris is starting to clear the scrub to reveal the mountain view. This is looing out from the shed.

Kris's competition pumpkin

A morning at the beach

2010-02-26T12:46:00.000+13:00

2010-02-26T12:40:00.000+13:00

Nappies all washed, stuffed and ready to go!

Pretty crazy how you can't hardly even tell I have a belly when looking at me straight on. . .

Hehe but I do!!

Some more, oh so attractive, preggers clothes- cheers Christine : )

Thirty Weeks!

2010-01-16T15:36:00.000+13:00

Getting bigger! My body still feels amazingly good considering how much it's changing and the horror stories I hear. I am starting to feel the heat and have to time my activities to stay out of the intense sun. I'm doing quite a bit of yoga and swimming and walking which I think is why I feel so good. My back actually feels better than it has since I broke my back! The relaxin hormone is great! I might become a junkie and continue getting pregnant just to have it relaxing my back, and so my boobs can stay big!

The baby changed position on my birthday from transverse (sideways) to head down and the whole shape of my belly changed- so exciting! I'm feeling a lot of movements everyday.. so much that I hope it's not a sign that this baby is going to be one of those babies that doesn't sleep well- only time will tell! I'm getting so excited thinking about who this little one growing inside me is.. what is he/she going to look like, feel like, smell like, sound like?! Ten weeks still seems like a ways to go, yet time sure is moving quickly. I'm planning to finish work on 12 March- less than two months!!

My first demoralizing moment of motherhood.
Our midwife recommended I get some"granny panties" for post-birth comfort. It's hard to put words to how great they look (and feel..)- I might never be the same again!

Mid-summer garden. I added three new garden beds which you can't really see. Two of them are to the left and back from of the glasshouse. Unfortunately there isn't very much growing in the new beds since I haven't put much into the garden this year. There's another new bed behind the glasshouse that's full of yams and garlic. I've got heaps of broccoli (again!), onions, carrots, leeks, beets, herbs, tomatoes, peppers, chillis, strawberries, spinach, cabbage and hopefully pumpkin and zucchini if the weather stays nice. It's good to see how well the garden does with minimal effort on my part!

Summer 2010

2010-01-16T15:13:00.000+13:00

New Years Day. . . My first pavlova! The best way to describe a pav is a lemon meringue without the lemon. It's a traditional kiwi dessert- usually around Christmas. I decided to start a tradition of making a pav to celebrate the first day of the new year... hopefully I remember next year!

I spent my 30th in Golden Bay with girlfriends. This is the beach where I had a nice picnic lunch and some relaxing time to myself. I went up to Golden Bay for four busy day and nights and have only just now got my energy back! I think the theme of my thirties might be energy conservation & rejuvenation. It was quite a mellow 30th considering. . . and lovely in all ways.

Walking out to the beach.

25 weeks and counting

2009-12-11T13:13:00.000+13:00

It's been a while since I've posted pics of the dogs. . .

Hansom Rimu

Staunch Kaiya

and me!

Woo hooo- twenty weeks!

2009-11-08T18:03:00.000+13:00

15 weeks

2009-10-02T17:46:00.000+13:00

I'd like to say Rimu can sense there's a baby in my belly and wants to cuddle, but really he's hungry for his tea and rather impatient!

Lovely tulips in the front garden

The Camelia again, pic's a bit dark but you can see all the more little pink buds showing- I love springtime!

Spring at home

2009-09-23T10:13:00.000+12:00

Zeke, Rimu's Dad called in for a visit the other day. This was the best family shot I could get.

Wood pigeons- beautiful

Tulips are popping up, not a particularly good shot though

Can you spot the beginings of Spring in the Camelia? Like my prune job- haha gives it personality!

The baby in my belly!

2009-09-23T10:07:00.001+12:00

13 week me... I'm amazed I've got a belly now when bubba's only the size of a peach...

Kumara Cottages

2009-08-30T10:02:00.000+12:00

Nancy's Cottage. So these are the two cottages to be rented in Kumara. Not sure which one you guys (Mom and Dad) will be staying in while you're here but they're both equally nice. I had a nosey around one of them and what a great feel! Beautiful wood, tidy and oh so cosy!

View arcoss the street

Maggie's Cottage- I think this is the one we booked out for everyone this New Years

Back of Maggie's

Spring is in the air!

2009-08-30T09:56:00.000+12:00

Rimu cuddles

2009-08-30T09:52:00.000+12:00

He ever so slyly climbed onto Kris's lap trying to be as close as possible

Smooches

He's perfectly content... I think they both are!

Beach sunset

2009-08-02T17:46:00.000+12:00

One of our hot dates- fish and chips on the beach.

2009-08-02T17:39:00.000+12:00

A walk in the bush

The best thing about winter is the view of the mountains- through the kitchen window...

...through the lounge window. In the summer we can only see the mountains from the back of the section by the garden.

Biker Boys visit

2009-08-02T17:30:00.000+12:00

Jeremy called in with his mates on the first day of their bike tour. The dogs are very intrigued by the big bikes and masked men.

Kris looking very human next to the kitted guys. Check out his beard- it seems to get wilder each week!

And they're off...

Winter views

2009-06-28T14:07:00.000+12:00

Zoomed in view of the mountains from the land

View from my vege garden- final rays of sunlight bathing the mountains

Backyard trees

View into the vege garden through the back fence. We're finally finished fencing in a bit of our yard for the dogs. The back fence you see here is only half the height of the other sides so we can see through the backyard into the garden. I quite like it! Not much green in the garden this time o' year.

Morning walk

2009-06-20T21:22:00.000+12:00

There's a super steep hill near where I work that I try and walk up most days before I head to the office. It's only a 2o minute walk round trip so perfect for a quick jump start to my day! That's the town of Greymouth you can see and the "barber" is the fog that rolls down through the river valley toward the sea most mornings. It's called the "barber" because it's so cold it cuts ya- just like the barber! It's actually quite unique and the only other place in the world where it happens is somewhere in Africa. There's a scientific reason for why it happens- I can never remember.

Another view of the "barber"

I work in the yellow building in the bottom right corner- can you see it? This is the view from the top of the hill.

and another

2009-05-27T19:54:00.000+12:00

Rimu and his new dog bed. Got my sewing machine up and running on our second rainy weekend in a row. The first time, since before broke my back, that I could sew for a whole day without being in heaps of pain! I was on a roll-made each of the dogs a new bed, mended an old skirt and made a new one. Pretty cool! Rimu's looking pretty cozy!

One bed's bigger..so sometimes they share... reluctantly.

Thanks Mum for my great new top and hat-loving em!

Putting up a gate

2009-04-19T15:10:00.000+12:00

View towards town from the begining of the driveway. Continuing down the road you'll come to the house we live in now- it's about a ten minute walk.

Looking down the drive from the top. One gatepost in.

More water

Shadows

2009-04-19T15:04:00.000+12:00

Something I like to take photos of when the moment suits- my shadow. Some of you have problem seen my shadow pics before. Well I don't think they'll be the same again as it's no longer just my shadow...

I have another shadow! Rimu's a year now and such a mama's boy! I can't hardly go anywhere without him by my side- even in the house he follows me around.

On the land

2009-04-19T14:59:00.000+12:00

Looking down the driveway toward the road, pretty much standing at the end of the drive, where the building sites are. This pic is the left shot of a panoramic....

and the middle pic...

... and the right shot of the panoramic.

Zoomed in view of the mountains. I can't wait until this is the view out our window!

On the land

2009-04-19T14:52:00.000+12:00

The driveway's complete. This is a view heading to where our house will be.

Lots of "water features". Hahaha a very nice way of saying there's heaps of water! We're figuring out where is coming from and going to and soon it will not be quite so wet. It's nice to have some nice creeks on the land- I can imagine one day relaxingly exploring them out my backdoor.

The container. This is the end of the driveway looking to the right. One day Kris will build a shed off the container where he can store his iron treasures and get things done out of the rain.

End o driveway looking to the left. We still have a bit to smooth out to make it suitable to build on. This is where our house will be..one day.....

The first apple of the season

2009-04-19T09:07:00.000+12:00

Mmm yum. We only have one wee tree that produced a dozen really yummy crisp apples. Lovely organic apples with lots of lil' bumps and spots- perfect for cutting up!

Homemade, home-grown apple pie

2009-04-19T09:03:00.000+12:00

Busted!

2009-04-19T08:59:00.000+12:00

The last of the autumn harvest

2009-04-19T08:56:00.000+12:00

All shades of green

Let the drying begin! If anyone has an green chili recipes do let me know. It's a bit embarassing really that I've got the Southwest inblood yet don't have much of an imagination when it comes to chilis-goodness I don't even know if I'm spelling it right! I'm losing my desert roots!

Pam and Clive's last weekend on the farm

2009-03-08T19:23:00.000+13:00

Pam and Clive, Kris's folks, sold their farm and moved into town. We went over the mountain to spend the last weekend with them, help pack, and gather the last bits of Kris's treasures we'd been storing at their place since we moved out of the last house. Kris helped Clive empty his workshop while Pam and I walked around the gardens gathering plants to transplant to their new house and for me to plant in my garden. This is one of the many amazing flowers in her gardens. I don't think we got any of these

The last supper. Kris's brother and wife-Jeremy and Rebecca (hehehe you made it to the blog!), Nana (Pam's Mum) and Grandma (Clive's Mum) came out for the lunch.

All of us :)

2009-03-08T18:19:00.001+13:00

Clive and Kris making very important decisions. Kaiya and Rimu keeping an eye on them.
Kaiya is a little bit nervous about being left behind.

On a walk down the road in the morning.

The drive home

2009-03-08T18:10:00.001+13:00

Kaiya in the foreground and Rimu looks on

The truck (and trailer!) loaded to the kilt.

On our land

2009-03-08T18:06:00.000+13:00

So Kris and I are finally on our bit of land. Well not quite on as in living there, but our friend, Doug, has been making a drive and clearing some space for the last few months. Up until now we could only walk on the land with our gumboots and at after at least a week without rain. We bought 8 acres last year with the hopes of building a home on it one day. It's about a ten minute walk from the house we live in now. These pictures are from a few months ago- it looks very different now. I'll post more photos as developments occur. We're looking at the 2-5 year plan of actually living on the land and selling the house.

A very big hole. Digger-driver Doug gets the gravel from deep deep down to bring to the surface so the land can be hard enough to drive/ walk on. Otherwise it's a very muddy, wet section- a swamp really. We've found a few main creeks that we'll (well Kris really but I'm sure I'll help in some way) figure out a way to divert and control a bit so they maybe even flow all together to create a wicked pond. I'm not actually too sure. Kris has a better idea so only time will tell really.

Our Veggie Garden

2008-12-21T22:05:00.000+13:00

It's definite;y feeling like summer now! We've started from scratch with the garden and it's so exciting now that everything is getting bigger and it's producing! We've had a big and beautiful broccoli and a red cabbage head, as well as parsley, silverbeet and lettuces. Oh and radishes but we haven't actually eaten those yet (I don't actually like them all that much).

Brussel sprouts, a lil' spinach and a bit o' onion

Onions, lettuces, a lil' swiss chard and a capsicum, grape vines and basil (which is so little you can't even really see..but it is there!)

Our family Christmas shot

2008-12-21T21:54:00.000+13:00

The dogs haven't learned to pose for photos..yet..
Happy Holidays everyone!

2008-12-10T08:30:00.000+13:00

Not a very flattering picture of me, but it's a good indication of how massive Rimu is... and this was almost a month ago! He's 8 months now and growing and growing and... whew!

We cut a big tree down that was blocking a lot of light into the lounge and was completely smothered in vines- Clematis I think. This is the before shot.

Just one tiny bit of the vines mass- pretty wild!

The after shot- makes quite a difference!